What puller are you using on the crank damper?
Works as long as you don't pull the balancer apart.
Darn near 190K on it so that is a chance I can take.
I have the exact same puller O'Reilly loans out...and I had theirs, too. DID NOT WORK. These early danpers, at least the two truck ones and the one Durango one I have are different than the newer ones. The 2014 5.7 I have out of a Challenger is different and I think that the new style would work OK. But not on these old ones.
I spent about an hour grinding a relief in the puller arms on the one I bought in hope they would clear the wide part of the damper but that was a lost cause...
Anyway I finally got the engine disassembled... learned a bit as this was the first Gen III I've pulled apart. The amazing thing was the main bearings still look new... you may have seen what the rods looked like. Good cross hatch in the cylinders, too...likely due to the low tension rings. Cam looks good. Lifters, too.
I like the timing chain tensioner deal...
The goofy thing was I could not get the crank to turn even after I had all the main caps off... must have had a hydraulic lock going on with the oil on the bearings. Once I tapped the crank with a hammer it broke free and turned fairly EZ.
Now it's off to one of the shops I deal with... going to see if the crank can be saved. I want it turned down to 1.888 so I can use the Pankl rods I have in stock. This guy has done a few for me and always gets the work done on time and budget. Might have the block washed and mag'd, too.
Yeah, Yeah I know it's a nodular iron crank but that doesn't bother me. Never had any issues with those in the 351-C's I raced for years.
