Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines pulling the harmonic balancer on a 292

I'm ready to pull the old engine out of my truck and put the rebuilt one in.

can i pull the old engine out of the truck before taking off the harmonic balancer? would it be easier this way? What do you do to keep the engine from cranking if it is out of the truck?

any thoughts about where I should attach the hoist to the engine?

You should not need to pull the balancer to pull the motor. Use a proper puller and it should be no problem out of the truck. Either have the motor on a stand or at least securely blocked so it does not tip. It is not like a 292 is easy for one person to lift.

I would recommend putting it on the new motor prior to dropping it in the hole.

Probably the most common spot for hooking up an equalizer bar or chain on the motor is the accessory holes on the right front of the head and the rear exhaust stud.

Ditto to what Bruce said, with the addition that I've always used a piece of tubing with a stud sticking out each end as a spreader for the chain. Prevents squashing the corners of the rocker cover.

ChevyII,

Pick yourself up or borrow an Engine hoist equalizer. They are very handy for tilting the motor and keeping things aligned when extracting or replacing a motor. If your radiator support is removeable, you can pull the tranny too at one time. Saves crawling under the vehicle and busting knuckles on the top bolts of the tranny.
Ditto on the bolt holes for lifting. It seems to be the best spot on these inline motors. I always thought that those bolts wouldn't be strong enough, but they are. If your concerned about the weight, you could use Grade-8 bolts for pulling and a heavier chain. Always error on the side of Safety. (throw more metal at it) You really don't want the motor coming loose while lifting.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

thanks everyone.

I'll see what I can do about getting a hoist equaliser.

I ended up taking off the harmonic balancer while it was in the truck. I pulled the radiator so I could see what I was doing and put on the puller - it REALLY didn't want to come off, but I got it off eventually. When I put it on the new engine, what do I do... just push it on?

There is a tool for installing the balancer. You should be able to rent one or "borrow" one from a local parts house. Do not use hammer to pound it on as you can mess up your crank and clearances.

Dale Manufacturing does a great job of rebuilding harmonic balancer. He is in Oregon and for about a $100 he will have it back to you in less than a week. His web-site shoes how he does it. A very smart investment. Here is his web-site. http://www.dalemfg.com/dale_008.htm

Good Luck

Red Chevy Truck.

thanks for the help everyone.

Looks like the balancer wasn't the only thing to come off:

That wasn't supposed to come off, was it?
The harmonic balancer looks ok:

It looks like the clutch disk needs to be replaced. what do you think?






When you put engine back in, how do you line up th input shaft and splines?

I tried to take the flywheel bolts out, but the engine keeps cranking what do I do to get them out?

you should be able to get a new woodruff key. a air impact w/ a six point socket makes it easy to remove since i think the flywheel bolts are tightened to 110 ft lbs on a 292( i think the other engines are only 60 or 65 i don't know why). you can use a tool that holds the teeth on the flywheel and take off with a breaker bar. when the spline starts to enter the clutch and stops i have had good luck with turning the engine in small amounts till i feel it start to engage and slide it on in. the last one i put in was the first i did with a new pilot bushing and the clutch had to be lined up perfect. i had to use a old mainshaft instead of the plastic tool because the plastic tool wasn't as tight a fit. i had just learned this from a old post. good luck, hoggyrubber