LT1 *Bent Crank Snout*
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Born/Raised North East, MD Lived in VA, NC, MI Back in Yorktown, Va
LT1 *Bent Crank Snout* So i bought a 94 z from a kid for 400$ and he said it has a bent crank snout.... he put an underdrive pulley on it and i didnt even notice til my old man said anything.... the balancer is pulled off and just has a pulley ( i will upload a video in a second)
I have not tried putting a belt on her yet and see what it does. but wondering what yall think?
Could I just throw a balancer on it and see how she does? Alo does anyone have a spare pulley and balancer they can lend for a little just so i can check it I will return it either mail and a gift card to a resturaunt to take the lady to or some monies for beer. or if youre local (New Jersey) ill order pizza and grab some drinks for the wrenching session
I have not tried putting a belt on her yet and see what it does. but wondering what yall think?
Could I just throw a balancer on it and see how she does? Alo does anyone have a spare pulley and balancer they can lend for a little just so i can check it I will return it either mail and a gift card to a resturaunt to take the lady to or some monies for beer. or if youre local (New Jersey) ill order pizza and grab some drinks for the wrenching session
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2006
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Some guys need to jack up the engine and put the jack under the balancer, which sounds horrible, but I know it is sometimes done that way. I guess that could be one way to bend the snout. I would try it your way because if it is screwed up, you should be able to tell, and if it isn't, then you are good to go.
I just can't imagine bending anything made of cast iron, cast iron is not a soft metal and I would think it would shear off way before it ever hit any real level of distortion.
I would suspect the pulley which was a bad idea was screwed up by bad install and that is what is wobbling.
I think you are on the right track wanting to just put a damper on it. Honestly shipping two ways is going to cost a good chunk of what you could get a cheap aftermarket damper for.
If it was run long term without the damper that could hurt bearings BUT if he installed the pulley wrong and made him think the crank was bent it might not have been run long.
I think you are on the right track wanting to just put a damper on it. Honestly shipping two ways is going to cost a good chunk of what you could get a cheap aftermarket damper for.
If it was run long term without the damper that could hurt bearings BUT if he installed the pulley wrong and made him think the crank was bent it might not have been run long.
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Born/Raised North East, MD Lived in VA, NC, MI Back in Yorktown, Va
I have a buddy is gonna hook me up with a balancer and a puley for the cost of shipping and ima throw him a couple bucks for a case of beer. but I have screwed up and missed the k member not paying attention and lifted the whole car on just the balancer and was like.... o **** but never had any issue. Fingers crossed its just a balancer and a pulley and im good to go!!! I cant wait to see
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Thread Starter
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From: Born/Raised North East, MD Lived in VA, NC, MI Back in Yorktown, Va
Thanks man. I will post a video tomorrow of what the thing is doing now. you can see a small amount of play in the crankshaft itself but doesnt seem to be anything that I would honestly worry myself with as all my vehicles seem to have a slight amount of wobble. and hopefully have a balancer and pulley mid week and see how it does
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If the balancer/pulley/damper part "wobbles" than address that...but "play" in the crank....no
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2013
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From: Newnan,GA
on the lt1 cars that is a zero balancer. it is internally balanced and the fly wheel is balanced in the rear. So the front is realy just a pully. If your car is shaking then you may have some problems.
I would take a real close look at that pulley. I had to change a perfectly running engine in a honda civic because someone stripped the crankshaft threads and decided to weld the balancer to the crank. Needless to say, it wobbled and looked like the crank was bent.
It is a damper and pulley, the damper part being very important.
Thread Starter
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From: Born/Raised North East, MD Lived in VA, NC, MI Back in Yorktown, Va
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,169
Likes: 1
From: Born/Raised North East, MD Lived in VA, NC, MI Back in Yorktown, Va
Just to make sure yall, just because now I am starting to second guess myself in every way.... The balancer is all I need right? the belt rolls around the balancer and than to the rest of the accessories right? I know its dumb and I am 99% sure but anymore lately I get worried about that 1% and just want to double check
TECH Veteran
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from this side of the internet we can't see wtf is wobbling...it could be damper or maybe the hub ears are bent because someone used a puller incorrectly trying to pull damper (big round part belt rides on) off and bent the ears. If hub is OK than you can just by a new damper...what you are calling a balancer
from this side of the internet we can't see wtf is wobbling...it could be damper or maybe the hub ears are bent because someone used a puller incorrectly trying to pull damper (big round part belt rides on) off and bent the ears. If hub is OK than you can just by a new damper...what you are calling a balancer
There is no balancer on the front of an LT1. The balancing weight is located on the flex plate for auto or flywheel that is balanced for the LT1 engine. There are typically two parts or 1 if you use an aftermarket hub and damper all in one.
1. Hub, hub is pressed on to the crank snout. Stock hub Has three ears or bolt hole tabs, after market ones tend to be round with an alignment pin and bolt holes to fit aftermarket dampers and stock ones as well.
2. Damper/crank pulley. There are aftermarket ones in stock size but they all really look alike. They bolt on and have the ribs for the belt to ride in to drive your accessories. I believe the stock ones have rubber in them between were they bolt to the hub and the pulley part that can be damaged or wear out and cause the part that drives the belt to wobble.
That said there are three types of under drive pulleys to my knowledge .
1. Bolt on that uses stock damper and hub.
2. replacement damper that is smaller diameter. that can be bolted to stock hub or aftermarket hub.
3. (I have only seen one of these once and it was not installed on an engine) The all in one hub and damper that has the hub built in to the damper. not as common on mostly stock engines.
If none of the above parts are wobbling or bent then it's time to check the flex plate (If it's an automatic car) and make sure the balancing weight is still on it. 6 speed cars can have clutch problems that cause vibrations but that's another topic all in its self.
On a side not there also are different size hubs for different year LT1's in vettes and F'bodies. Not sure about B bodies if they use a different size or not through the years. I think there are three different sizes and what that means is the total length of the hub that extends in to the engine to press against the crank sprocket or in 96-97 year f bodies to hold the 4x reluctor tight to the crank sprocket.
cool learned something new. Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Born/Raised North East, MD Lived in VA, NC, MI Back in Yorktown, Va
Well I got a stock dampner and put it on.... and she threw the belt right away...... what would cause play in the crank? there doesnt seem to be any issues with it running..... I dont get it. front main bearing? wouldnt I hear a knock or some noise?
Looks like ill be doing a swap here soon. luckily ill get my hookers thrown on now....
Looks like ill be doing a swap here soon. luckily ill get my hookers thrown on now....