In automotive history it's often said, if there were two cars made, then one of them will be in New Zealand somewhere.
Today we feature our first video attempt to make a record of a damper we are rebuilding: a beautiful Lincoln Continental from 1966.
And on YouTube we find an original commercial from 1966 of the latest Lincoln Continental and all the latest fab up-to-date features.
Our aim in the future on our YouTube channel is to share with you a few of the secrets, joys and heartaches of rebuilding and remanufacturing harmonic dampers and crank pulleys from the many and varied parts that cross our work bench.
Currently on the rebuild shelf we have a 1917 Studebaker harmonic damper. We aim to show you how we work on a rare and precious part like this to bring it back from the dead, to make it into a functioning part which the owner can fit with confidence to his vehicle.
We bought a 1950s Ford V8 flathead engine assured it was ‘a good one’ so Damperdude began disassembly
to discover that this was the first time this engine had ever been taken apart:
it was a virgin. It really was a good one.
To explain: a standard flathead in used condition from
this era would be worn out completely. There would have been at least one
rebuild in the life of the engine. Many of the nuts and bolts are spoiled where
spanners and sockets have been used to force them undone. Threads of many of the
bolts will have been damaged. The piston bores would be badly worn, the pistons
on the thrust side would have the worst wear, which is why the old flatheads
burn oil.
The mystery is that our flathead has clearly never been
taken apart, ever. The whole engine is stock standard. There is thick black mud
as the remains of engine oil in the block and sump. The valves are original
Ford valves, the valve seats are un-burnt, not recessed, they are mint. The
valves had never been adjusted, but still had clearance. The crankshaft is worn
and has slight bluing because of lack of lubricant on the journals, especially
the mains. The piston bores are worn but look as if they will go to 10thou
oversize and the pistons are in quite good condition although the ring lands
are a bit sloppy. The original gaskets are present throughout the engine. The
original Ford bearing shells are in situ, the distributor is in really good
nick but the water jackets are quite corroded and the engine shows obvious
signs of never having been serviced nor used a great deal.
There are no markings on the engine to identify it, to
say what year it is, or where it came from. The Inspector’s stamps from the
Ford Factory are the only marks on it. The only clue there is as to year of
manufacture is 1BA cast into the crankshaft, this, according to the numbering
system, indicates manufacture in 1951. The mystery is why would a 50s Ford flathead
be treated like that? What was it’s history that it arrived in New Zealand as
literally an un-cracked egg.
A conversation this week has likely resolved the mystery
of the history of this beautiful old engine and why it is in such good
condition.
The sound of those things I find either terrifying or exhilarating, I can't decide which.
Now a little history. Post World War II US communities
felt they needed an emergency warning system should a Nuclear war be
declared, so Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler factories were commissioned with
producing hundreds of thousands of air raid sirens, complete with engines to
run them. These sirens were mounted on public buildings, towers and poles throughout
the USA. According to the information I’ve found, many thousands of these
sirens remain where they were put 60+ years ago. However in many communities
they are being removed as urban development progresses.
Modern communications networks mean that, in theory anyway, danger alerts can best be conveyed by mobile phone networks.
A customer this week shared with us that his father was a
mechanic in a US city. He was charged with making sure all the warning sirens
worked during the 1950s and 60s. The sirens were fitted with Ford, Chevrolet or
Chrysler 6 cylinder, V8 or hemi engines to run the fans to create the siren
howl. The mechanic would travel around the siren sites, once or twice a year, top up the fuel tank, start
up the engine, let it run for a couple of hours, top up the oil occasionally,
then switch it off. No other maintenance was ever done to these engines. Now
the engines from dismantled sirens are entering the world market as viable
flathead engines for restoration.
We are investigating the possibility of building harmonic
dampers for these 65 year old engines as when they were made they were only
made to run at 3000 rpm or less. Modern hot rod owners can have these
engines running to as much as 7000 rpm and this means damaging harmonics are
affecting the life of the engine, wearing them out faster than they would if an
efficient harmonic damper were fitted.
We can also source custom made Ford Model A harmonic
dampers for those who need to run the engines faster than they were made to go.
Why can't you fix my broken damper, crank balancer?
There are some jobs we just cannot make a custom repair for, and there's a lot of reasons.
COST:- The design of the damper means that when it is worn out, it cannot be re-manufactured by hand without enormous cost to you, the customer. If cost is not an issue for you, we can put the time into our best effort at getting you a newly functioning damper. Because John is an aircraft fitter he can create all new parts if the damper is in such poor condition that it cannot be re-used.
DESIGN:- Like a lot of mechanical parts, automobile and truck harmonic dampers were not created to be dis-assembled and re-manufactured.
MANUFACTURE:- Manufacturing processes used to make them aren't conducive to repairing them. Parts like crank pulleys/dampers are made to a designated price; cheap and fast is the way they are made in the past 50 years. Recent dampers are made in temperature controlled robot factories using techniques humans cannot replicate.
Making parts disposable and only replaceable with new OEM parts protects manufacturers from law suits. It also guarantees that consumers must buy newer vehicles when old vehicles become obsolete.
Catch with this? Once all the old parts are sold your vehicle is off the road for lack of one small but crucial part - the crank pulley or harmonic damper.
That is where we can usually help you.
1930s Packard damper
What is it like inside?
So what are our specific difficulties?
Time.
Many of our customers need the part yesterday. This is because they checked the harmonic damper last in their maintenance schedule. We cannot make up for time our customers have lost by not sending the part to us in a timely fashion for repair.
Unforseen glitches in the repair process can take a lot of time to resolve.
At HDR we take the time to give you a great result.
Dis-assembling the part to find out how it was made without breaking it.
Often the majority of time spent on a new job will be this seemingly simple task. If the delicate cast iron of the hub or inertia ring is broken it is really hard to repair so we don't break it.
Complex dampers with flimsy light parts and large areas of rubber molded around internal metal components are almost impossible to dis-assemble without damaging the parts.
Parts are too worn out.
Some dampers are so worn out that there is no regular fix and the worn or broken parts must be repaired by hand. Cast iron welding, keyway cutting, new springs, inertia rings and hubs can all be made but at a cost of time and money for you the customer.
Unusual manufacture:
We see crank pulleys from 100 years of automotive history. From Bugatti to Packard and Rolls Royce; GM and Ford to Hyundai, Renault, Datsun and Skoda. And everything else in between.
Because each crank pulley has been designed to dampen the vibrations from one particular style of crank shaft they are all unique. Functionally they do the same job, but the reality is that for every engine there is a different damper designed by a different group of engineers to solve specific harmonic vibration issues with the engine in the development stage.
So unless we get a run of dampers to repair from the same year, make and model of engine, every job is very different and requires different skills.
It's a dual hazard and joy of working in a custom rebuilding industry.
Successful difficult rebuild: Renault 05
We can't duplicate the way it was made to re-assemble it so that it works the way it was designed to work for your engine.
Sometimes there is no alternative way to assemble it.
Over the past nine years we have developed a lot of different techniques using new rubbers, special bonding agents and the like to solve re-manufacturing issues but there is a limit to our ingenuity when it comes to re-assembling some crank pulleys.
Some components fail to:
Balance
Weigh the right weight
Have the inertia ring run concentric with the hub
Include all the components they are supposed to contain in the space they were designed to occupy.
Run the pulley belts in the correct alignment
Have the timing in the correct place;
Whatever the reasons for these issues, if they cannot be resolved it means we can't begin or complete the job.
Toyota boat special before repair
Toyota boat special after repair
If we say we can't fix it we really mean it.
It means that in our experience it will be uneconomic, or simply not possible to repair.
If you want us to go the extra mile, it's your call: feel welcome to have a discussion with us about your needs.
Making a completely new damper or a prototype damper for an engine which has never had a damper
If you can afford the time and cost for us to put the time into hand crafting a completely new damper by making a new hub, inertia ring, rubbers, springs and other parts, most worn out crank pulley/dampers can be repaired so they work or alternatively completely accurately reproduced.
This could save your special engine from death in the back of the shed.
Contact us damperdude - at - gmail.com and send some photographs of your crank pulley.
Or give us a call, we are friendly and keen to learn and share information. 00 64 7&863 3350
Check out our featured book http://quintessence.papertrell.com/id003678303/Lets-Fix-It
So your crank pulley is broke and you are shopping around for another one and the wrecker has a second hand one from the same make and model of car.
If your car is 10 years of age or older, there's a good chance that the pulley is as close to munted as the one you just took off the crank shaft.
Why?
Because RUBBER is why.
Rubber is the part that most often fails in a crank pulley, crank balancer or harmonic damper.
Rubber is an organic substance that breaks down with heat, water, oil, use and simple age.
All rubber parts of your automobile are going to die a slow sad death at some stage and require replacement.
When the rubber dies it usually does one of two things:
It cracks, shrinks, dries out and gets hard as a piece of wood.
It melts into a soft gooey jelly that is very messy to clean up.
So replacing your harmonic damper with a second-hand damper that may cost you just as much as a rebuilt damper means that it is inevitable that you will have to replace it again soon.
It also puts your precious automobile's engine at risk of catastrophic failure.
Check out our other blog posts to find out why.
We are totally happy to repair and re-rubber any second-hand or original OEM damper for you before you put it on your vehicle.
Care for your engine by buying it a re-manufactured damper/pulley or a new damper.
Below is information which I have compiled for International inquiries. I hope it helps answer your concerns. Please call us or email back if you have any other questions.
When you do send us dampers please email us the date sent, the number sent and what they are, please as parcels sent to us have been mislaid locally and we like to retrieve them but if you don't inform us they are sent, we will never know.
Please address the parcel to Harmonic Damper Rebuilds Ltd, 29 Russell St, Waihi, 3610, New Zealand
QUOTE: We cannot give you an estimate of the cost of the repair without a photograph of front back and edge of each damper. Having restored quite a lot of Classic car dampers we know they vary widely in how they are constructed and how much time it will take to disassemble, clean and remanufacture them. However when we get the damper disassembled it may prove to need a lot more work than can be estimated by sight.
COST: The good news for you is that the NZ$ has slumped in the last few months so any price we quote will likely be 2/3 to half that in your currency. Please check the exchange rate.
As a cost example the Ferrari we rebuilt recently cost $646 NZ including jig making and materials. Our competitors in Australia charge a flat rate of $1000 for jig-making before they charge for the re-manufacturing - just to give you a comparison.
FREIGHT: Because dampers are heavy for their size they aren't economical to freight but surface freight (takes 4 weeks by ship) should be the best economy bulk freight bet from the US and UK. You will have to do the sending from your end as all the customs declarations will need to be filled in by you. I'd recommend that if your consignment weighs 20kg - up to tonnes that you talk to a shipping agent.
As they are (essentially useless) second hand parts the estimated value of your consignment can be low <$200 and avoid extra tax (GST/VAT)
I don't know about the US or UK but for goods valued at over $400NZ we have to pay 15% on the freight as well as the value of the goods. This is supposed to be changing soon so any value over $20.00 will be taxed at 15% at our end.
Alternatively individual damper consignments by post may be the most economical.
International courier services vary wildly in their costings and at times their fastest service is cheaper than their slower freight (TNT last I asked)
Your mileage may vary.
WARRANTY: We are a small quality custom re-manufacturing service so our system isn't fast but you do get a quality 'better than it was new' result and we provide a warranty of our work. See our warranty details on this website.
PHOTOGRAPHS: sending photos of the dampers by email is totally acceptable to us.
Customer Responsibilities are to:-
Remove the damper from the engine in an appropriate manner which does not damage it.
Provide accurate timing marks - email photographs of the timing cover or mark TDC on the damper before sending it to us.
Providing your full contact details and honest details of the use for the damper eg boating, car, racing.
Handling and transporting the damper safely to us.
Re-fitting of the damper upon return in a way which does not damage it.
Looking forward to making your precious automobile run better than it has in years, faster, quieter, smoother and with no damage to the engine because your pulley now runs true and does its job.
Metalastik Patent Harmonic dampers are in the shape of a dinner plate and are stamped with this name as shown in the image below.
Austin Healey 3000 Metalastik Dampers Before & After
During the 1950s these harmonic dampers were commonly fitted to many British Automobiles. As you can see by the state of the rusty Healey 3000 damper in the image, the rubber in all of these dampers is fading fast and will in most cases be failing to do the job of damping the engine vibrations.
Here is a short list of the makes these dampers were fitted to.
Maserati sports cars from the 50s and 60s had Metalastik dampers fitted
Austin Healey and other Austin Models
Deutz
Big Ford Diesel engines
If you know of other models which use metalastic dampers please leave a note in the comments below. Millions of these dampers were fitted to all kinds of vehicles, many of which we aren't yet aware of. NEW We now offer re-manufacturing to NEW standard of these Metalastik dampers. We offer a 5 year return to our base warranty of our workmanship for ordinary road use. We have to exclude racing from our warranty as many car owners are now using their engines at revs far beyond what they were designed for, and beyond what the Metalastik damper was also designed for. Your old core is required so we can custom clean, straighten and re-manufacture it. You will therefore be giving your original part a new life damping the vibrations of your engine which you may have expensively overhauled.
Contact us damperdude *at* gmail.com to arrange your new Metalastik damper and look forward to smooth running in your automobile.
If you need a Metalastik damper urgently we have in stock Jaguar, Austin Healey and Maserati dampers.
Image from https://www.3dtuning.com/en-US/tuning/austin-healey/3000/convertible.1959
MG 1.5 Litre engines sometimes had a proper crank pulley attached to the front but frequently did not have more than a simple little pulley. That was not a problem when the drivers were simply using the car at the road speeds of the 1950s.
60 years later owners of these machines want to race, hill climb, compete in Targa races and more.
This brings the RPM of the engine up beyond 4000 to 7000 and eventually inevitably results in breakage of gearboxes and crankshafts.
We are working on a prototype damper which we intend to resolve the critical harmonic problems which cause metal fatigue and breakage at the high RPM now required of these engines.
If you own one of these MG engines and are interested in damping it for racing or competition please contact us at damperdude 0@0 gmail.com and express your interest, outline the issues you are facing and we will do our best to assist you.
Custom made harmonic dampers for your classic car motoring needs from the Damperdude.
