Survivor status vs safety
 

For NCRS Bowtie and Bloomington Survivor I see a lot of debate regarding original tires, brakes etc... and safety concerns.
What about 62 year old harmonic balancer?

Why would a harmonic balancer cause a safety concern? If the engine stops, it stops. There is no inertia safety issues, no fire/fuel issues, no impact safety issues. Not sure what you are getting at?

I've seen old balancers come apart in several ways, sometimes they rattle around and do nothing. I once saw one come apart manage to get the fuel pump.

Regardless of what any groups consider all original I draw the line at any safety item. If a safety item fails and causes you to loose control and wreck your car is nothing now. So do what you got to do to maintain its safety on the road for you and others.

Suggest you find something more likely to worry about than harmonic balancer failure.

If it's a concern to you, send it out to Damper Dudes in Cali for a rebuild. They will rebuild yours and it should last another 62 years. Jerry

I think I presented the question wrong. I was reading about judging in these categories - I know nothing about this stuff - it was mentioned there's some flexibility regarding safety related components.There's probably a continuum of opinion's but are there definite areas where this is true?

This.

But it seems to me that there are many bigger fish to fry vis a vis safety on a 60+ year old car.

Thought I read CF threads in the past stating safety non original items where a pass on Judging ie: stainless e brake assemblies ???. Can’t understand the harmonic balancer situation as a safety item. Yikes- there’s enough concerns out there.

C1
 

I have judged NCRS Bowtie. There is no pass due to safety or perceived safety. It’s either original or it’s not. You have one chance at Bowtie, so after you are done, you can change whatever you want, regardless if pass or fail.

No intention of being derogatory, just trying to learn about this stuff; If I had a 100% untouched original car, tire's won't hold air, brake pedal on the floor, steering box seized...nothing had ever been touched, and trailer it to to the judging event how would that be regarded?

I am pretty sure a bowtie car does not have to run to be eligible

Correct. It does not have to run.

As a general rule, I try very hard to recondition v replace the original parts where possible as a matter of fit and function . The balancer can be reconditioned (vulcanized rubber restored). I had a 60's gm car where the 2 piece balancer failed............made an annoying knocking noise, drove it for quite a while before I actually found the problem, and certainly not a safety issue like brakes or tires. :smash:

like a gold mine