Why is the washer so thick? I bought a new one and the washer is 1/4 inch thick. Does it really need to be that thick?

The reason I ask is I had to have a 3/8 inch thikc spacer made for my crank pully so it woul line up with my water punp and ideler pullys (Z V8 swap). Now with the thick washer, I cannot get the threads to engage into the end of the crank. If I were to get a longer grade 8 (that is what the current one is) and/or a thinner washer, will everything be okay? I an thinking longer bolt.

Thanks.

Get a longer bolt. The washer is thick to keep it from deforming and sinking into the hole in the balancer when it is tightened. It is there to hold the balancer on and it can't do that if it's squished into the hole. Get a grade 8 bolt and make sure the threads in th ecrank are clean and good. Be sure the bolt has good thread engagement (1/2" minimum) and doesn't bottom out or the threads will strip in the crank. If the crank does get stripped, you can tap it out to 1/2"-20 and use the appropriate bolt. Been there, done that several times.

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1986 SE 350 V8

Thanks.