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Oh, I am worried about it, but I also feel I could get through the break-in process without it if needed. For what it's worth, older small blocks didn't have this bolt at all and came from the factory with only the press-fit holding it on.

I was looking at Summit and they sell a Mr. Gasket balancer bolt which they say is 2.25" long (measured from the bottom of the bolthead). My stock one seems to measure about 2.125". Maybe the slight extra length with engage good threads? It's a 7/16"-20 bolt. I'm not opposed to drilling/tapping to a larger size. I just *hope* that I don't need to disassemble the engine to do so.

-Dave

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whatever you do, do not put it in the car until this problem is fixed. running a tap in the crank will be a lot easier on the stand.

you could also helicoil if need be.

I've only seen 'pressed on' balancers on Inline 6's. Like the 194, 230, and 250. I had a 292 I6 with the balancer bolted on.

On a side note, more than once, I've left a 5/8 6pt 1/2 drive, and ratchet on the end of the balancer bolt - and started the car....

I did some searching and found two possible solutions. One is to try a 3" long bolt of the same thread (7/16-20) in hopes that it will grab some good threads deeper into the crank. The other option is to tap it to 1/2-20. I thought I saw a reference to heli-coiling it, but I don't remember. Dave Speece has the needed drill and tap to do it, if needed. I'm going to try the longer bolt first.

-Dave

I stopped at Turney's tonight and picked up a 2.5" and 3" bolt. I tried the 2.5" first. I was worried I was going to bottom out the bolt, but it engaged the threads and tightened up nicely. I was able to spin the motor over with it (no spark plugs). Crisis averted. $1.40 well spent.

-Dave

I think I'm at the point where I need to pour some gas into the carb and fire it up!

excellent.

how long will the carb be on?

MostMint wrote:excellent.

how long will the carb be on?

30 minutes?

-Dave

It Runs!

Video to follow soon.

Ok, well the motor runs. Had some difficulty getting it started. The starter would turn the motor over about 1/4 - 1/2 turn and then kick out. Every now and then it could crank on it. I had put the battery charger on the battery a couple days ago, so the battery should have a full charge. I couldn't get the previous starter from Mr. Freeze to bolt up without interfering with the flexplate, so this is an old, unknown starter. I might be investing in a high torque mini-starter. If it's lighter, stronger, and maybe easier to install with the headers, it'll be worth it. Summit has one for $135, good for up to 12:1 compression.

When it finally started, it sounded pretty clean. I didn't have a temp gauge on it, but it got up to temp very quick. I grabbed my handy infrared temperature gun that I got this year at Carlisle and pointing it at the upper radiator hose showed 175*. I have about 15 minutes of run-time on it. Had too much trouble getting it started again after I accidentally let it stall out.

So far, no visible leaks/smoking or other problems. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I can't get the video I took with my cell phone. It says "too large to send".

-Dave

After doing some searching on the internet, I double checked my main ground. It was originally bolted to the head (aluminum). In the past, it had always been on the block. I was hoping that maybe somehow the ground was weak. I moved it to the block, but no improvement. I might try my other starter again before ordering a new one. It's still December.

-Dave

Glad to hear it's running. Should give you some motivation to keep going. Sounds like some starter project this weekend. Did the flexplate change? It could only be the bolt mounting holes or the flexplate that changed right?

As you can see I made it, thanks!

I put a mini starter on my 406 and I've been pleased with it. The engine cranks and starts much faster (my compression is around to 8 to 1 since my 406 was built for boost).

I hope you are able to get Megasquirt controlling your spark. Hopefully you will discover the bulletproof way to control spark on a small block.

Yipee
The 12 second world is heating up...