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Need help finding a 400 balancer

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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 03:55 PM
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Need help finding a 400 balancer

I built a 400 for my nieghbors '78 F-350 Flat Bed 2 wheel drive auto. Found the balancer is bad and can't seem to find a new one anywhere. Napa, Pep-Boys, Kragen all say there is no such part. I have a friend at the local Ford Dealer looking but he didn't think he'd be able to find one. The bad one had Part # D7TE-BA on it. Anything you guys can tell me would be helpfull.
Thanks,
Steve
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 04:26 PM
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From: chicago burbs
call damperdudes and see if they'll rebuild yours for you,
http://www.damperdudes.net

if your timing tab is on the passenger side tell them to "clock" it the same as a Cleveland balancer.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 05:19 PM
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Tim, this forum's sponsor, carries them:

http://www.tmeyerinc.com/cart400cranks&etc.htm
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 05:58 PM
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When I built mine, I used one for a 351M, but I had the entire rotating assembly balanced. Physically they measured the same, and they are both 28.2 oz imbalance. In fact, all the small fords use the same 28.2 oz imbalance (81-up 302s use 50 oz imbalance) and they all have the same crank snout diameter. Technically there is no reason that you can't use a different balancer from a small ford.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 06:07 PM
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Thanks for the info guys. Now I'm just waiting for a response from TMI or the DampnerDudes to see if either of them have what I'm looking for. I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 06:10 PM
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Matts72,

I have a balancer from a 351m on the truck now and it's shaking pretty good. Since I just got the engine back together recently I'd rather not tear it back down to rebalance the rotating assembly. Thanks for responding though.
Steve
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 06:16 PM
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Its always easier to do things right the first time...
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 06:25 PM
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Sure is, too bad that my neighbor that the truck belongs to wanted to go cheap, so the machinist we ended up using probably wouldn't have done the balancing or would have charged a fortune to do it.

Oh well, you learn something new every day.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 06:33 PM
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I've built and helped build engines for others, and I make it clear that if they want any guarantees, they have to do it the way that I know how to do it. I would NEVER built a motor without balancing it, you might as well scrap the whole project.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 07:05 PM
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a engine which hasnt been balanced will shake itself to death, it puts a tremendous load on your bearings
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 08:18 PM
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You misunderstood me, the crank, rods, and pistons are balanced. What I meant was, the machinist would probably want an arm and a leg to do all of that again/now. Plus the machinist said it would take a little over a week, two and a half months later I finally got the engine back. Also, I really don't want to tear this engine out and down again.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 10:00 PM
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I guess I missed where you said that in the original post... I'm not trying to be rude (but I am anyway) it really helps us to help you if you can be as detailed and specific as possible. I'm simply amazed that a machinist would balance an assembly without including the flexplate/flywheel or harmonic balancer. I view these as critical to the balancing process.

I want to emphasize that putting a 400 balancer on will NOT fix the problem. The assembly must all be balanced together.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2007 | 11:54 PM
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Like I said originally, the balancer is bad and needs to be replaced. The rubber is coming out from between the two rings. The engine runs great, there was no vibration at high (4500) rpm or anything. But since the rubber is coming apart the outer ring tries to rub on the timing cover.
 
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 01:30 AM
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Your posts aren't lining up. First you say its got a 351M balancer, that the the machinist was too cheap to balance it, that it was balanced, now that the old balancer is shot...

If your motor was balanced with the 351M balancer, you should at least try to replace it with that balancer, it won't be exact, but its as close as you are going to get. There is no way for you to find a correct balancer, because you have changed the components that the factory uses. You could use any balancer you wanted, the bottom line is that the engine has to be balanced using all the rotating components at the same time. So, sorry to say it, but you are wasting your time trying to find a 400 balancer or spending the money throwing parts at it, it won't fix the problem.
 
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Old Aug 6, 2007 | 04:35 PM
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From: chicago burbs
Originally Posted by Matts72
Technically there is no reason that you can't use a different balancer from a small ford.
there are many different locations for the timing tab on variations of engines that might be potential candidates for the swap. there are also different pulley heights. take a gander at some of the choices on the damperdudes page to see the differences.

by all means support Tim if possible, who'dathunk he had balancers!?
 
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