Xikarzr

OK, I have 57K miles on an 2001 Base Corevette. Basically stock, Just tuned and with Z06 exhaust. Heard a squeaking last night and looked under hood, Harmonic Balancer was wobbling pretty good. I didn't think much, went for a drive, made it home fine, then started reading about it. Whoops, I was lucky to not have a failure or throw a belt. Anyway, a couple questions.....

I did some reading here and You tube, and after have these questions.....

#1. What the normal cost to replace the OEM HB?

#2. I have read that the steering rack is removed, but what else.... Reason I ask , is how much more work is it to CAM swap during this work?

#3. What aftermarket brand is considered to be a good performance replacement? Powerbond? Which one, there seems to be LOTS. Arp Bolt?

VFR RC46

Subbing, mine is starting to wobble a bit too....

From my limited research, the standard powerbond would be good for a factory power band c5, but if you have a big cam or power adders that are raising your power band up beyond the factory redline, you will want to go with the powerbond race model. An ARP bolt, a new factory main seal and new factory steering rack oring seals are good ideas to purchace/replace before hand.

scorpiofox69

Powerbond, ARP bolt.

Do the cam and any other top end work while it is apart.

Smoken1

#1. Can you do the work yourself and buying the tools you need?

#2. Yes the rack has to come out

#3. Powerbond PB1117ss and the ARP bolt for it

As for a cam, what are your goals for the car Stock or FI?

02torchred

I can only help with question 2 and it will vary on how much performance you want.

I do my own work, and if my balancer went out, I wouldn't do the job without throwing a cam in. It just makes sense because it realistically is only going to take me another 2-3 hours (maybe add this in terms of labor rate) to put in the cam/new springs.

If you wanna throw a used 02-04 OEM Z06 cam + new blue LS3 springs, that all would run about $250-$300. Many say it's too small of a cam to be worth it, but if this is just an added pleasantry, I'd say it's a nice driveable cam with +20rwhp with a tune. Keep in mind a tune in most places is another $500 usually. Also, of course there are other bigger cams, but it will cost more. Good luck

Xikarzr

No, Ill be having a shop do the work.

Cam goals are decent low RPM drivability, some nice idle sound, and smooth power to redline.... no FI in the future plans.

Xikarzr

The cam isn't the main focus though here.... just wanted to know how much more work it was. I'm more interested in the brand of HB , which was provided by smoken1 (thanks)... any others in same price range or is that PB the one most people go with?

Smoken1

If you want a cheaper one you cold use PB1117n. As for doing cam you have to go this far into the front of the engine. The cam goes in that hole

Fastbird

#1 Not sure....I think the book time is like 4 hours or so. So that plus parts.

#2. If doing the just the balancer, AFAIK just the rack has to come out. Do to the cam also, you need to drain the radiator and remove it and the fans, move the A/C Condenser out of the way (or evacuate and remove), remove the water pump, timing cover, cam gear, and cam retainer plate (oil pump too if you change the entire timing set). Up top you need to remove the coil packs and valve covers, rocker arms and pushrods. It's a fair bit more work, but there's a little trick. If you go into it KNOWING you're going to do a cam, remove the radiator/fans/condenser, then tackle the rack. You can move it around enough to actually pull it up through the top or bottom of the engine bay this way and getting it out is a SNAP compared to trying to get it out through a wheel well.

#3. ARP bolt for sure. Powerbond if you're on a budget, ATI if you want the top of the line.

K-Spaz

I did a power Bond and an ARP Bolt on my C5. I did it myself and well it was a big job it wasn't a difficult job it was just time consuming. Getting the rack back in was a two-man job though.

I had a cam with 600 lift and 12 degrees of overlap. If I had it to do over I would not go that big. It was a ton of fun and it did sound nice but I think it could have been a better overall car with a smaller cam.

Xikarzr

Update....

Changed both belts and the car is squeak free. They were totally rotten, might have been the OG belts from the factory.

The HB still appears to move but what I thought was a lot of movement, really wasn't at all. Also, I have been told by a few mechanics that its normal for this car for it to wobble a bit. Im no longer worried about it.

Cheers, thanks for the thread guys.

Josephu

01 rubber isolator is 18 years old.........Guy in our club paid $2500. to fix his.......after......His luck ran out...How lucky do you feel ???

Xikarzr

I understand. And you are right. I am just not going to worry myself about it. Maybe this winter I'll have some time to do some preventative maintenance.

Spaggs

If you have an exhaust upgrade and planning on a cam, you step into the throttle on an occasional basis. If your next move is start tracking the car, I would consider the ATI and key the crank, while you are at it. ATI is the most reliable. It does cost a bit more than the other brands, but it is what it is. I have a pretty stock motor, but I got an ATI because I track my car want the reliability.
There are several "while you're in there" parts to consider:
Crank Pin - ATI (PM me and I'll give you the part #)
Water Pump - Edelbrock (Same)
Oil Pump - Melling (Same)
Timing Chain Dampener - Brian Tooley Racing (Same)
Timing Chain - Katech C5-R (Same)
Other stuff (Same)
If you treat your car like a cruiser, you won't need any of this, but..............................

Spaggs

smitty2919

Just did this last weekend on a lift. If doing this on jackstands then that may be a different story.

Rack DOES NOT have to come out.
1) Unbolt lower shock bolts and upper control arms
2) unbolt motor mounts
3) support/push motor UP
4) remove front cradle bolts
5) loosen rear cradle bolts leaving a couple of threads engaged allowing cradle to tilt down.
6) plenty of access to damper

Obviously before all of this you have drained the coolant and AC charge then removed the radiator and AC condenser, unbolted and swung the water pump out of the way leaving heater core lines attached.

Keep in mind if you go with a cam and do it the method above, you need coolant, AC recharged, alignment and to accompany the cam...springs/push rods/retainers/seals/timing chain (wouldn't hurt)

I also bought a new OEM crank bolt to accompany a ATI damper. Car saw 7000rpm rev limiter quite a bit at GoodGuys Columbus autocross.

cherokee433FL

After much thought and deliberation, and with the reputation that corvettes have with Harmonic Balancers, i decided to remove and replace the HB on my 02 C5 Vette with just 58k miles on the odometer. i had the PowerBond P/N PB1117SS Racing unit installed. Out the door it was $1044 from GP Automotive in south Everett, Wash. I also addressed the attachment bolt to the crank, installing a new ARP bolt. They had a 2 year warranty on their work. After getting that job done, the feeling is worth it. It ran great on the way home.