That sucks. Mine looked brand new...I think at least. It's a nice tool, works well.

I should post a pic. They were well packed, but this one looks like it was thrown down the stairs in a box full of very large bolts and the threads dinged it up. I really think it may have been used, but it would have been reboxed. The factory fiber tape was on it and it was sealed.

My harmonic balancer tools have arrived and yesterday an ATI superdamper with 10% underdrive was delivered. If you use one of these, be warned that the ATI manual addresses two versions of their balancer and this is neither one.

There is a balancer, a hub and a pulley for the AC compressor (if you order that version). The balancer has 6 counter sunk bolt holes. One of those is offset to index the balancer to the crank hub. That leaves 3 holes and 3 12 point 1/4-20 bolts and an AC pulley. The crank hub is threaded inside those holes, but the 1/4" bolts pass through the threads and the AC pulley has two sets of threads. One is 1/4-20 and the next size appears to be larger and match what's in the crank hub. You put the 6 counter sunk bolts in place with locktite. Then you put the pulley on the rear and put the washers on each of the 1/4-20 bolts, add loctite and torque them (16 ft lbs on the counter sunk torx bit bolts and 120 in lbs on the 12 point 1/4" bolts). ATI also warns you to fill the crank key slot with RTV (silicone sealer) to avoid oil leaks. Also, if using the ARP bolt, cover both sides of the washer with RTV to seal it all up. Interesting.

My coolant leak is getting worse and I have all the parts. I think I'm going to try to put the radiator, water pump, balancer, belts, PS cooler and new hoses on the car tonight.

And today I realized the front drivers door speaker is blown. Does anybody have a 2002 Camaro drivers door Monsoon speaker laying around?

Sounds like a busy day...How did everything go?

It's all apart. I'm about to start putting it back together.

Getting the radiator out was quite challenging. It didn't want to release from the AC assembly and the fan assembly. I didn't pull the wiring harness off of the fan assembly so I didn't lift it out. I thought I could wiggle it out from between them....and eventually I did. I just had to pull the water pump first to give me room.

I got the radiator out and the water pump and throttle body are off. I decided the balancer was next (I was debating just leaving it alone). I realized I couldn't get an impact gun in there to get the bolt loose (anybody who's ever installed an LSx harmonic balancer knows those bolts are TIGHT). I debated giving up or waiting for someone to step on the brakes so I could get it loose. Instead, I put the car in 4th gear and grabbed a breaker bar. Once I lined things up I started to pull on the wrench...and the bolt popped loose. Apparently the balancer bolt was barely hand tight. Awesome. One more thing on the list of shit the dealer "techs" screwed up when they did the engine swap.

I stopped there. The ATI balancer has a slot for a key, but the LSx has no key in the crank. They tell you to pin it in place for supercharging, or to fill the key slot with silicone and to put a layer of silicon sealer on both sides of the ARP bolt and washer and install it. I figure I better do this all in one shot. I'll likely do it tonight or start on it tomorrow. I'm just getting over being sick and my wife is now sick (that's my "helper" to hold the brake while I torque things).

Kinda sucks when the hired help is down for the count, or out of the country, huh? You DID kind of get lucky with the crank bolt, though. Not a long-term solution, but it worked in your favor with the timing this time. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

Today I installed the ATI harmonic balancer and the AC belt. I was getting ready to drop the radiator in when I started looking at the instructions (which suck) and noticed I had to cut the rubber mount for the lower drivers side of the radiator (but they don't tell you how) and some quick searching looked like the BeCool radiator was a real pain in the butt to install (not exactly a drop in). So, I boxed it up to return it to Jegs tomorrow and ordered a DeWitt's radiator that appears to use a drop in style design with an OEM style tank (formed out of aluminum). I was going to order a DeWitt radiator and then I found the BeCool on sale and BeCool always made nice stuff.....so I bought that. Jegs wants over $100 more than DeWitts for the DeWitts radiator...so I ordered it direct.

The ATI balancer wasn't too bad to install. I used an ARP bolt and went through the deal of pressing it on with the press, tightening the original bolt to 240 ft lbs, then installing the ARP bolt (covered in silicone sealer on the bolt and the washer to avoid oil leaks from the key slot in the ATI balancer....that you also fill with silicone). It's amazing how much flex there is in the clutch springs, but you'll feel it when torquing the bolt to 200+ ft lbs. It twists a good ways. The recommended AC belt looks to be a perfect fit. I hope the other belt lines up as well.

Once the radiator arrives, I'll drop that in and install the new Holley water pump and put things back together. The PS lines are connected to the 6an to 3/8" barb adapters to fit the new PS cooler and I think I'm in good shape to wrap this up once the last parts arrive.

Radiator arrived today. So, I got out to the garage and got busy. It's all assembled and tomorrow I'll burp the coolant and take it for a drive.

The power steering cooler fit perfectly....maybe even better than that. I'm quite pleased with it.

Interesting setup. The pictures are VERY small, so I can't really tell, but is that cooler supported in any other way than by the radiator hose?

No. I may change that. There is a clip on the radiator fan shroud that holds the stock cooler. However, it was too tight for this cooler. I removed the clip (it just unsnaps) and installed this in the hose. It doesn't weigh that much and it's connected to the PS hoses (that are tied together by GM) and the hose. It really doesn't seem likely to go very far. I'm going to see how it feels once I get it up to temp. I can always build a bracket...or buy another hose and slide it down a bit more and put the clip back to hold the hose. There is a considerable amount of clearance. It would have to move "inches" to contact anything.

I had to stand on my engine bay and put my legs into it, I don't weigh enough to tighten it down otherwise. I also like the pulley installer tools. They work well and don't cost much

I could see that. It helps to be a fat bastard sometimes. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

Actually, I think I held the strut tower brace on the passengers side with my left hand and pushed on the torque wrench with my right. I got the needed 240 ft lbs that way without too much drama.

Both belts suggested by ATI were the perfect length (as I expected, but you will find guys who said they didn't fit their car properly). The radiator went in without any modifications and was truly a drop in. I should be driving it tonight.

I burped the cooling system over lunch today and drove it back to work. I'll check the levels when I leave and top off as needed. It wasn't leaking anything when I pulled into the parking lot, that's always a good sign.

Edit:

Took the car out for a drive tonight and had a chance to put some mileage on it. I did the harmonic balancer because it seemed like a good idea. I wasn't expecting much (or even anything) that I could notice without a dyno, so I don't think I have any kind of a "placebo effect"....because I wasn't expecting anything. But, the engine is "quieter" and gear shifts are smoother. Part of it seems to be from a faster decay of RPM during shifts and less rotating inertia to upset the car (to make a bumpy shift). In cruise at 60 mph on cruise control it just seems quieter. I can't explain it other than to say there seems to be a reduction in vibration overall. On the other hand, the stock balancer was pressed on but the bolt wasn't really tight, so it may not have been working very efficiently.

Your results may vary (but I expected to need a dyno to see any quantifiable change in things with the new damper).

A good balancer (ATI or TCI) will always show an increase on the dyno vs. a new or used O.E balancer. Always. When the rotating assy has been properly balanced and an ATI/TCI balancer is used, it will show even more. It may be 3 hp, it might be 20. But "0" vibration=more usable HP. Always. Your results may vary...

I only got the cheap SLP under Drive pulley / balancer ... but I'm glad I read this thread first as it had a slot for a key and didn't mention anything about filling it with silicone so I did the same thing you did fill the slot and put silicone under the washer, thanks !

~DaVe

Yea. I knew that...but I still didn't expect to actually notice it (I did it because I know ATI balancers are awesome....I've used a few....and because it's good for the engine and I didn't trust the cheaper under drive pulley options). Tooling along in 6th gear at low rpm where you could feel the engine lugging a little bit, you could feel each firing pulse (as a very low rumble), that seems to be gone now. It's a really odd thing to explain. The engine just just spins and makes "thrust". It's quiet and vibration free and just goes "Vroooom". The lighter rotating weight is noticeable during shifts, but not in a bad way. Less inertia to upset things on the shift so you don't get the "bump" when the clutch grabs....the rotating bits just slow down to match speed without drama. I'd install another one. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)



I wondered how much oil could get through there since it's so tight on the oil pump and all that. But ATI said to fill it up and seal the washer and the bolt to the washer. So I figured it couldn't hurt. Glad someone else could benefit from my ramblings....lol.

FYI I got my trans rebuilt this weekend. I did not have a problem with the tremec synchro like Kevin did. It shifts into all gears (on the floor by hand). I was hoping to get it all together and driven this weekend coming up but I have the front hubs and brakes to do and I have to figure out what to do with my exhaust. It never ends lol

The aftermarket synchro was really tight (3/4 synchro) and it was my issue. The Tremec synchro was a little tighter than the 1/2 synchro and we were probably a little gun shy about having to pull it apart a 3rd time. So we test fit the old hub and reused it since it wasn't quite as tight.

I do have spare hubs. I need them to mock up the Stoptech brake kit I bought and make sure it fits my wheels. Once I get that done, I can try to pull them out of the spindles (I've had some stick in the past). If not, I have a press down at Racerdads place. I can likely just squeeze the bolts until it decides to slide loose. If you can hold up a bit (and I can get them out without damage), I can make you a deal on them. I looked at my C4 spindles and the bearings are supposed to be the same, but they aren't threaded, they are held in with a bolt (from the front) and a nut on the back of the spindle. Seemed like it wasn't worth trying to sort that out. If I can get some bolts to attach the Stoptech brackets to the spare spindles I have, it shouldn't take much to mock up the brakes. If you haven't already ordered bearings. I'm working a ton of hours right now, so I'm a little slow getting things done, but I can try to get to that one evening this week.

Yes, the hubs are the same other than the lack of threaded mounting holes. I swapped hubs from my C4 to my 4th gen several times. I just got longer bolts and put nuts on them to make it work on the 4th gen.

Just let me know. I am not in that big of a hurry. Thanks Kevin