I have a 1966 malibu with a 327. One of the harmonic balancer bolt holes for the pulley is stipped, one is okay, and the last is slightly stripped. The pulley comes loose from the harmonic balancer after 200-300 miles. The engine is in a finished car.

I have put a nut on the back of harmonic balancer to hold the sripped bolt in place.

Now my question, what is recommended to fix this problem? I do not believe a Heli-coil will work on an open hole. Is the nut on the back of each bolt acceptable, do I tap the balancer?

Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Vince

Vince,
A helicoil will work fine. You may have to trim the insert to the correct length so it does not hang out of the back, otherwise no problem.

I recently had the same issue, I drilled and tapped for 7/16" bolts, this worked fine. Also on teh same car the crank stripped out and i went to a 1/2" tapped thread, also no problem

Thanks for the quick response. I purchased a heli-coil kit this morning and plan to tackle the job very soon.

It is nice to have access to such knowledgeable folks.

Vince

Thanks for the quick response. I purchased a heli-coil kit this morning and plan to tackle the job very soon.

It is nice to have access to such knowledgeable folks.

Vince