Reply to "crank damper"

Your Pantera's 351C is equipped with an inexpensive unbonded damper made of cast iron. The damper was intended for 280 horsepower and 6200 rpm at the best.

The fact that the damper needs replacement is not the sign of a defect, just a sign of old age. Nor is this a problem peculiar to the 351C, it happens to all “aging” engines equipped with unbonded crankshaft dampers. An unbonded damper is held together simply by the “stiction” of the rubber sleeve installed between the hub and the outer ring. After 20 years the rubber sleeve shall have hardened enough and lost enough “stiction” that the ring can shift its position on the hub. The ring can both rotate on the hub and move fore and aft. A ring that walks-off the hub in the aft direction will eventually begin hitting stationary parts and fail (i.e. fly apart, some folks would describe that as “exploding”). Some dampers are balanced via the ring (this is true of the Q code engines), so if the ring rotates on the hub it throws-off the crankshaft’s balance. A ring that has rotated on the hub will also throw-off ignition timing based on the scale on the ring. And there’s one last issue, the hardening of the rubber sleeve also prevents the damper from properly dampening the crankshaft as it was designed to do.

I recommend replacement of the “aging” OEM damper with a Power Bond p.n. PB1082SS race damper (which is fully bonded). The fully bonded damper is only $215 USD at Summit Racing. This damper is made of steel, not cast iron. It is the least expensive fully bonded damper I am aware of. Its made in Australia, not China. Its a better quality damper than the one installed on the Boss 351 engine … because its made of steel rather than iron.

I used to recommend the Romac dampers, I had one on my engine. Turns out they weren't bonded at all, but you had to read the small print to find that out. I hadn't read the small print until an Australian bloke pointed this out to me.

Its do-able in the car. Loosen the belts, and remove the crank pulley. Break the crank snout bolt loose while preventing the crank from turning. Then use a puller to remove the damper.

While you're there install a SACC overdrive coolant pump pulley too.
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