Quote Originally Posted by Rrumbler View Post
I am not a fan of the hammer, regardless of what I may espouse in my grumping and growling. However, there is a precedent for using a hammer and wood block to install the balancer/dampener on a small block Chevy: on the early engines, 265, 283, and early 327, in times before the crank was drilled and tapped, the factory manual laid it out something to the effect that you line the keyway up and tap the hub until the key is started in the balancer slot, then using a block of hardwood, and a "lead" mallet, drive the balancer to seat. You could tell when it was seated by the sound it made when struck: when it had a solid, sort of ringing sound, rather than having a dead, "thunk" sound, it was in it's proper place. In the later incarnations of the mouse, the re-engineering might have been because of concerns over the forces applied in driving the balancer on, and the differences in later casting techniques and designs using lighter or thinner webs in the crankcase; in the older casting designs, the webs were thick and undoubtedly quite strong, and could probably better withstand the forces of the pounding. At least, that's my take on it. I do have an installing tool, a good one, with bearings and bushings and different studs, and prefer to use it; but when faced with an older engine, like that '59 283 I have, I will used the hammer and block, if that's what is needed.
That pretty much sums it up and should end the discussion, but then us "old farts" who worked on early sbc's were quite aware of the procedure.