BAKED

iTrader: (14)

I was curious if anyone else had done this, I had a buddy of mine who is a machinist machine the back part of my balancer off, the section where your AC belt would go. He did not take out any part of the center section that actually holds it together, just about an inch or so off the back. Anyway, it knocked off about 8lbs off of it. I'll download the pics in a little while and post them.

BTW the machining was done before the balancing of the bottom end. It's not like I pulled my balancer off of a motor that was already together and had it machined on.

santiago

iTrader: (28)

was this just to do some weight reduction or machine it for a double roller chain? waiting on the pics

BAKED

iTrader: (14)

Just to knock off weight off the rotating assymbly.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

I've heard that knocking too much weight off the crank can harm the harmonics of the crank, hence the term 'harmonic balancer'.

Personally, I'd rather knock the 8lbs off the flywheel since it is a larger diameter weight attatched to the crank.

N4cer

iTrader: (11)

It's not really a balancer in our case. It's just a zero-weight pulley. It serves no balancing/damping purpose. This isn't an old-school SBC ya know.

Good stuff, BAKED.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

Well, I've been wrong before, but I still think it would be better to drop the weight off the flywheel since it has a larger diameter, which requires more inertia to rotate. Any pictures of the balancer after modification?

I'd think that this could be an option for those guys who got rid of their a/c.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

It is a harmonic balancer, not a pulley. It is old school SBC, both run crankshafts, both develop harmonics as a result.

Eurospec2

iTrader: (2)

No, it does not perform as a balancer like the old small block chevy, you can remove the front pulley from an LS1 and your motor will still run fine, just leak a bunch of oil (ask me how i know )

Its a dampner with a pulley, not a balancer.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

Okay, so it's a harmonic dampner, no balancer. My bad, used the wrong termonology, but still, conveyed the same point.

Eurospec2, can you elaborate on your experience when you ran without the front pulley? (You did say 'ask me how I know')

Eurospec2

iTrader: (2)

LS1 Vette's stock crank bolts have a bad habit of backing off even when you install a new one and properly torque it down, following the head and cam swap on my vette i had this happen, pulley walked about 2 inches off the crank and i would not have even noticed until it started leaking oil bad and i felt it hitting the steering rack on my vette, the motor ran absolutely fine.

Mike454SS

iTrader: (4)

Go put a straight up pulley with no harmonic dampening on that car of yours and see how long the bearings hold up...run it for 10 minutes and do an oil analysis. It IS a dampener, it is NOT a balancer, the balancing is done without using the front pulley.

blueeyeddevil141

iTrader: (5)

You don't want to knock weight off the fly wheel, the fly wheel is used for momentum, it stores the rotational energy. Personally, I wouldn't **** around with the rotating assembly just to knock off some rotational mass.

BOWTIE

FYI, the only SBC that used the the damper as a balancer, was the 400. Oh and the newer 1pc rear seal cranks. Other than that all of them were internally balanced and used neutrally balanced dampeners. In fact it was not uncommon for some guys to remove the outer hub and elastomer and just use the center hub to plug the seal in the front cover and allow them to bolt a pulley to it. Only problem is you still have harmonics and before long it could and most likely would damage the crankshaft.

Phil99vette

iTrader: (11)

I've done at least 40 corvettes H&C installs and have never had a problem with a crank damper backing off. The key is using a new bolt and the proper torque procedure. #250 to seat it, replace bolt with new, if memory is correct #37 + 150 degrees.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Damper/balancer (I think you will find it defined as either), point is that it is more than a pulley. Run without it at your own risk. Why not call ATI and ask them about running without it.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

This is true if you are a drag racer and want to 60' well. But what you lose at the starting line in rotational energy is gained back once the clutch and flywheel are one to one. At that point, you are trying to accelerate everything in the driveline, and a disk that is 18" (approximating) in diameter and wieghs 30+ lbs will take a lot to accelerate since it is directly connected to the crank. The rest of the driveline has the benefit of gear reductio to aid in acceleration.

Both a heavy and light flywheel have their plusses and minuses. For an 1/8 mile car, the heavier flywheel will be of greater benefit, but I've read where people have gained et and mph going with a lighter flywheel and offsetting it with a slightly higher rear gear, i.e. 3.73 to 4.11.