Frustrating to say the least..........

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SD65WAGON

Justin
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
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Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Alright, so I finally get a "New" timing cover from a kick *** mopar salvage yard out here in San Diego Saturday and put the Wagon(timing gears, water pump, timing cover, fuel pump, alternator) back together and lo and behold I discovered the Harmonic balancer was bad..........So I get on the forum to find out which one is the correct one and proceed to order one from Summit $70.00 not too bad.
The harmonic balancer comes in today so I figure I'm gonna get on it.....Tear the car back down...Loosen alternator, Power steering pump, empty and remove radiator,Remove fan and pulleys, Pull the balancer no sweat.....Line up the balanncers to make sure timing marks are correct. Of course they are not so.....line em up get out a small triangle file and cut a new mark...no big deal.
Pull it out of the oven, get to putting it on after putting a bit of gear oil on the surfaces...........prress it on and torque it down with pnuematics put the pulleys back on and the fan and proceed to the belts and it wont line up and wouldnt press on any farther...........proceed to removal once again and throw the damn thing in the oven AGAIN at 250 vice 195 where I put it before.......Starting to get frustrated and running out of daylight which normally wouldnt be a big deal but more on that a bit later.
Anyway, pull it back out of the oven after 18 minutes @250 and proceed to try to get the old oil catch piece with the felt insert to seat on the new balancer and it doesnt really want to snug up after being pressed a bit....no Big deal I say to myself it should seat fine when the balancer is pressed and torqued........anyway proceed to press the balancer on and impact gun it tight and seated..Kick *** I think to myself.....and that oil ring feels pressed tight. So I proceed to put the thing back together for the 4th or 5th time in as many days.Getting good at this and better on time everytime..
Put together ,and fluids filled and topped off, fire it up and i see no wobble and the belts are lined up good looks good to me right............then I hear this AWFUL squeel when I give it a bit of gas and I think to myself ......Self you stupid *** you probably should have gon on the forum to ask if that oil catch ring with the felt should have been left off instead of on and not fully press seated because now I KNOW that this is the sound of something that is going to annoy me for the next 3 months until I can fix it AGAIN and CORRECTLY.
I was in kind of a rush for time because @ 630 am I go in for surgery on my left arm for a distal bicep tendon rupture repair and my left arm will be immobile and splinted for the next 4 weeks, AND, at least and a 3-5 month no use status before I can actually fire the bicep muscle with any effect....so SON OF A B#&% if this doesnt kinda suck.....
Anyway the motor fels good and the car runs good except for the whine of that thing spinning free or arount the balancer........
So if anyone feels charitable with their time here in San Diego within the next 3-5 months come on over and Help me get rid of that God awful noise from my mistake.......
Just had to vent a bit....SORRY!!
 
Damn, that sucks! I always find that if my screw up it is cause I am in a hurry. I am sure someone is close by you and could help, sorry, I live in MN, unless.....you want to buy me a plane ticket to warm and sunny Cali.....:toothy10:
 
FUNNY,
Actually it's just that I'm not sure if that damn piece was supposed to go on there or not..........plus the balancer is not a DIRECT replacement for EARLY A body 273 obviously. Timing marks were on the drivers side like the 73 cover that I had to put on there.
 
Got the arm rehabbed enought to remove the radiator and took harmonic balancer off and removed the sling ring that was spinning and chattering......
Now she purrs like a kitten.........FINALLY.
But found out it is not the original engine.....its a 1967 273 block with hydraulic lifters.
So since its not original anyway.....I was thinking:
I have a line on a 318 block with pistons still in FOR FREE the best, no heads intake or oil pan that was pulled out of a car with casting numbers as follows:
2536030-318-8
casting date 8-13-71

I'm thinking of building the 318 and swapping it into the wagon at some point...in the opinion of the forum would it help or hurt value to this car??? the 273 runs good and smooth right now just thinking of the build motor for something with around 400 hp? I like the 318 build threads on here and the magazine article links but does Anybody have a good cost estimate for a 318 build with that kind of hp from the build talked about here ? Who has ACTUALLY done one of the builds and can give me a good estimate.
 
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