1973 duster 340 counter or neutral balance

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fgrossi

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hi guys i am doing a auto to manual tranny swap,can anyone tell me if i will need the counter balance or neutral balance flywheel for my car and did the 73 duster 340 come with a cast crank?

thanks
 
hi, if your dampner has a horseshoe on the front, its external balanced and has a cast crank. could have a trough cut on face, part way around. as i remember, 73 /340 were all cast cranks. the convertor will have weights on it also.
 
can i see this by looking under the car?sorry not good on trannies.
 
Look at the harmonic balancer, it will have a counter weight on it and I think it will say "340 cast crank only" too. Note that you need a specific flywheel for 340 cast crank engine. (it is different fro a 360 and a 360magnum) The old MP chassis manual tells you how to modify a neutral balance flywheel to work.
 
I Think Steel Cranks Ended Mid Year 71???
Any Experts Out There Know.
 
The first cast crank was the '71 360. That was also the first year of production for the 360. The next one was the '72 400 and that was also it's first year. In '73 this plague was foisted on the 318 and the 340. The 318 could still be internally balanced but the 340 needed a little external help due to the large bore size. The harmonic balancer had "for cast cranks only" cast into it to give the line techs a heads up and prevent imbalance due to parts swapping. There is a theory floating around that there were some late production '72 340s with the cast crank. I'm still waiting to see one. The 440 was next up in '74 and last but not least, was the mighty slant in '76. Could be off a little since I was off a lot back then (it WAS the '70s). FWIW, I went to work at a C/P dealership as a lot jockey when I got my license in 1969. Left for greener pastures (Ma Bell) in '77, and if I had it to do over, would have stayed where I was since I was next in line for a Service Writer position.
 
Is it possible to drill the right sized hole into a neutral balance flywheel and use it in my 73 duster with a 340? How do you make what I have (neutral balance flywheel) work?
 
Forges crank balancer on left, cast crank balancer on right! Forged=skinny and no ring, cast= wider and has additional ring on front! Just look down behind your crank pulley, you should be able to tell right quickly which crank you have! Geof
 

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Clamcake said:
Is it possible to drill the right sized hole into a neutral balance flywheel and use it in my 73 duster with a 340? How do you make what I have (neutral balance flywheel) work?
Click to expand...

Yes there is a drawing in the mopar chassis manual. It is drilling a few holes in a specific location. If someone else doesn't post one up, I will try and find it tonight.
 
grumpuscreature said:
The first cast crank was the '71 360. That was also the first year of production for the 360. The next one was the '72 400 and that was also it's first year. In '73 this plague was foisted on the 318 and the 340. The 318 could still be internally balanced but the 340 needed a little external help due to the large bore size. The harmonic balancer had "for cast cranks only" cast into it to give the line techs a heads up and prevent imbalance due to parts swapping. There is a theory floating around that there were some late production '72 340s with the cast crank. I'm still waiting to see one. The 440 was next up in '74 and last but not least, was the mighty slant in '76. Could be off a little since I was off a lot back then (it WAS the '70s). FWIW, I went to work at a C/P dealership as a lot jockey when I got my license in 1969. Left for greener pastures (Ma Bell) in '77, and if I had it to do over, would have stayed where I was since I was next in line for a Service Writer position.
Click to expand...

I have a 72 cast crank 340 if I remember right the block was cast in February.
 
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