OK so Dennis Carpenter has these for F500-600 trucks for 75 bucks. I put one on and it won't go on far enough to line up with the water pump pulley. Shy about 1/4". IR impact wrench and regulator both turned up to loud!!! Is this to be expected? If so should I make a shim for the w/pump pulley outa some 1/4 inch stock I have on hand? Would that possibly cause a balance problem?
I'm a bit confused because my shop manual for the '59 Ford trucks says the 500-600 may or may not have a HD engine as opposed to a MD. Would there be a difference here? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?

I am not sure if your impact wrench is able to seat the damper all the way down to where it should be. Some of the auto parts stores, like Auto Zone allow you to borrow tools for free. I would call them and ask them if they have a harmonic balancer installation tool to loan. That is what I always use. I bought my own installation and removal tools and found that they work really well. I wouldn't start shimming things just yet. Just my two cents worth.

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Easy on that crank with the impact wrench. They have been known to shear. I have seen fan pulleys with spacers. I may have one in the garage but I can't look tonight. I will look at the HiPo CD to check the parts calog. The damper isn't usually particularly a tight fit. It is snug but not tight.

Edit - I said fan spacer but I mean water pump pulley spacer.

Is the damper going on all the way to seat against the timing gear?

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

I don't have the '59 parts CD, but, the earlier one shows only a hub, #B6C8553B. However, I bought a high-mount fan style of water pump that was taken from an F600. It definitely has a spacer between the hub and the pulley. The spacer was about 1/4" thick that I recall. I'm pretty certain, I simply would measure it to be dead on. I will look for it tomorrow if nobody else chimes in.
BTW: does yours happen to already have a spacer? It doesn't hurt to ask..

Oh NO!. Well I can see thru the fuel pump hole that the damper is up against the oil slinger. I decided to turn the engine over by hand and I hear a real bad grinding type sound. This can't be good

And no I don't have a spacer

I took a turkey baster and squirted some oil on the timing chain while turning the crank. No change in the noise. So I got my high tech redneck stethoscope (big screwdriver) and started the investigation. So my next question: what is the most reliable source of a starter drive? (I feel stupid!).


Whew!!

Wow! Whew is right!

Not sure on the starter drive. I think that a sanity check may be in order. Is there enough shaft protruding through the water pump pulley to allow a spacer to fit behind the pulley and still have shaft length enough to keep the pulley centered? If so, you may simply need a spacer. Well, a spacer, a starter drive, and a good, stiff beverage. Wow. What a scare.

It looks like there is about 3/8" sticking out on the w/pump shaft

OK, I looked at my '55 F500. It has a 239 with high-mount fan. The "spacer" actually goes between the pulley and the cap screws/lock washers. So, it would not act as a spacer. It would serve to help minimize stresses on the mounting face of the pulley. Hmmm. Does anybody else have a suggestion?