Balancer slides in on install

Bewy said

It will be ok, but you need more tq on the bolt. Millions of Pontiac engines had dampeners that slid in place by hand...............& didn't fail. They used a 5/8" bolt that was torqued to 160. Nothing special about the bolt except it was grade 8. From memory, Chrys used a 3/4" bolt, so proportionally more tq.

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Great advice IF he was building a Pontiac. He's not. Pontiac is the ONLY American V8 that I know of that doesn't use a press fit.

Chevrolet built engines without a crank bolt in the damper. Press fit held it on.

The key is not designed to carry the load, so that's another issue with slipping it on.

The key is there to make timing the engine quick and easy. You can leave the key out if it has press and it won't hurt a thing. That key makes assembling the engines when new much easier. They literally just stick the damper on. They don't verify TDC or anything.