Hey, I got a 72 Dodge Dart 318, I,m going to be putting a timing chain on for first time!... So I was wondering about taking off the pulley/harmonic balancer, How do you keep it from turning?.. Do you take out the small bolts first & then the big bolt?.. & any other tips on putting a Timing chain in would be good!

remove small bolts and the pulley will come off, then large bolt for the balancer. make sure you have a proper balancer puller, will make things easier.

see page 9-32

https://www.mymopar.com/downloads/servicemanuals/1970_Challenger_Dart_Service_Manual.zip

Here are my tips.

1. Many old mopars have fan clutches. Remove the fan bolts first. With the belt installed it often provides enough resistance to remove the bolts. If not then wedge a screwdriver between another bolt and the fan shaft to help hold it. If it is a fixed fan it's easy. Take the shroud loose and loosen the bolts.

2. Remove the belts, fan and shroud. Many people remove the radiator at this point but I have another option later.

3. Drain the radiator. Step #10 has a trick so you don't have to remove the radiator. If you remove it use sandwich bags and tape to cap the transmission lines and keep the transmission fluid from draining all over the place. Since this is your first timing chain I suggest you remove the radiator to give you a clear view of your work.

4. Remove crank pulley bolts. (small bolts not the big one in the center. The pulley only goes on one way on later mopars. I think in 1970 they started that. I suggest marking the pulley to the balancer for convenience later.

5. Remove the harmonic balancer bolt. On some cars you can put a breaker bar on it and hit the end of the bar with a big hammer. On others you can put a breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt and wedge the end against the ground or a frame rail. DISCONNECT THE COIL WIRE & BUMP the starter to break the bolt loose. Make sure you don't let it rest on or twist the transmission lines. On old mopars the breaker bar should be against the passenger side frame rail or the ground on the drivers side of the bolt. Once it is broke loose stop and remove it by hand/ratchet.

6. Bump the starter or turn the engine to get it at TDC with the rotor in the distributor pointing near the #1 cylinder plug wire.

7. Remove the battery cable, alternator and brackets. Remove the bolts for the AC and power steering brackets. Some will leak antifreeze. It's normal. Keep the bolts in the correct positions. They are different lengths and it makes a difference. You will need to move the AC compressor & Power Steering pump out of the way of the timing cover but usually you do not need to remove them.

8. You can remove the water pump at some point or not. I prefer to remove it and inspect the pump and timing cover. even so remove the upper bypass hose from the water pump to below the thermostat housing.

9. Remove the Fuel pump on small block engines.

10. If you don't want to remove the remove the radiator there is a trick to getting the harmonic balancer off. Most pullers use a long bolt that won't clear the radiator but if you use the bolt from a pitman arm puller it is shorter and will let you remove the balancer often without removing the radiator.

11. Remove the 2 bolts under the timing cover holding it to the oil pan and any bolts along the edges not already removed when you took off the brackets. Gently pull and pry the timing cover off. It is aluminum and can be cracked or deeply scratched if you are not careful.

12. You should be looking at the chain.

Hope it helps. I'll update this if I remember anything else but I have to start class.

* If you use the bump starter method to remove the harmonic balancer bolt remember that the alternator wire is a direct connection to the battery and if shorted will burn the fusible link or worse. That is why I don't remove the alternator or brackets until I bump the bolt loose and disconnect the battery. If you need to get the alternator and brackets out of the way then cover the ring terminal wire of the alternator really well to prevent it from shorting.

Impact wrench is the quickest way. You rarely have to hold anything.

You can thread a couple bolts into the pulley holes and be creative with a pry bar against those and the ground also to hold it in place while going after the crank bolt by hand.

Do this only if you are wanting problems that are very avoidable with all the proper tools and puller

some bigger parts stores loan out pullers with a small refundable deposit.

He's not talking about pulling the balancer, but how to keep it from rotating.

I pull one plug, stuff about 3 feet of 3/8" nylon rope into the cylinder and that will keep it from rotating. Just tie a knot on one end to keep you from stuffing all the rope in.

Yes an impact is quick and simple. I should have suggested that. I guess I have done it so many times where I didn't have an impact it wasn't the first on my mind. Good suggestion.

I'm with cab on the bolts to hold the harmonic balancer. It can be done but I have seen people run them into the timing cover damaging it and other times they have broken off making another issue. By other people I have had to fix other peoples mistakes and I have done it myself too, so I quit using that technique. I did buy a cam gear holder that works on some Harmonic balancers but not all.

I like the rope trick but call me paranoid I am always afraid I will accidentally load it into the cylinder on the wrong stroke, wedge it in a valve and bend the valve. It is a good method but I don't trust MYSELF to not mess it up. In junkyards I have pulled stereo amp cables and used that instead of rope and it worked too.

I think I done messed up, I got the a/c off, should I took the pulley bolts loose before I took it off, Can I still get the pully off with out putting my a/c & belts back on?

You are fine.

One method I use is to put a wrench (preferably box end) on two bolts and rotate one wrench to loosen while holding the other still. One will break loose. Repeat using two tight bolts until you only have one bolt left tight,

Then I just stick a long screwdriver between another bolt head and the fan shaft to hold it. Put the wrench on the bolt it and tap it with a hammer. The tapping is like a small impact and the bolt will break loose easier.

I'm wanting to do it with out pulling one plug or taking the distributor out!.. I,m wondering if I can get a ratcheting tie down to hold on the pulley on a Dart like I saw someone do on you tube on another Mopar?

I may try that!

This may help in the near future

Replacing the chain.

1. Remove the oil slinger on the front of the lower gear if it has one.

2. Rotate the engine so that the gear markings line up as they should when originally installed in preparation of the new chain.

3. Remove the cam gear bolt(s). Most often you can remove the bolt on the camshaft with a good ratchet. Turn the ratchet with a quick "Snap" of the handle to break the bolt loose and don't just turn it slowly. Sometimes use a ratchet hit with a hammer to break it loose. Or an impact is good too. Depending on the engine there are tools to hold the camshaft in a fixture but for old mopars that doesn't exist. However a camshaft holding tool MAY work depending on the style of cam gear. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PZFSZWY Autozone sometimes rents a plastic one. Don't waste your time. You can jamb a screwdriver in the cam gear hole and the block but you risk damaging something depending on where you jamb it. This is a last choice IMHO.

If necessary rotate the engine back to line up the gear marks.

Remove the cam bolt & washer, fuel pump eccentric, and then gear & chain.

4. Remove the lower gear. Sometimes the lower gear will slide off and other times it is sludged onto the end of the crankshaft. Gentle prying (both sides of the gear) and brake clean to clean the crank snout is helpful. The gear will be replaced but you don't want to damage the block or introduce metal chips into the oil pan. A small gear puller can work too, I just don't have one that fits myself.

5. Clean, Clean the cam bolt & Washer, the fuel pump eccentric, the crank snout, and the oil drip bolt on the cam thrust plate. (Upper left bolt) You could run a paper clip in the hole but then you are pushing crap into the oil gallery. I suggest you remove it, clean it and reinstall it. Don't remove the other bolts just that one if it has a hole in it. I have seen other methods to oil the chain too that doesn't use a drip bolt. Picture of the bolt is here.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2829690/cam-thrust-plate.html

6. Stuff a rag in the front of the oil pan and clean the gasket surface on the block.

7. Inspect the fuel pump eccentric. Now is the time to replace it if it is bad.

8. Clean the threads in the block and replace the drip bolt using Locktite thread locker. I use red but blue is fine.

9. Pre check the cam & crank alignment by installing the new chain.

10. Remove the chain and completely immerse/soak it in oil for a 1/2 hour. May be a waste of time but makes me feel better.

11. Reinstall the chain & Gears lining up the marks. Snug the cam bolt (don't forget the fuel pump eccentric) and rotate the engine at least 2 crankshaft turns. Be sure the marks still line up. Sounds stupid to some but it's better to be safe than sorry.

12. Remove the cam bolt, clean if necessary and reinstall with Locktite thread locker. Torque to spec.

13. Remove the old seal and clean the timing cover and all the gasket surfaces. Be sure to inspect the water pump and the front of the timing cover behind the pump. There are times the front of the timing cover goes bad with corrosion, cavitation, or wear from defective parts and water will leak into the crankcase through that spot.

14. Press in the new seal. Make sure the spring on the backside of the seal didn't pop loose and grease the lip where it touches the harmonic balancer.

15. Find/fit the correct oil pan seal. Most gasket kits come with 2 to 4 seals for the oil pan depending on the engine. One will be the correct one.

16. Coat the fuel pump eccentric with some break in lube.

17. Install the cover taking note that the oil pan seal will sometime make it hard get the cover to line up with the 2 alignment dowel pins. Make sure it sits flush before you snug the bolts.

18. Grease the seal surface of the harmonic balancer and install it with the bolt torqued to spec. I have had to wedge a piece of wood between the flywheel teeth and the bell housing on some cars with lots of mileage and low compression to torque the bolt. Other ideas guys?

19. Install the water pump bolts using sealant on the threads in case the threads go into the coolant passages. Many of the water pump bolts also hold the AC, Alternator, & power steering brackets. Leave the Alternator brackets off for a minute.

20. Coat the upper end of the fuel pump lever arm with assembly lube. Slide the fuel pump in place with the lever arm pointing down as much as possible. I like to rotate the engine until the fuel pump eccentric is at it's lowest to make the fuel pump bolts easier to install. Use a little sealant on the bolt threads.

21. Install the Alternator brackets with sealant on the threads.

22. Reinstall the radiator if necessary and position the fan shroud, fan and water pump pulley. Snug bolts as best as possible. Install the belts and tighten the pulley bolts the same way you removed them. Make sure to bolt in the shroud.

NOTE: Quick tip on the radiator. The lower two bolts on the radiator are slotted so install the lower bolts in the car about 1/2 way in and slide the radiator onto the bolts. Install the top bolts and tighten the bottom ones.

Hope it helps

I use a steering wheel puller to remove harmonic balancers.

Back the large center bolt out part way, then the foot of the puller can sit on & push against the head of the large bolt.

I was thinking you were working on the fan pulley right now. The two wrench method works on that.

If you are working on the crank pulley then they usually come off with a socket wrench. If you position the ratchet across the center of the harmonic balancer the pulley is less prone to turn as you remove the bolts. You can't do that on the fan pulley though or the big harmonic balancer bolt but it works on lower belt pulleys and flywheel/flexplates.

There is no reason to remove the distributor when changing timing chains on an old mopar. You may pull the cap off to see if you are on #1 compression stroke or pull the coil wire off to prevent it from starting but there is no reason to pull the distributor.

I have not seen the ratcheting tie down method so I can not say it will or won't work.

I didn't mean to run the bolts through the balancer. I thought I described it pretty well. With a couple longer bolts sticking out the front you can use a rod of some sort against them and the ground to stop it from turning the same way you use a pry bar or big screw driver between the fan bolts to stop it from turning. It works better then bumping the starter hoping the socket stays put. But neither are as easy as an impact.

I've never done the rope in the spark plug hole but that's the way I've read the most to do it.

I'm still trying to get out the harmonic balancer bolt!.. So do you take out the small bolts first, then the big bolt?....Are they a holder too for small block Mopars to keep it from turning?

Small bolts are for the pulley so they don't need to come off to get the balancer bolt off, but they need to be off when the balancer puller is installed. Big bolt in the center with the thick washer is for the balancer to hold it onto the crank snout. It should start to spin loose with a breaker bar, and some quick force applied to it. Righty tighty and lefty loosy just in case.