Duncan_GT

Ok guys, I went back to check my timing cover gasket as I think it was over torqued. Took the balancer back off, which revealed that it had bent the part of the front main seal inward, enough to where I'm 99% sure it would have leaked.

Any ideas why it would have done this? Someone suggested the timing cover was barely off center which caused the balancer to catch part of the seal as it was pressed onto the crank

Venomantidote95

The only way it can be off center is if the alignment dowels were left out! Do you have any pics?

Duncan_GT

That's what I thought! The dowels are installed, I'll grab a pic when I'm home. I'm in class right now

Autotech

Wrong seal maybe. if it is too thick it would do the same thing I would think. Aftermarket balancer might do the same.

Duncan_GT

I still have no idea why it did that. I reinstalled everything, including the dowels, and slid the damper back on. No problem whatsoever with the seal. Maybe it was just a freak occurrence, although I'm leaning towards the idea that maybe it wasn't well oiled enough and snagged the seal during install.

capri debris

I've actually had this happen 2 different times. I've built several 302s and while most go on without a problem, you still have to keep an eye out for it. A trick I've adopted is to take a file and lightly bevel the snout of the balancer to help guide it past the seal and use LOTS of oil.