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is this possible...will the rubber survive the oven?

i'm thinking i'm going to want to powerder coat all my under hood black parts....but i'm concerned that the harmonic balancer wont survive the oven afterwards....even thought the under hood temps are probably in the 200s or more....but the ovens are higher for powdercoating i'm pretty sure.

thanks and sorry if this is a silly question.

Hank

I don't think it's a silly question. I believe some powder coating is around 400 degrees and that might be a bit high. I think I would just paint it because the powder coat might also cover up the timing marks. One thing you might consider also is having the damper revulcanized. Particularly on yours which if the TL motor and a lot of your other components is any indication, apparently was around some fairly high water or condensation at some point. There's been more than one of those dampers that have separated with serious consequences & now would be a perfect time to do it.

Good point, HH. My own vibration damper vulcanizing failed a few years ago. The weight ring can't come off because it's behind the pulley, but when it comes loose, in addition to a horrific racket, it can easily beat the crap out of the timing chain cover - especially the tab with the timing marks. Though Steele has a revulcanizing service, I understand that Damper Dudes is just as good and less expensive.

i have to be honest i have never quite understood what revulcanizing something really means.

do they just refresh the old rubber or replace it or what?

yes i know google works too. lol

funny you mention the timing marks on the cover....mine were banged up alittle, might beable to see what i am talking about in my blog i recently updated from the weekend.

thanks for the input guys!

Hank

As I understand the process, the halves are separated, surfaces sandblasted to remove any rust and scaling & then prepared. A new rubber puck is inserted. Under heat and pressure the two pieces are pressed together and new rubber forms to the cavity and bonds to the cleaned surfaces.

With all the moisture that car apparently saw, I would be concerned there might have started some rust scale and separation where the bonding surfaces are--in addition to the hardening and deterioration of nearly 60 year old rubber.

The process is using new, partially cured rubber, and then curing & bonding it to the two steel surfaces. Returning (if it came loose) the steel ring to the original position should pretty much restore the original balance, so mark it first.

wow please tell me that the 404 dollars on steele's website is for a new HB....and not for the revulcanizing service....holy crap!

Hank

NO, that's not for a new harmonic balancer, its for the revulcanizing service. Like I said (perhaps you missed it), try Damper Dudes - less expensive.

That is high. No idea it had gone up that much.

Didn't Jack Vines mention that service on the list of things his shop did a few weeks ago or am I hallucinating again and it was just the modern front seal and checking for cracks.

I had mine done by Steele about 10 years ago and as I recall it was about $300. But I did it via an exchange with Kanters who stocks most Steele stuff, so no shipping charges.

If I recall correctly, Steele just automatically inflates all prices about 6 or 7% every year.