New damper/balancer?

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MopaR&D

MopaR&D

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Another engine build question, I need to get a new harmonic damper for my 360 as the one the shortblock came with is old and crummy. The engine will have LA bottom end (crank+rods) with Magnum top end, I'm shooting for a reliable street engine with about 350 HP and about 6000 RPM max. Would a new stock-type damper like THIS work OK or should I spend an arm and a leg for a racing aftermarket one? That one's made in Australia BTW so quality should be good but...?
 
i wouldn't put a stock style one on it. i'g go with a sfi rated one.. no rubber to break the balance apart.
 
Get a name brand, non-imported one if at all possible. If you have to go imported, get an SFI rated one.
 
You don't a high price dampener/or balancer for external bal motors] you just need one in good shape. And you don't need to turn 6k in a 360 to make 350hp if the parts/combo's there, so thats another indicator of how much more than usual attention this area of your build needs.

I do agree that the summit piece is of quality and fairly priced for what you get.
The last dampener I bought was a redone stock dampener and only cost $50, I run my stuff hard..to say the least.

Remember....stock 340's factory advertised to spin 6k with warranty used stock balancer, not sfi and not hundreds of dollars either.
 
It would be nice to save money, I definitely could use it for the rest of the parts I need to finish my car. My main concern right now is getting the machine work finished, and I need a damper so the rotating assembly can be balanced. Could I just give my machinist the old damper for this while I wait to save up for a new one? I don't think I'll spin 6000 RPM now but I eventually want to swap heads and cam for more power depending on how thick the cylinders are (it was already bored .060" over).
 
If it's being externally balanced by a shop, they need the actual balancer that will be on it permanently. As for me, the last time I "saved money" on a balancer, it cost me over $1500 out of pocket and my customer a bunch of heartache, a lot of effort, and delayed his project. That one slipped the outer ring, which through the domino affect ruined the crank and filled the engine with metal. The couple hundred saved now may very well cost you thousands. Or it may not. Do what you feel comfortable with. Rock bottom budget is reusing the original, which if servicable isnt a bad idea but if you're going to buy, my advice is get a domestically produced one or an SFI one. Offshore non-SFI units IMO are no longer to be trusted.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
It would be nice to save money, I definitely could use it for the rest of the parts I need to finish my car. My main concern right now is getting the machine work finished, and I need a damper so the rotating assembly can be balanced. Could I just give my machinist the old damper for this while I wait to save up for a new one? I don't think I'll spin 6000 RPM now but I eventually want to swap heads and cam for more power depending on how thick the cylinders are (it was already bored .060" over).
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personally i wouldn't want one with rubber in it any way shape or form. but its your motor do what you want.if its just based on a money thing then put it on hold till you save the mover for the good parts.
 
I was just thinking out loud, if it's as much of a chance of failure as you guys imply then I'll get a new one. I'm spending money where necessary so it's a matter of waiting to buy a less-needed part until later.
 
Not trying to hijack but this is sorta' along the same line. I'm building a 408 & using the early timing marks, cast iron water pump, & matching pulleys, etc. Does anybody make a good SFI balancer that works with this setup? Or am I just stuck using this one?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-4452816/

I'm not trying to "cheap out" but this seems like a lot for what sounds like basically a stock balancer. I'm using a forged crank & I don't really plan on going over 6500 rpm. Mostly street use but might take it to the track once in a while.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
I was just thinking out loud, if it's as much of a chance of failure as you guys imply then I'll get a new one. I'm spending money where necessary so it's a matter of waiting to buy a less-needed part until later.
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Chance of failure , there's a chance of failure with new or old.

Don't let fear drive your decisions, some want everyone else to follow in there footsteps as a sort of validation of their own choice.

Everyone can ''what if'' all they want, it doesn't change the fact that I have buzz'n 7k on a rebuild stock balanced for almost 10 years now....

Moper had a failure with a oversea's product, not a stock balancer or even rebuilt here in the usa stock balancer, keep perspective and ask the right questions cause that will shed light.
 
some want everyone else to follow in there footsteps as a sort of validation of their own choice.
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and some are looking out for others so they don't have problems down the road and have the fun ripped out of the hobby for them..
 
abodyjoe said:
and some are looking out for others so they don't have problems down the road and have the fun ripped out of the hobby for them..
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Like someone said in another thread...it's obvious we are all trying to help otherwise we wouldn't be posting, I understand, really.

But how many times has someone had a outer ring slip and not know it, meanwhile driving around for days...untill they can't time it right, then they come here and we figure it out tell them to pick up another from the yard/jegs for 60 and they go on their way...no body ever tells them to go buy a performance balancer/sfi 'race sanctioned' approved/tci rattler etc.. and nobody loses their motor to it either.

maybe the guy buzz'n 8k+ or the guy who never listens/feels how his mill is doing has catastrophic issue...


This is all the guy needs...
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/51671/10002/-1?parentProductId=938152

And fear of elastomer to me is ridiculous, sox n martin,landy,petty....what did they do without these $300-$400 dampeners..
c what I mean? lol

What else are we in fear of?
So far I see people here going on about their fears of...
stock rod failure
cast iron crank failure
needle bearing rocker/harland sharp failure aluminum cycling....oh but wait...if it's the latest flavor of the week rocker arms, we exclud them from the fear list.....LOL, u know what I'm talking about right? ah haha ha
dont forget Stock shaft bolt/hold down failure

Meanwhile about 98.9% of the failure are user/mechanic/machinist related faults.

The list go's on, and people put hundreds of dollars into bells and whistles because of it.

To the op, do as you wish, but know that the jegs piece is really all you need but with the insurance of it being new and not having a mystery amount of miles/cycles on it.

And to all others ...please take this light heartedly....pretend we are talking over a burger and jokingly passing on are perspective.
:axe:
 
The balancer Abodyjoe posted is made for prorace in china, it has a retained inertia ring and is plenty beefy.
I should mention it has rubber in it, it's not solid metal.
They also make the identical balancer in Australia and it costs about twice as much, a touch over $300.
The original 46 year old damper is still fine after 6750 rpm rev limiter checks.
 

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like i said. do what ya want. its not my motor or my money. but i'm not putting any balancer on my motor that is held together with rubber. just don't trust the rubber ones made today or one with 40 years of use on it. it doesn't cost enough extra for an sfi thats not held together with rubber one not to buy one, but hey thats me. after seeing the one moper is talking about take out the entire motor with well under 500 miles on the motor no thank you. have seen a few stock ones separate on friends cars over the years also.
 
65TerrorCuda said:
The balancer Abodyjoe posted is made for prorace in china, it has a retained inertia ring and is plenty beefy.
I should mention it has rubber in it, it's not solid metal.
They also make the identical balancer in Australia and it costs about twice as much, a touch over $300.
The original 46 year old damper is still fine after 6750 rpm rev limiter checks.
Click to expand...

abodyjoe said:
like i said. do what ya want. its not my motor or my money. but i'm not putting any balancer on my motor that is held together with rubber. just don't trust the rubber ones made today or one with 40 years of use on it. it doesn't cost enough extra for an sfi thats not held together with rubber one not to buy one, but hey thats me. after seeing the one moper is talking about take out the entire motor with well under 500 miles on the motor no thank you. have seen a few stock ones separate on friends cars over the years also.
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If you read the post above yours...you'll see the one you reccomend has elastomer [rubber if you want to call it that] in it's construction and if that elastomer/rubber was to to fail...he'd be in the same boat again.

right?
 
didn't notice it when i posted it because it was on my phone. cruise ebay. plenty of them on there too. not hard to find.
 
I bought a Mopar Performance replacement balancer from Mancini and it has the rubber. Its made in the US. I bought it because I didn't want to deal with pulley alignment headaches. So far so good. But after seeing failures on this site and the one Moper is talking about no way I will buy another rubber one again.
 
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