Wrong Balancer??

[odin]

I never experienced having the wrong balancer on an engine but did experience a neutral balance converter on an external balanced engine and that will let you know right now quick....

That is exactly how my other 440 felt when I bought the car it came in. That was later rebuilt and internally balanced so all vibrations disappeared!

 

[RemCharger]

They will all be symmetrical bolt patterns.
Can't say for sure on the weight balance, but like I said they are the same on the rear of the crank... ( 2 planes are balanced, the front ,and rear of the crank.)

 

[Lefty71]

do not know anything about the build including which crank it has

Judging by your pix, very little is OEM on that motor.
You need to concentrate your efforts on finding the guy who balanced the bottom end and any paperwork he generated.
No way would I go swapping parts under the pretense that you are correcting things that may not be wrong!!

 

[odin]

Judging by your pix, very little is OEM on that motor.
You need to concentrate your efforts on finding the guy who balanced the bottom end and any paperwork he generated.
No way would I go swapping parts under the pretense that you are correcting things that may not be wrong!!

I already reached a dead end trying to find the builder. The last two buyers before me flipped it in less than a year and neither say they know anything about the build. That's why I am going around the car now and making a list of things that I "must" address and things that I "may" need to address. This being a "may" need to address item, I will drive it when I get the transmission installed with a kickdown cable and see how it feels.

 

[Longknife]

You can get a cheap endoscope and ID the crank through the drain plug hole.

Scope

 

[WileERobby]

All I can say is, I don't like moving forward on anything based on guesswork. I like a get down to basics approach, I'd want to know exactly what's in the reciprocating assembly before doing anything.

 

[odin]

I would run the engine and see if it vibrates. There are too many variables, to try and guess. It is possible that the engine builder knew what they were doing.

I installed the new transmission, ran the engine up to a couple thousand RPM with no vibration then took it for a drive for about 8 miles. It has a couple minor issues I still need to address regarding throttle linkage and oil leaks, but I felt no vibration and it ran strong. Thanks for all the input folks, but I will assume for now that it is externally balanced properly even though this is NOT the correct 440 balancer.

 

[Cranky]

I installed the new transmission, ran the engine up to a couple thousand RPM with no vibration then took it for a drive for about 8 miles. It has a couple minor issues I still need to address regarding throttle linkage and oil leaks, but I felt no vibration and it ran strong. Thanks for all the input folks, but I will assume for now that it is externally balanced properly even though this is NOT the correct 440 balancer.

What balancer did you put on it? If you feel a vibration in the higher rpm ranges then you might have the wrong one. If you feel it vibrate at a higher rpm, make note of the rpm (you have a tach, right?) and run it up to that rpm when stopped and see if you feel the same vibration.

 

[odin]

What balancer did you put on it? If you feel a vibration in the higher rpm ranges then you might have the wrong one. If you feel it vibrate at a higher rpm, make note of the rpm (you have a tach, right?) and run it up to that rpm when stopped and see if you feel the same vibration.

It has a cam lobe but NO noticeable vibration at any RPM

 

[Nismobishi]

I just went through this! I will tell you straight up that if it needs the weighted parts and you don't have them or if it doesn't need them and do have them, you will know! Before I found the right combination of parts for my 440 it vibrated so bad you could see the dash shake and all of the old rotted seat foam crumbled and shook out of my seats all over the floor! If it runs smooth as is then leave it!

Also, during my research I found that most of the 440 and 400 weighted parts are interchangable. That notched flex plate you have works on both the 400 and 440 cast crank big blocks which means that the balancers should interchange too for the most part. I got an aftermarket balancer from Jegs that has 2 removable weights for neutral balance, Six Pack rods, or cast crank engines. It's made by Pro Products. It the same one that Mancini Racing sells but quite a bit cheaper.

 

[oldkimmer]

The dampers are pretty much the same weight offset but the 440 with the longer stroke used a far thicker damper for the torsional vibrations. Also a 400 and a 440 cast crank torque converter have slightly different weights. The look pretty close but are off a hair. The aftermarket just made 1 flex plate to cover both so there is a slight imbalance each way. Kim