Well ,here we go again,i am putting together a small block Chevy(350)for a friend of mine,he bought a Pro Street Harmonic balancer from Summit,he paid cash for it and over $1200.00 worth of parts at Summits store in Ga.well i had some doubts about it when i saw it was made in China,so the long and the short of it is it dont fit! Now i did,nt just bash it on,i used a combination Harmonic balancer puller,and installation tool made by Snap on,anyway it was way to tight,scary tight,i was scared i was going to rip the threads out of the crank,called Summit,after 15 minutes waitin to talk to a human,the Summit rep. asked if i had read the directions on how to install this little beauty,i said that i did not,he said thats your problem,the directions say that you should boil the Balancer for 10 minutes,then grab it and run out in your garage and install it,or you can heat the inside hub with a torch(hard on the Rubber part)and after its good and hot you could grab it and attempt to install it.W.T.F.Never had to do this before,well guess we,ll have to buy a made in the U.S. part.i asked the Summit guy if in there catalog they put the flag of the U.S. beside many parts,why do you not display the flag of Communist China next to Chinese made parts his reply was ,no one does that,no shit ,if you did no one would buy them!this is a major problem with the auto parts business ,you can.t find anything mfg. in the U.S anymore.Beware ,buy U.S.if you can find it.GOD BLESS AMERICA.
Well, the boiling part is an old trick I've used for years. If you get the damper good and hot, the i.d. gets bigger. Oil the crank snout and use a damper installation tool to put it on. I use a length of 7/16 allthread and a couple of big flat washers and a nut. Screw the allthread into the crank as far as it will go and use the nut and flat washers to pull the damper snug. This way, you don't strip the threads out of the crank. When the damper is snug, unscrew the allthread and install the damper retaining bolt/washer.
and then when the seal won't fit, and you'll end up damaging a good crank trying to pry the Chinese POS back off. send it back, screw summit and their Chinese shit.
You don't need to get it red hot, for goodness sakes!!! ONly right around or above a hot engine temperature of 250 to 300 degrees. Grease the crank snout and grease the seal and it should go right on. YOu might need to take a fine file and make sure there is a nice and small chamfer on the leading edge of your crank snout. You could also use a micrometer to be sure the parts are in spec.
I second the micrometer if you have access to them. Heres a scan of the interference recommended with one I fitted recently.
In addition to heating one part, you can also cool the other part. That aerosol can that you use for de-dusting your keyboard, when inverted, sprays so cold it will freeze your fingers off. Sounds goofy, but it works. Just don't use it near open flame!
I have the Pro Street balancer on the 350 in my truck. It went on with no problems, and has been there for several years, FWIW. Slonaker
Imthinking you got the one that is out of spec. (on the small side) and you may have a crank that is on the edge of the big side spec. as said before..screw it ..send them back their part..and if you buy something from them from now on..call them and ask them the country of origin...the more of us hot rodders that do this and dont buy the "other" makes..that will soon send the message..(especially when their stock bins of the "other" makers parts dont move) Its been the second question out of my mouth lately when buying parts..wheres it made?..if i dont get the answer i want, i move on. do what you want,..its just how i deal with it..than again I dont have much money so I dont get to buy new stuff much..so when I do..I want it to fit and work. That being said..I usually refurbish parts that were made many years ago..and most if not all of those were US made..oem..or US aftermarket made
I have used three of their balancers in the last 4 months - 2 small block Ford and One small block Chevy. Absolutely No Problem with any of them. Just my experience. I have also used Fluidampers recently and they took about the same amount of pressure with the installer as the Summit ones. The country of origin is NOT the problem with the quality of a part, it has to do with the company and their quality control or lack of it. Period. Not defending the Chinese and I certainly prefer to keep profit dollars in this country but dismissing all "not made here" products as inferior to US made products is tantamount to having your head stuck in the sand.
been using the pro streets for a few years, and yes i have noticed they are a bit tighter than the rest.. but i toss it in the oven for 15-20 at 250* and use grease and an installer.. never had a problem after that. Personally i like the tight fit! but hey to each his own right!
Some would say for performance use an extra tight balancer fit is important. Many of the high end balancers are hone-to-fit.
I also have a Summit damper,it was a tight fit even after the boiling water trick but it went on using a damper installer.
It may sound realy dumb, but the boil to fit deal realy works. I have this ballencer on my valiant 360 and helped my cousin install one on his small block chevy. It went on without a problem. Now if it slid right on without heat I wouldnt use it. For all of yousaying its just a cheep piece of shit, I have encountered the same "problem" with other cheep shit like FLUIDAMPER And OEM parts. Should I send them all back?!
I would think that heating it to install it may be fine but when the engine is ready for a timing chain or has a front seal leak it will be a bitch to remove it. I never install a damper without antiseze to begin with but if the installing tool wont do the job I hone it to proper fit. I would be hard pressed to use a Chinese made balancer any way and when ordering I would ask where its made. Its getting hard to buy American any more.
An old coffee pot base heater makes a good gear heater, I use it for lower timing gears and balancers and anything else that is an interference fit.
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