454 crank pulley/balancer issues.

[vandy454]

Too make a long story as short as I can, I bought a rebuolt 454 off of a friend of a friend last year, came with all receipts. Must have had a change of heart in his build. Anyway it's a fresh motor. just finished the 454 install in my 73 c10 this past week. I noticed a belt squeal when I would lay into the throttle a little bit. So I pulled back in the garage to check it out. Belt tension was fine so I fired it up, and noticed my crankshaft pulley has a slight wobble to it. Went to try to torque down the 3 bolts that hold it on and got nothing. 1 bolt torqued (barely) the other 2 just kept spinning. Upon pulling all 3 bolts I noticed there was thread damage on all of them. i am guessing that the after getting his long block back he chose to assemble his crank pulley with an impact gun of some sort.

What do I have to do to resolve my issue?

New balancer? Clean threads? New hardware? New pulley?

I am assuming the crankshaft itself is fine, motor felt strong, no knocks or vibrations that I could tell. I've been doing some research but can't seem to find the answers I'm looking for .

[LTZ C20]

You could A: drill out holes and re-tap for 1 size larger bolts. B: attempt to re-tap holes with original size and try new bolts. C: get a new balancer and bolts.

If it was me, I would try B first, it's the easiest, if it fails you haven't really lost much and your back where you started. Then I would try A which I'm sure if B doesn't work then A should solve the problem and then C if both A and B either don't work or your worried about those two options or just don't want to bother with them.

With options A and B, the new bolts should be grade 8, easily accessible at any hardware store and are cheap. If you opt for option C, remember to get a new crank bolt and thick washer as well, the bolt and washer are almost always sold together and are also cheap.

With the proper tools and know how (which it sounds like you have) should be a decent afternoon or Saturday job.

[bd]

If the balancer, otherwise, is in good shape, Helicoil all three bolt holes to the original size.