Submitted as an additional reference point for removal of the OE harmonic balancer and installation of the first gen NSX specific ATI Super Damper. I wanted to do this myself and learn. There are things I would have done differently so maybe you can learn from my experience for your removal/install.
Before even buying the ATI Super Damper, a bit of planning, research, prep, and parts purchasing was necessary for me. To ease in the installation, I purchased (not all at the same time):
The Lisle weighted socket came the day after ordering (via Amazon) so I decided to move forward with the project. Crank pulley removal first required loosening the alternator to remove the belt, which is easy enough. The only weirdly tricky part was removing the most rearward nut because of the small space to work in and the multiple obstacles. Having a high tooth count ratcheting spanner would make this less tricky but using the open end loosened it up quickly enough. Loosening the bolt on the opposite end of the alternator and then adjusting the alternator to remove the belt made for relatively simple first steps.
I then jacked the car up (not enough it turns out), took the rear passenger wheel off, set the wheel under the car, and got my various impacts guns ready. Sprayed some Aero Kroil on the crank bolt and left it overnight. The next day, I busted out my tried-and-true Craftsman 7.5amp corded electric wrench. I've had this thing for forever and wanted to see how it would perform against my other impacts (none of which were high torque models). With the weighted socket on its ½" anvil, the Craftsman huffed and puffed and dugga dagga'd but the crank bolt didn't budge. A minute later, with the weighted socket, on a ⅜" to ½" adaptor on my ⅜" Milwaukee mid-torque, the crank bolt succumbed to about 20 seconds of impact application. Success! YMMV, but the 600ft lbs of removal torque was enough for my NSX's crank bolt. The Craftsman impact had 450ft lbs according to its specs. Was happy (and sad) that I didn't need to buy/borrow a high torque impact gun. Removing the actual crank pulley was super easy (since it's not interference/press fit) - just pull it off. I cleaned the area up and slathered on some anti-seize on the crank snout. Let it sit for a few minutes while I cleaned the workspace up and then wiped off the excess with a blue towel. Pushed the tip of a finger on the snout to see how much anti-seize was on the crank snout. I wanted a thin thin film so it didn't interfere with the press fit process of the hub.
The ATI Super Damper soon arrived and I took it out to make sure everything was there. It came with installation instructions, an SFI number for race org tech, a slip of paper indicating that someone QC'd the unit, and three all important stickers (one of which was a cool representation of the ATI Super Damper face - see pics). The Proform installer and puller came next and I spent a few hours of the course of several days to familiarize myself with its use. I then realized that the highest setting of my set of torque wrenches only go to 150ft lbs so I began to wonder who I could borrow the tool from. The NSX's crank bolt requires 181ft lbs. I decided that this would be a good tool to have because I would be using it all the time when working on our various cars. I researched the various Snap-On, Mac, and Gear Wrench offerings, et al. Watched some comparison videos and became impressed the HF Icon digital torque wrench. What I thought would be a good tool is now on the level of a toy. I can play with presets, memory, overs, head length, LCD contract, back light, cycles, lights, beeps, all kinds of stuff. The included calibration sheet on the wrench showed it was spot on - never more than .2 tenths of the various ft. lbs settings. Granted, the spec sheet could be total BS but the wrench tested favorably against its brethren on various wheel lugs on our cars. Good enough for me.
The longest wait was for the Honda crank bolt and key. ATI recommended installing a new crank bolt and I bought a new key as well. Bought on a Saturday morning and shipped the following Wednesday, the Honda parts arrived two days later on Friday. I was pretty sure I had everything needed for installation but couldn't get to the project until Sunday and, even then, it would be after church and lunch.
I put on my garage/mechanic clothes and got to work. This stage is where I would have done some things differently. The ATI Super Damper is press fit and one of the methods to aid in installation is to heat it up in a pot of boiling water to 200 degrees F. No more, no less than 200 degrees F. I read about this in various groups, websites, etc. but decided that I would just use the installer/puller. The collar on the install tool requires a 1 1/16" wrench, which I fortunately had in the tool chest drawer. Unfortunately, I bought it for a different project a few years ago, which at that time necessitated cutting the box-end portion of the wrench off. I only had the open-end and it was about 10.5" long in total. Still, if I needed to summon Archimedes and use a bit of leverage, the shaft of the now 10.5" wrench would fit in my cheater bar. "No problem." The new harmonic balancer pulley and install tool were placed on the crank snout and on the adapter. "No problem." The install process includes holding the end of the shaft in place with a 19mm socket, 6" extension, and wrench (which I placed against conveniently against the brake caliper) while you turn the collar with the 1 1/16" wrench. I quickly realized that the now 10.5" open-ended wrench with the cut off box end is pretty sharp. I also realize that I have very little room to maneuver to turn the collar with the wrench. I also also realize that press fit is a bit tighter than I thought - especially considering the amount of room to work in, which was, for me, within one of the very limited spaces of the lower suspension arm. I'm now thinking; "I should have jacked the car up higher" so the available space to work in is greater and "I could probably use that cheater up to make this easier but I'm lazy and will just suffer through." My cheater bar was almost too long to be of any real use.
After about 30 minutes of slow progress of turning the install collar about an ⅛ of a turn each time, the new harmonic pulley was finally seated. Whew. Press fit is no joke. I realize "10 minutes of boiling this thing would have probably saved 20 minutes of install time." Turns out the steel hub of the aluminum NSX specific Super Damper may need to be honed to aid in install and while I didn't do that, it's a good idea to take measurements of the crank snout OD and the hub ID with a micrometer to ensure fitment. I used digital calipers (Mitotoyo brand and an HF model) to measure but a micrometer is going to be more accurate. It's an even better idea to measure those at multiple points around the crank snout and in the pulley hub to confirm fitment. If you need the hub bore ID honed and don't want to do it yourself, ATI states that they can do it for $40.
To placate my mind that the ATI pulley was fully seated, I took a carpenter square and made sure that the alternator pulley and harmonic balancer were properly aligned. I also took a depth measurement of the crank snout with the HF digital calipers, which was about 6.5mm with both OE and ATI pulleys (measured from where the crank bolt washer touches the pulley and face of the crank snout).
Next was torquing down the crank bolt and using my new digital torque wrench "tool." For this, I put the car in 5th gear, confirmed that the emergency brake was on, called in my son to keep his foot on the brake pedal, and made sure the wheel chocks were tightly placed on each side of the driver side rear wheel. The new crank bolt was threaded on without a problem and tightened a bit with another wrench and socket combo. With that installed, I set the car to "On," put the ½" 6 point 19mm socket on the torque wrench, finagled it on the crank bolt, and asked my son to press hard on the brakes. Starting with about 30ft lbs of torque, I again was faced with small incremental progress until, with more force than I anticipated, I was finally able to fit the required torque spec. Actually, I went .7 over (see pics), which is now in my "tool's" torque and over memory functions. I can't help but think that having more room to maneuver and use leverage would be have made even this part much easier and less straining.
Looking back, to make the process as easy and trouble free as possible, the things I'd do differently are: 1) make sure there's plenty of room to work and then consider even more space, 2) take a lot of good measurements to ensure crank snout and hub specs are accurate, 3) boil the damper to make it as easy as possible to install.
Next up is making sure the belt tension is to spec, which requires waiting for that tool.
Hope this helps someone!
Before even buying the ATI Super Damper, a bit of planning, research, prep, and parts purchasing was necessary for me. To ease in the installation, I purchased (not all at the same time):
- Proform Harmonic Balancer Install and Puller Tool (#66514)
- Precision Performance Thread Adaptor (16 x 1.5mm x ½")
- Lisle Weighted Harmonic Balancer Socket (#77080)
- Honda Crank Bolt (#90019-PR7-A01)
- Honda Key (#90704-PH7-000)
- HF Icon Digital Torque Wrench (#56683)
- Gates Tension Tester (#7401-0076)
The Lisle weighted socket came the day after ordering (via Amazon) so I decided to move forward with the project. Crank pulley removal first required loosening the alternator to remove the belt, which is easy enough. The only weirdly tricky part was removing the most rearward nut because of the small space to work in and the multiple obstacles. Having a high tooth count ratcheting spanner would make this less tricky but using the open end loosened it up quickly enough. Loosening the bolt on the opposite end of the alternator and then adjusting the alternator to remove the belt made for relatively simple first steps.
I then jacked the car up (not enough it turns out), took the rear passenger wheel off, set the wheel under the car, and got my various impacts guns ready. Sprayed some Aero Kroil on the crank bolt and left it overnight. The next day, I busted out my tried-and-true Craftsman 7.5amp corded electric wrench. I've had this thing for forever and wanted to see how it would perform against my other impacts (none of which were high torque models). With the weighted socket on its ½" anvil, the Craftsman huffed and puffed and dugga dagga'd but the crank bolt didn't budge. A minute later, with the weighted socket, on a ⅜" to ½" adaptor on my ⅜" Milwaukee mid-torque, the crank bolt succumbed to about 20 seconds of impact application. Success! YMMV, but the 600ft lbs of removal torque was enough for my NSX's crank bolt. The Craftsman impact had 450ft lbs according to its specs. Was happy (and sad) that I didn't need to buy/borrow a high torque impact gun. Removing the actual crank pulley was super easy (since it's not interference/press fit) - just pull it off. I cleaned the area up and slathered on some anti-seize on the crank snout. Let it sit for a few minutes while I cleaned the workspace up and then wiped off the excess with a blue towel. Pushed the tip of a finger on the snout to see how much anti-seize was on the crank snout. I wanted a thin thin film so it didn't interfere with the press fit process of the hub.
The ATI Super Damper soon arrived and I took it out to make sure everything was there. It came with installation instructions, an SFI number for race org tech, a slip of paper indicating that someone QC'd the unit, and three all important stickers (one of which was a cool representation of the ATI Super Damper face - see pics). The Proform installer and puller came next and I spent a few hours of the course of several days to familiarize myself with its use. I then realized that the highest setting of my set of torque wrenches only go to 150ft lbs so I began to wonder who I could borrow the tool from. The NSX's crank bolt requires 181ft lbs. I decided that this would be a good tool to have because I would be using it all the time when working on our various cars. I researched the various Snap-On, Mac, and Gear Wrench offerings, et al. Watched some comparison videos and became impressed the HF Icon digital torque wrench. What I thought would be a good tool is now on the level of a toy. I can play with presets, memory, overs, head length, LCD contract, back light, cycles, lights, beeps, all kinds of stuff. The included calibration sheet on the wrench showed it was spot on - never more than .2 tenths of the various ft. lbs settings. Granted, the spec sheet could be total BS but the wrench tested favorably against its brethren on various wheel lugs on our cars. Good enough for me.
The longest wait was for the Honda crank bolt and key. ATI recommended installing a new crank bolt and I bought a new key as well. Bought on a Saturday morning and shipped the following Wednesday, the Honda parts arrived two days later on Friday. I was pretty sure I had everything needed for installation but couldn't get to the project until Sunday and, even then, it would be after church and lunch.
I put on my garage/mechanic clothes and got to work. This stage is where I would have done some things differently. The ATI Super Damper is press fit and one of the methods to aid in installation is to heat it up in a pot of boiling water to 200 degrees F. No more, no less than 200 degrees F. I read about this in various groups, websites, etc. but decided that I would just use the installer/puller. The collar on the install tool requires a 1 1/16" wrench, which I fortunately had in the tool chest drawer. Unfortunately, I bought it for a different project a few years ago, which at that time necessitated cutting the box-end portion of the wrench off. I only had the open-end and it was about 10.5" long in total. Still, if I needed to summon Archimedes and use a bit of leverage, the shaft of the now 10.5" wrench would fit in my cheater bar. "No problem." The new harmonic balancer pulley and install tool were placed on the crank snout and on the adapter. "No problem." The install process includes holding the end of the shaft in place with a 19mm socket, 6" extension, and wrench (which I placed against conveniently against the brake caliper) while you turn the collar with the 1 1/16" wrench. I quickly realized that the now 10.5" open-ended wrench with the cut off box end is pretty sharp. I also realize that I have very little room to maneuver to turn the collar with the wrench. I also also realize that press fit is a bit tighter than I thought - especially considering the amount of room to work in, which was, for me, within one of the very limited spaces of the lower suspension arm. I'm now thinking; "I should have jacked the car up higher" so the available space to work in is greater and "I could probably use that cheater up to make this easier but I'm lazy and will just suffer through." My cheater bar was almost too long to be of any real use.
After about 30 minutes of slow progress of turning the install collar about an ⅛ of a turn each time, the new harmonic pulley was finally seated. Whew. Press fit is no joke. I realize "10 minutes of boiling this thing would have probably saved 20 minutes of install time." Turns out the steel hub of the aluminum NSX specific Super Damper may need to be honed to aid in install and while I didn't do that, it's a good idea to take measurements of the crank snout OD and the hub ID with a micrometer to ensure fitment. I used digital calipers (Mitotoyo brand and an HF model) to measure but a micrometer is going to be more accurate. It's an even better idea to measure those at multiple points around the crank snout and in the pulley hub to confirm fitment. If you need the hub bore ID honed and don't want to do it yourself, ATI states that they can do it for $40.
To placate my mind that the ATI pulley was fully seated, I took a carpenter square and made sure that the alternator pulley and harmonic balancer were properly aligned. I also took a depth measurement of the crank snout with the HF digital calipers, which was about 6.5mm with both OE and ATI pulleys (measured from where the crank bolt washer touches the pulley and face of the crank snout).
Next was torquing down the crank bolt and using my new digital torque wrench "tool." For this, I put the car in 5th gear, confirmed that the emergency brake was on, called in my son to keep his foot on the brake pedal, and made sure the wheel chocks were tightly placed on each side of the driver side rear wheel. The new crank bolt was threaded on without a problem and tightened a bit with another wrench and socket combo. With that installed, I set the car to "On," put the ½" 6 point 19mm socket on the torque wrench, finagled it on the crank bolt, and asked my son to press hard on the brakes. Starting with about 30ft lbs of torque, I again was faced with small incremental progress until, with more force than I anticipated, I was finally able to fit the required torque spec. Actually, I went .7 over (see pics), which is now in my "tool's" torque and over memory functions. I can't help but think that having more room to maneuver and use leverage would be have made even this part much easier and less straining.
Looking back, to make the process as easy and trouble free as possible, the things I'd do differently are: 1) make sure there's plenty of room to work and then consider even more space, 2) take a lot of good measurements to ensure crank snout and hub specs are accurate, 3) boil the damper to make it as easy as possible to install.
Next up is making sure the belt tension is to spec, which requires waiting for that tool.
Hope this helps someone!Attachments
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