R1 Vibration Damper Needs A Press

[tluz]

Hi, Guys,

The vibration damper in my Avanti is not all the way onto the crankshaft. This is because I do not have Damper Installer Set J-4704A, specified in the shop manual. I know this is a household item in the Stude family, but for some reason Home Depot does not stock them.

Any suggestions for how to tighten it on there? Can I just put an air ratchet on the crankshaft bolt or will that destroy the bolt? Is there a common substitute tool?

As always, your thoughts are appreciated.

Tom

[Alan]

What I have done is get a tool for Chevy's from the swap meet. Then just make a little adapter for the Stude.

[Bob Langer]

Hi, Guys,

The vibration damper in my Avanti is not all the way onto the crankshaft. This is because I do not have Damper Installer Set J-4704A, specified in the shop manual. I know this is a household item in the Stude family, but for some reason Home Depot does not stock them.

Any suggestions for how to tighten it on there? Can I just put an air ratchet on the crankshaft bolt or will that destroy the bolt? Is there a common substitute tool?

As always, your thoughts are appreciated.

Tom

If you can't borrow or rent one they are available here. Scroll down to crankshaft tool.

https://www.studebakerparts.com/studebakerparts/store/s/agora.cgi?page=tools.html

[N8N]

In a pinch, I would think that a long crankshaft bolt, a kingpin thrust bearing, some big Grade 8 washers, and a matching nut would be a suitable hack. However, since it's a special thread, possibly buying the tool may be the way to go as the nut might be quite expesnive. I picked one up at a swap meet somewhere, possibly from Fairborn or Dave T.?

nate

[61Lark]

Don't worry about ruining the bolt, but do worry about the threads in the crankshaft. I would get the correct tool from Phil Harris at Fairborn Studebaker. The tool is around $40 which is a lot cheaper than replacing a 289 crank.

Nick

[tluz]

Good advice as always. At this point, I have Phil on speed dial.

[sbca96]

After you buy the tool, you can always loan it out to local Stude guys for 5 bucks
a pop and make your money back eventually ... or ...

You can bring the bolt to a specialty bolt shop and have them order you some all
thread rod (graded ofcourse) and a nut. You thread the rod into the crank and
use the nut against some washer (with grease between them) to draw the piece
onto the crank. When done, remove the all thread and reinstall the bolt, torque.

Tom

[Dwain G.]

The damper is not supposed to go all the way on. The inner end has to bottom out before the outer end comes flush to the crank snout. It has to do this so crankshaft end play can be set correctly. If yours lacks 'being on all the way' by about 1/16" of an inch, then it should be right. Check the end play to verify.
If the pulley is much further out than that, I suspect one of the woodruff keys has 'rocked up' during installation. You'll have to pull the damper, timing gear too maybe, and start over.

[whacker]

Gordr posted a picture of one he made a couple years ago. I'm sure a search could find it. He took a regular crankshaft bolt, turned the head off, then threaded the hole in the bolt to a more common size. By locktighting the more common thread size allthread into the hole in the bolt and using a nut and washers, he is able to push the damper on. There are a lot of other tricks to make it easier also, like heating the damper and cooling the end of the crankshaft to make the fit easier. Do a search for posts by Gordr about tools, or drop him a PM for advice.

[tluz]

The damper is out from the crank about half an inch, with the result that the pulley indents don't line up properly. So I need to work it back in farther. Lots of good ideas here; the common idea is that the crank bolt comes out. Once that happens, I'll be able to figure out the way to push it in.