Harmonic Balancer

Does anyone have a line on where to get one for a BT7 engine without having to mortgage my house and give up my first born for .....holy schmolly those things are expensive .

I have never priced one, fortunately. But have you tried Healey Surgeons in Tacoma Park, Md. They might have a used one. Also I just thought of a little shop near me here in Pa. It is called Sports Car Haven and addressed in Danville, Pa. or Bloomsburg, Pa. The owner is Lorne and he has had a few stripped Healeys in the past for parting out.

Dumb question: did BT7s come with a balancer originally, or are you looking for an upgrade, or ?

You might try these guys. They rebuilt my BJ8 damper and I was pleased with their service.

https://www.damperdoctor.com/

Healey Nut said:

Does anyone have a line on where to get one for a BT7 engine without having to mortgage my house and give up my first born for .....holy schmolly those things are expensive .

Click to expand...

Here's an option, shopping might cost you.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Race-6...-SFI-Austin-Healey-100-4-6-3000-/322893258295

You might be able to get a used one from British Car Specialists or Healey Surgeons and have it rebuilt by damper doctor.

Healey Nut said:

Does anyone have a line on where to get one for a BT7 engine without having to mortgage my house and give up my first born for .....holy schmolly those things are expensive .

Click to expand...

Here is one possibility:
https://www.bighealey.co.uk/perform...3000-bottom-end/crank-damper-pulley-bm-eng643

Dan M.

Bob_Spidell said:

Dumb question: did BT7s come with a balancer originally, or are you looking for an upgrade, or ?

You might try these guys. They rebuilt my BJ8 damper and I was pleased with their service.

https://www.damperdoctor.com/

Click to expand...

I wanted my original BJ8 damper rebuilt, so I sent an inquiry to damperdoctor via their website. No response -- ever. I did it again, same result. I called them, left a message. Same result. Did it again, same result. I can't say I was impressed with the interest damperdoctor showed in providing customer service.
I ended up buying one of those expensive ProRace dampers from Moss after I saw one on someone else's car. Installing it was fun, since the X-brace in front of the radiator restricts the ability to swing a hammer, which you have to do after jacking the nose of the engine up to clear the cross-member and heating the thing up to drive it onto the shaft. It looks like a quality item (as most things made in Australia are), but the damper was built for Chevy's, etc. and happens to be listed as applicable to A-H 3000s. The numbers and degree markings on it are intended to be read from the left (driver's side, LHD cars), instead of the right like God and BMC intended. I didn't think the markings would stand out very well against the shiny silver damper, so I marked 15 deg. BTDC on it with white paint before installing it. I'm glad I did.

I called the ProRace technical support phone number in California to discuss an issue. The number got me Sales. They referred me to a specific guy in Chicago. I called him and discussed the difficulty of installing it with the hammer because of the X-brace. His comment was "You seem to know more about Healeys than I do. I'm gonna keep your number and refer anybody else who needs help to you!". I haven't heard from anyone yet :highly_amused:

One more thing: the center recess of the ProRace damper where the dog nut goes does not allow room for a washer to be bent over to lock the nut like the original. I used Loc-Tite on the threads before torquing the nut to 90 lb-ft. I hope it stays there.

I used DamperDudes. They were responsive. It's been maybe 5 years and the damper is holding up.

http://www.damperdudes.net//index.php?osCsid=33esbgunn2lshqi8mp0p5ljj74

I thought Damper Doctor website looked unfamiliar ... I think it was Damper Dudes I used. IIRC, they said Damper Dr sent them the tough ones they couldn't to.

Edit: the Dudes have a Healey damper on the shelf; looks like a fair price:

http://www.damperdudes.net//index.php?cPath=34&osCsid=19hguitsbcqo0he4es6ethqb81

Steve Byers: ****! your story sounds conceptually familiar (i.e. I haven't walked into that particular wall with my nose, but sure expect to, depending on what I'm trying to do).
I bought a dampner (damper? dampener?) for our BJ7 a few years ago from BPNW (British Parts North West) as it was on sale at the time. This was a shop install and I didn't hear any yelling and screaming: I believe that they were able to raise the engine enough to install it. There were doing a swack of other work on the car as well, so the rad etc. would have been out. Doug

Damper. There's an old story--urban legend, maybe--about an engineering professor that would splash water on students in the front rows and proclaim "THAT'S a dampener!"

Bob_Spidell said:

I thought Damper Doctor website looked unfamiliar ... I think it was Damper Dudes I used. IIRC, they said Damper Dr sent them the tough ones they couldn't to.

Edit: the Dudes have a Healey damper on the shelf; looks like a fair price:

http://www.damperdudes.net//index.php?cPath=34&osCsid=19hguitsbcqo0he4es6ethqb81

Click to expand...

I emailed these guys , its not in stock and it looks like they need a core exchange so if you dont have an exchange core its an extra 100$ .
Fortunately I do have a core but if they dont answer my email then chances are they wont get my business .

They rebuilt mine. IIRC it took a couple of weeks, maybe 3.

It's better to call than email. I'd never write off a small supplier because they didn't email me back.

So after looking at Steve Gs pic in post 8 I took what I had to my sandblasting cabinet to see what I could uncover .
Heres the results . My question is does the dampener look useable and correct for a BT7 , the ones on my BJ8s are much thicker .
Also does the orientation of the dampener on the pulley matter ? I see a small drilled section on it which I assume was for balance .

It's the correct older version for your BT7. The later type are only used on late BJ8s.
It's rebuildable. Mine has drill holes in the back from being balanced. Unless you can find an index mark to the pulley, you have no way of knowing if it was balanced to the pulley.

The pulley bolts are coarse thread. Can't think of any other coarse thread bolts on a stock Healey.

Tks Steve .
so if its rebuildable then what exactly is missing ?

You have the two parts of the balancer/pulley combo. You only need the 6 bolts to hold them together (item 37).

From Moss catalog, "Internal Engine 100-6, 3000" section:



The rear of the pulley hub is a sealing surface. If it's pitted, suggest adding a speedi sleeve or redi sleeve.

Tks Steve , good tip about the bolts , never gave it a thought till you mentioned it . Looked in the bolts bucket today and sure enough there are some coarse thread 1” bolts that fit .
This rebuild is a challenge for sure as the guy who took it all apart (not me I bought the car in boxes)didn’t categorize anything , big parts in one box , bolts in a bucket and thats it .
So rebuilding any section is 2hrs searching and finding then sandblasting n cleaning and reassembly is 15mins .

I have an odd question: how out of balance do the older BT7 style dampers get? Can you "feel" a vibration when they're not right?

I always assumed mine was fine, but I just happened to see it spinning at idle and it is NOT round (or at least not centered). I haven't measured it, but both inner and out plates have a very visible bobble.

I do see lots of drill holes, so someone has balanced it in the past.... I'm not relishing pulling it out to investigate, but if it's really unbalanced, that can't be good.

My take: Get your damper rebuilt. I've seen what happens when they self-destruct, and it ain't pretty (start with a new or repaired radiator).

The damper, well, damps because there is a layer of rubber between two concentric rotating masses. Rubber is probably the most perishable substance on cars; AFAIK the rebuilders all use silicone (it looks different than original, but I don't know if even the concours judges know or care).