yeah, if it was good and tight you are prob fine.

excellent post above.

that space thing might be better called a wear ring. leave it to those germans to give you a removable wear surface! excellent!

tom w

I was able to draw the balancer all the way on without the crankshaft turning. When it was time to apply the final torque of 270-330 Nm, I jammed the balancer by placing a 1/2" extension bar through one of the balancer slots and underneath the upper oil pan lip. This is exactly what is illustrated in the engine service manual for my year model ('82.) (Yes, the manual actually shows a picture of a 1/2" extension bar through the balancer.)

For earlier models with the 722.120 transmission, the service manual calls for the use of a tool which appears to lock the flywheel. Maybe those vehicles have a different balancer without the cutouts. My balancer had a rounded notch into which the extension bar fit nicely.

We're up and running again !! Thanks to all !!
 

Well - We’re up and running again. My thanks to the many of you who have helped along the way.

I must be the luckiest DIYer in town.
The old front crank seal popped right out with the removal tool. The spacer behind it slid smoothly off the crank. I cleaned all that up real good. Put the new seal in (quite slowly) with a soft mallet and a block of wood. I see what you mean by the spacer going on after the seal. It really didn’t look worn, but I flipped it over and put it back in through the seal. The HB took more time to clean then to install. I hit it dead on the first shot. I could push it on with my hands and then light tapping with a soft mallet about a third of the way. Looked like it was aligned, so I put the bolt in, and that pulled it right on. Pulled the bolt just to check everything was on and flush. Spent a fair bit of time cleaning the pulley assembly before installation. Enough dirt/grit/grease in there to throw everything off balance. Yuck. The face that mounts to the HB was a bit nicked up around the holes from the shear. So, I did a little draw filing across it turning 90 degrees every few draws, then 120. Didn’t really take anything off of it, just got it nice and flat/smooth and clean for mating. Getting the first bolt in was a chore but didn’t take more than about a minute. Thanks for the torque specs. I did go with a drop of Lock-Tite blue just for grins. Belts. Radiator. Trans lines. Fan. Coolant. Then, a nice smooth start up. Idled up to normal operating temp. Trans fluid check. Shut down. Checked belts. Checked coolant. No leaks. No worries.

Oh - I did go with 6ea MB OEM bolts. They were 2.00 each. (Ouch - for a bolt? Almost like aircraft parts!)
The new MB ones are T-45 head and not Allen head, for some reason. Oh-well - Was not a problem.

My thanks to all of you for the words of wisdom. This was my first venture into that area of the motor. I appreciate all your help.