How interchangeable are 318 harmonic balancers?

There will be much more of that motor made/cast in Australia than you suspect.

A country with a history of mining and quarying had pleanty enough engineering capability.

The car you have has suffered that "miles away from home" neglect by the look of things...

Or was purchased from a "just need it gone" situation.

The Australians made the balancers and covers as a matched pair. if they could make a balancer for a hemi 6 they can make a 318 one.
Something is amis with your combination, but any cover off any LA 318 will fit but may not have the tab in the right place.

if you take the attitude that its a 1968 car you won't go far wrong.

wait till you get onto the brakes.... :) what a mixture... :)
small balljoint/ small inner bearing stub axles with 4 or 4.5 inch PCD.
3.5 inch mounting like US for calipers but the kelsey hayse stud bracket is smaller than US
rear is 9 inch drums. rockauto can help in all area but Borgwarner specifc back plate.

The Aussie engine plant in lonsdale SA was built at great expense in the mid 60s to provide hemi 6 motors for the world market, that currently had been using slant 6 engines.
It was a marval of modern engineering with 3 engine dyno rooms and state of the art casting facilities, technology straight off the back of the LA engine programme in the US.
biggest and most technically up to date engine plant in the southern hemisphear when built.
Doomed to unprofitability and under-use due to chrylser US pulling the plug on the hemi 6 becoming the all markets 6 cylinder WORLD ENGINE of the 70s

The Aussies cast the 225, 215-265 hemi 6, 273 and 318 blocks n heads

They had the equipment and expertise. local and seconded from Chrysler in the US.

they made steel and cast cranks, cast oil pumps, pressed rocker tins and front covers,

locally made water pumps. pressed rockers of all types

the hemi 6 used pressed ballstud mount rockers, the australians managed success here where the US parent company didn't.

Deicated teams and high quality. materials were good, you'd be hard pushed to find a bellhousing that needs offset dowels and its quite hard to break the tiny 7 3/4 inch borgwarner diff used .

If you check the con rods from an aussie 318 or indeed 225 or 265 the small ends are prefectly in the middle of the small end casting.

show me a US set where that is the case, 4 of the 8 will be offset.
both are dimensionaly correct, centre to centre, but one inspires more confidence than the other.

they also persisted with Higher CR motors longer due to the slower impact of smog rules
they imported 340s 360s complete and 904 and 727 complete

but the vast majority of cars had locally produced engine, trans and axle.


Dave