I've got a question regarding an engine buildup between two 292's (1961) engines for my '56 F100. Using a good crank from one engine, but balancer / pulley is very rusty and may be bent. Can I use a balancer from another (bad) 292? Holes drilled in balancer are vastly different (of course) - Truck will be used for putting around, no high revving stuff. Will it throw off the balance too much for excessive shaking or not? In all these years I've never run into this problem. Thanks in advance for your input. -JHinPA

 

Most dampers/balancers are junk by now, no way around it. The rubber elastomeric between the hub and balancer degrades. Trust me, you don't want this.

Can send the damper off for rebuilding - a couple biz that I'm aware of that perform this service are http://www.damperdoctor.com and http://www.damperdudes.net

Ran a bum damper for a long time, not a good plan imo. Have bought from this seller and it fit perfectly, fast shipping. Designed by J. Mummert

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=171119313455

 

To answer your question, No, this will not happen. Y-Blocks are internally balanced meaning the crank, rods and pistons are balanced together and the flywheel and damper are balanced separately. So you could use it.

That said, check your damper closely for cracks and replace as Tedster suggests. The outer ring has been known to rotate (throwing off you timing marks) and may come lose.

 

Good ideas! I will inspect closely, and check out the links if needed. I was about to install the "quick fix" ring to eliminate the oil seal groove, but I may reconsider. Thanks again! - JH

 

If neither is known to be good, then now is the time to either have one rebuilt or get a new one. You may not be able to tell anything only by looking.

 

The "may be bent" he mentioned sounds just like when they slip of their axis, they run crooked.

I'm curious about the internally balanced part. I've read about that before but am unclear why the balancer is necessary then. Why not just a simple pulley? These have drilled weights, but what are they balancing? Or, if they slip off their clock they are no longer balanced?

 

It's full name is HARMONIC balancer or vibration damper. It's to reduce vibrations or harmonics. It's not for balancing the rotating parts. Hope that makes sense??

 

OK, I get that. Sort of. Whose harmonics is it balancing? And if it slips off the index, it could introduce vibration back into the crank? It's no longer balanced to itself anyway. See where I'm goin' with that?

 

Harmonics in the crank.

Balancer is an incorrect term. It dampens harmonics. If the damping mass only slips, then you may not notice a thing about how the engine runs... until you check the timing in the future, find that it is off, and readjust to the correct setting, which is now incorrect and therefore it runs poorly (because the damping mass slipped and the timing was not actually off to begin with). The worst case is that the damping mass comes off completely and makes at least a hell of a noise and possibly causes some serious damage to some components at the front of the engine.
Early Ys didn't use a damper, it was just a pulley. I think that was '54 only, 239s, maybe 256. If you didn't have a damper, you probably wouldn't tell, but your engine may over time, particularly if you begin to modify it, with more compression and such.

 

Okay, Wiki to the rescue. The damper smooths out torsional vibrations. I knew that.

"Every time the cylinders fire, torque is imparted to the crankshaft. The crankshaft deflects under this torque, which sets up vibrations when the torque is released. At certain engine speeds the torques imparted by the cylinders are in synch with the vibrations in the crankshaft, which results in a phenomenon called resonance. This resonance causes stress beyond what the crankshaft can withstand, resulting in crankshaft failure. To prevent this vibration, a harmonic balancer is attached to the front part of the crankshaft. The damper is composed of two elements: a mass and an energy dissipating element. The mass resists the acceleration of the vibration and the energy dissipating (rubber/clutch/fluid) element absorbs the vibrations. Additionally the energy transferred from the piston to the crankshaft can induce as much as 2 degrees of twist in the crankshaft, which has many follow-on effects on all engine elements that require adequate timing such as valve opening, cam timing.

Over time, the energy dissipating (rubber/clutch/fluid) element will deteriorate from age, heat, cold, and exposure to oil or chemicals. Unless replaced, this can cause the crankshaft to develop cracks, resulting in crankshaft failure."

 

Howdy, JH!

Welcome aboard!


I have a single pulley stock damper from a '60 292 truck that I had rebuilt by the Damper Doctor that I am not going to use after all............
(I am using a dual pulley model on my 55 F-600....which of course, I'll have to have rebuilt!!)

If you want it, PM me with a reasonable offer + $20 to ship and I'll 2-day FEDEX it to you.


Regards,



Rick