Engine rebuild on the '63 225 is nearly done. Engine is back in the car. Finishing all the little things.

The crank has the harmonic damper and the Chrysler A/C pulley behind it, as per the original factory setup which the car didn't have and I'm adding it. I made sure the damper + pulley bottomed on the crank when I pushed it on with the installer kit.

Along with the factory AC pulley, I got the factory water pump pulley for cars with the AC package which is deeper and has two pulleys instead of one.

Something's weird: when I install the pulley on the water pump hub, it's too far in to align correctly. It's as if I need a spacer on the inside of the pulley, between the pump hub and it. I have two factory spacers, but I believe these go between the fan blade and the pulley face: they're thick aluminum spacers with a protruding nose for centering the fan blade and they're the same. I would need some kind of a thinner inside-hub spacer.

I was debating about using a puller to pull the water pump hub forward on it's shaft the distance I need (about 1/2" or so). Is that a bad idea? Do I have to use some kind of internal spacer to get the pulleys aligned correctly that I don' have?

Please advise!

PS - what's weird about this is: if I install the single original pump pulley, IT no longer lines up correctly with either crank pulley. I've taken some measurements of the housing, shaft length and distance from back of pump to pump hub face. It's all the same as the pump I removed. Have no idea what changed, front to back.

"spacer on the inside of the pulley, between the pump hub"
Did you replace the water pump? I had the same alignment problem, and the spacers fixed it perfectly.

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1964 Dart GT

Yes, new water pump. But I only have two of one kind of spacer. And it doesn't create the right alignment, placed between the hub and the pulley. The spacer I have goes on the face of the pulley.

I guess a simpler question: for cars with the factory A/C package was there a spacer of a special depth that went between the water pump hub and the pulley to create the right alignment?

I bought a generic water pump spacer pack(w/ diff. thickness') and used (3) of the thinnest to get the correct alignment.

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1964 Dart GT

That sounds like a question of "Did the factory make a spacer to make the wrong water pump pulley work on a slant six?" Chances are good that Chrysler made the pulleys correctly so that no spacer was needed and the parts count was kept to a minimum. It was my belief that Chrysler used just the one water pump pulley on early cars and that the AC was driven independently by the bolt on pulley with the multi-groove water pump pulley appearing on later cars.

Your original water pump pulley should line up with the crank pulley. If it doesn't then you have a problem to correct. I wish someone with a parts book would chime in.

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Joshua

I spoke to him on the phone. After some long distance diagnostics, It looks like the damper is binding on the crank key (inner part of the key higher then the outer part), and not seating fully.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Thank you to Charlie for a very helpful conversation. Apparently one cannot 'rock' the crank key in the keyway at all without creating a potential bind for the damper if it's higher on the back and lower on the front. Which is exactly what I did to get the damper started. So yes: I have to work on getting the damper & A/C pulley correctly and fully seated, WITH the engine in the car, unless all else fails. Good times.

Installing the crank damper is easily accomplished if you use a bolt in the snout of the crank.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

or the right tool!

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1964 Dart GT

Nah, using the right tool is for wimps! All you need is a bigger hammer!

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Pull the damper and check the harmo damper hub, it can crack if the keyway isn't seated correctly

Did the dirty deed: pulled the damper and timing cover off, had to rock the key exactly level (I mean, it was so bloody close, this problem is beyond irritating).

Made sure the damper would seat correctly by pushing it all the way on (with the timing cover off), and then removing it again. Installation is a breeze, but getting the damper off is not fun with the engine in the car.

NOW, I have the task of trying to get the timing cover back on. The dowel locator pins are causing a problem with the timing cover lower rubber seal. It's new and so thick that I cannot compress the seal enough to push the cover over the pins. BUT, I don't really want to drill the cover locator pin holes out, just to solve this installation issue. To make matters worse, I managed to remove the timing cover without the lower gasket moving, but after futzing and trying to get it back on, the gasket pulled out of position, destroying the contact/seal I had made with the oil pan cork side rail gaskets. So in addition to having to get this cover back on, I'm concerned about leaks from the front now. I have a feeling some goopy RTV is in my future.

Swell.

I bought the right size bolt for the harmonic damper and used it for the install, and then tightened and left it there. Not having one is kind of an economy move on Mopar's part. Well, it was supposed to be an economy car I guess.

Sam

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I always use RTV sealant when installing a timing chain cover. I have found that I have moderate success at installing the timing chain cover with a new seal and without dropping the oil pan by installing and tightening the bolts along the bottom of the timing cover first. Putting these bolts in fist tightens the timing chain cover down to the oil pan and compresses that thick new rubber seal. Eventually the rubber seal is compressed enough to permit the timing chain cover to pop onto the locating dowels. You should loosen the first few bolts on the oil pan when you do this, and you will also need a bit of RTV sealant in the corners of the rubber gasket.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.