small block chevy ques.

[daddyo54]

Will a 350 balancer work on a 283 ?I know it will fit on the crank but will it do it's job the way it's supposed to?

[Roothawg]

Hmmm....I don't know. It is actually a vibration dampner.
I know that a lot of the very early 265's- 283 had a solid dampener that really had no dampening effect. So to answer your question...I don't know. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Fat Hack]

It will work, and may actually help you bolt pulleys and such from a newer SBC onto an older one and get the belts lined up correctly.

The only "oddball" small block Chevy balancer is the one for the 400, those engines were externally balanced, so they have weights added to the dampner and the flywheel.

Other SBC dampeners are "neutral balanced", and will interchange if you choose to do so.

[daddyo54]

Yeah that why I wasn't sure.I'm about to put the 283 in my car but I don't have a balancerand I'm out of money. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gifBut I still have the bal. off a 350.

[36-3window]

a 283 had the harmonic balancer just pressed on.....the ones on a 350 also had a 7/16" NF bolt to help hold it on..i have never seen one come off ,i've only heard stories , but i'd be uneasy using the BIGGER 350 balancer on a 283 without that bolt.. can you drill the end of the 283 crank?

[daddyo54]

Yeah mines been drilled and tap for a retaining bolt.

[squirrel]

The balancer is actually a harmonic damper...it's job is to dampen the oscillations in the crankshaft. The 350 balancer is "tuned" to the longer stroke, so it won't be as effective on a 283 as the small balancer would. But it will work if that's all you can get.

I'd see if I could find a small damper, they can't be that rare.

[chromedRAT]

i have a small solid one. one of the 283s i had was a two-piece unit, the smaller dampener piece with a larger ring riveted to it with rubber in between. i used it and the matching flywheel when i did the swap in my impala. the solid pulley hub lookin style dampener is sittin on a shelf. i'd trade for something miniscule if you want it.

[Crease]

There's 2 timing mark positions. Gotta be careful of that. Researching the subject I found that SBCs are basically the same until you get to the SBC 400. Then the balancer and flexplate/flywheel become very noteably different. The will all bolt up, but they are balanced very differently.

[chromedRAT]

do you mean the twin timing tab on the timing chain cover, or different dampeners with different markings?

[Crease]

Different dampeners bolt up the same, but the timing mark is off by 2 hours. Crap drove me crazy til I figured it out! The after market timing tabs are made for the later balancers. If you need more info PM me and I'll look up the year it changed.

[buffaloracer]

Easiest to use the timing cover that went with the dampener. If you don't have it check for tdc and mark the new dampener.

[chromedRAT]

i'd be interested in knowing. my 61 and 64 manuals are of no help. the 61 manual shows the later, larger dampener with single timing tab and the 64 manual shows the small dampener with double timing tab. of the engines i have, the small dampener was on a 64 nova motor, the larger dampener was on a 65 motor. i couldn't figure it out, i suppose the 61 manual might not be an exact reproduction...?

[daddyo54]

Thanks for the help guys.Chromedrat thanks for the offer but I need to put the motor in tomorow or the next day so I'm going to hit some wrecking yards tomorow and look for one.

[Crease]

The timing mark was moved in 68'.

[chromedRAT]

that's a relief to hear about the timing mark, because i used the 65 engine's dampener on the 64 engine. thought maybe i screwed the pooch on that!

if you don't turn anything up, you know how to get ahold of me man. good luck at the yard!

[Plowboy]

I had a machinist buddy at the local car parts store tell me definitely run the 283 balancer or you will beat the main bearings out of it.

Another Buddy that builds race motors told me it didn't matter and that the bigger balancer would actually be better.

Now after reading this post I still don't know the right answer!

[squirrel]

maybe there's more than one right answer?

on the dual tab covers, I think that was so they could use the same cover on either the 283 (small damper) or 327 (medium sized damper).

The position of the timing mark changed in the later 60s. I make it a habit to get the damper on before the heads, so I can mark where TDC really is.

[daddyo54]

Well no luck today it won't stop raining.My timing cover is an aftermarket job anyway.I just can't wait to get this damn thing back on the road it's been down since the round up. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Rand Man]

Chances are good that your aftermarket cover will match the 350 timing marks. This balancer cover miss-match is more common than many think. I've had two cars with this trouble. I was thinking the date was '65 but '68 makes more sense. That was the year of the change from small to large journal cranks. I don't know the exact story, but I think it was changed to make the marks easier to see.

[bdrake]

I’m building a 283, down to little stuff now, and had to replace my balancer. I asked at the machine shop and he told me to replace it with one of the same diameter, others said any sbc except the 400 would work while the some racer guys said to use something else.

I finally measured mine and went down to my local parts store and bought a new one the same as I took off. It took a few days to get in but felt I was better off with a new one of the same size.