2 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

So the first question is... Did the damper crack on it's way out as you pulled it, or was it already cracked before you pulled it? I think that's what Zed Head was alluding to. It would be interesting to have the answer to that.

I would like to know too but this car was sold to me by someone who bought it seven years ago and let it sit in a driveway without touching it and he doesn’t know anything about this particular issue either. May be unknowable. I can tell you it was stubborn AF to pull!!!

Yeah, and I'm wondering of the stubbornness to remove was related to the failure. Either it was stubborn to install and took excessive force because there was a problem. Or it was stubborn to remove because it was cracked and wedged on or bent or something.

I guess I wasn't saying it was an easy question to answer. I was suggesting studying the crack and the situation and trying to figure out if the crack was new or had been there for some time.

6 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:I was suggesting studying the crack and the situation and trying to figure out if the crack was new or had been there for some time.

100%

I got an idea... the front oil seal rides on the snout of the balancer, right? I'm thinkingif it were broken before you took it off, wouldn't it have leaked oil like crazy out the front.

With that in mind, I'm thinking it broke when you pulled it.

59 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

That's a bummer.  @Terrapin Z has many parts.  Maybe he has a two row damper.  Good luck.

I have a loose 280 2 pulley one off the engine it looks like the eBay one, smaller back ring size.

The one in the OP first pic looks like the ZX one with a third pulley. I have one of those off the engine as well. 

23 minutes ago, Terrapin Z said:

The one in the OP first pic looks like the ZX one with a third pulley. I have one of those off the engine as well. 

Hey, glad to hear from you… I will take more pics and measurements if it helps.

37 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

I got an idea... the front oil seal rides on the snout of the balancer, right? I'm thinkingif it were broken before you took it off, wouldn't it have leaked oil like crazy out the front.

With that in mind, I'm thinking it broke when you pulled it.

The seal itself looks fine, though we plan to replace it while we have all this apart. We probably managed to break it taking it out. 😕 

Also.. when i look at the ebay pulley.. how well would an old part like that "balance"?  In the last pic of that old balancer you can see the "goo" come out of it and that should work after 40+ years... i have my doubts.. better buy a new one? They are around..

How important is a good balancer anyway? comes to mind... why are they so expensive?

8 hours ago, DadAndLadZ said:

Hey, glad to hear from you… I will take more pics and measurements if it helps.

I think it resembles this one. It is a two pulley that was for the ZX with power steering. The third pulley is a bolt on for the A/C. IIRC.

 

4 hours ago, Terrapin Z said:

I think it resembles this one. It is a two pulley that was for the ZX with power steering. The third pulley is a bolt on for the A/C. IIRC.

I've never had a ZX, but wouldn't the bolt-on pulley be for power steering and the middle one be for A/C since the A/C sheave is the same for S30 and S130?   

Might read something in here useful. Good luck.

 

Edited August 30, 20222 yr by siteunseen

7 hours ago, Jeff G 78 said:

I've never had a ZX, but wouldn't the bolt-on pulley be for power steering and the middle one be for A/C since the A/C sheave is the same for S30 and S130?   

That is quite possible I have only had 1 ZX and I sold the power steering off it a while ago. I do remember some where that the 79-80 had manual steering and the 81-83 had the power option. Thus the add on pulley would make more sense. This pulley came in a batch of parts I bought off  a racer that was moving, so I do not know the full set up or year.