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Damper - Rebuild or New ProRace

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What is wrong with your old stock damper? Are you going to rev your engine over 5000 RPM?
 
BoyRacer said:
What is wrong with your old stock damper? Are you going to rev your engine over 5000 RPM?
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Richard,

Probably not. I'm in the process of an engine rebuild and a head (Flow) and carburetor upgrade. It's 57 years old and I'm concerned about it delaminating. (See picture below.)

Thanks,
Duane



damper.jpg
 
Duane_Rhynard said:
Richard,

Probably not. I'm in the process of an engine rebuild and a head (Flow) and carburetor upgrade. It's 57 years old and I'm concerned about it delaminating. (See picture below.)

Thanks,
Duane



View attachment 41803
Click to expand...
i would rebuild the old one for appearances. I used Damper Docs and happy with them. I saw a Healey with a delaminated damper that came apart, not pretty. You're right, yours is old.
 
In all my years of working on Healeys, I have never seen one delaminate. The dangerous harmonics that come into play with our 6 cylinder Austin engines are when you get to 5900 RPM. So, if you are racing then you want a better harmonic damper. If this is only a street motor, then no worries.
 
I've not heard of a Healey damper delaminating, but I once had a 4-cyl Cherokee damper do so. It made a mess of the radiator, so I had my BJ8's damper rebuilt at about 180K miles by Damper Docs (no complaints).
 
dcarlg said:
Anyone try Damperdudes.net? $139.
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I had my my BJ8's damper rebuilt by Dampers DUDES (not DOCS; I confused them). The work was satisfactory, the service was excellent and turnaround was as promised (just a couple days plus shipping IIRC). About 6K miles on the rebuild; no issues. Note the damper will look slightly different: the rubbery--I think it's silicone rubber--part bulges out a little as opposed to the original, which is recessed.
 
I'd buy a new one because they crack where the key way is, they get a groove where the oil seal goes as well as the rubber deteriorating. I bought the Australian one which has 0-60 degrees marked on it and it very useful for making sure the timing is accurate.
 
EV2239 said:
I'd buy a new one because they crack where the key way is, they get a groove where the oil seal goes as well as the rubber deteriorating. I bought the Australian one which has 0-60 degrees marked on it and it very useful for making sure the timing is accurate.
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Me too, just in case, kept the old one though just in case I want to take the timing chain cover off in the future, easier to use it as an adaptor to line the cover back up as it tends to be an easy fit over the end of the crank shaft.

:cheers:

Bob
 
EV2239 said:
I'd buy a new one because they crack where the key way is, they get a groove where the oil seal goes as well as the rubber deteriorating. I bought the Australian one which has 0-60 degrees marked on it and it very useful for making sure the timing is accurate.
Click to expand...

Damper Dudes re-sleeved the flange where the oil seal rides. I'm a little confused about the Pro-Race part, as they show one part number for '100-4/100-6/3000,' while I believe the 6-cyl cars came with (at least) two pulley sizes to accommodate different size fan belts (and, IIRC, the 100s don't even use a damper, and the stock fan belt is definitely different). There's some diagrams and what could be more part numbers at the bottom right, but I couldn't make hide nor hair out of them.
 
I had my old stock one delaminate pulling away from a stop sign in a 25 mph zone. Nowhere near 5,000+ RPM. It took out the radiator hoses and water pump. I have the Pro-Race one now.
 
Richard & Bob, I respect both of your experience with engines in general, and specifically Healeys, but the damper delaminating is a real thing, with serious potential for collateral damage. Marvin on here, IIRC, has the remains of an engine from Layne Perkins, that snapped off the crank's snout at the #1 main bearing; Layne was just idling through his neighborhood at maybe 20-25 mph when his BJ8-PII's damper came apart, after having visited me in the hospital (1987 gall bladder removal__the old fashioned way). Granted, before turning off the main road, Layne was probably running close to the red line__as he was often prone to doing...!

I was moving around the loose engine for my car on a dolly in my shop, and just barely bumped some object on the floor, easily knocking my earlier 100/6-3000 style (2-piece) damper apart. Though it ticked me off at the time, it was really a blessing, and upon closer examination, it was apparent that the bond had been losing its grip for some time, that being the final straw. This too was in the late 1980s (moved from that location in 1989). In the then most recent previous rebuild, the entire rotating/reciprocating assemblies had been dynamically balanced, so it should've been as smooth of a running Healey as you can get

BoyRacer said:
In all my years of working on Healeys, I have never seen one delaminate. The dangerous harmonics that come into play with our 6 cylinder Austin engines are when you get to 5900 RPM. So, if you are racing then you want a better harmonic damper. If this is only a street motor, then no worries.
Click to expand...

Bob_Spidell said:
I've not heard of a Healey damper delaminating, but I once had a 4-cyl Cherokee damper do so. It made a mess of the radiator, so I had my BJ8's damper rebuilt at about 180K miles by Damper Docs (no complaints).
Click to expand...

dcarlg said:
Pro Race damper on sale for $275 plus shipping at British Parts Northwest.
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That's a killer price; I think I paid nearly double that__at least $400.00__when I I bought mine! Makes me want to buy one or two now for the (spare) Healey engines that I might never even get around to rebuilding (my original 100/6 & another 3000 engine)!

Duane, my recommendation would be to take advantage of the above mentioned sale, and go with the Pro Race damper. Though a deviation from 100% pure stock/original, if painted green with the rest of the engine, only a few would take notice. Worth the deduction for the peace of mind if you actually intend to use the car.

dampener.JPG


dampener_socket.JPG
 
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