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dampener alignment

C

coincidentally

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i recently ripped my 350 apart and built it up to a 383. The engine is back in the truck, but I am having a hard time get ting the pulley on the harmonic balancer lined up with the other pulleys correctly.
I saw some mention before that when you install the dampener, keep putting it on until it hits the crank timing gear, but i also read install it so that 4 inches of the crank installer bolt is exposed after the dampener.

Also, my dampener pulley has 3 slots on it for belts. the 2 closest to the engine are the same dimensions, and the outermost one is a bit bigger than the other 2. With the way the pulley is installed right now, the middle slot lines up with the middle slot on the water pump pulley, and the alternator pulley. And the inner most pulley on the water pump and crank pulley match up with the power steering pulley. Is this the way everything is matched up with everyone elses blazers?

The crank centerbolt I was using was a mr gasket centerbolt I picked up, and it measures 2 1/4 inches, yet with the way everthing is lined up right now, it barely reaches the first thread in the crank nose. I ended up having to buy a 3" bolt from lowes (its a grade 5 bolt, they dont have fine thread grade 8 bolts for some reason) something seems wrong with the whole deal.

Also, The reason why I felt like I shouldnt put the dampener on further than it already is, is because I installed one of those timing tabs, that bolt onto 2 of the timing cover bolts, and if I put the dampener on further it covers up the timing marks on the dampener.

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
That damper needs to be tightened all the way onto the nose of that crank. There is no adjustment there. Make sure you properly torque it also.

I hope I'm not misunderstanding the question
 
since the dampener is supposed to be installed flush against the crank gear, how does the pulley arrangement go then?

does the power steering belt just go from crank pulley to puwer steering pulley? or does it go around the water pump pulley as well?

putting the dampener on all the way seems like it kind of defeats the purpose of the timing tab, because the dampener would be completley under the tab, making the timing marks hidden.

just seems kind of wierd to me
 
I don't know about the belt configuration on your small block since I am running a Big Block. But I'm sure all that will come together once the damper is properly installed.
As for the timing mark, some of the aftermarket timing tabs are on crack if you get my drift. Do you have the original one. I would stick with that if you do.

But yes, that damper does need to be seated fully on to that crankshaft.
 
okay, I will fully seat the dampener when I get home later today. The engine never had a timing tab on it, and I figured it would be a nice feature on the newly built engine. I think it was a mr. gasket tab...

I'll look around to see if I can find any tabs that are thinner.

thanks for your help btw
 
No problem. BTW have you seated it fully yet? You may find that the tab still leaves a window to be able to view the timing mark on the damper.
Good luck, let us know if any other gremlins appear
 
it isnt seated yet, my guess is that there is still a bit of a ways to go before it is fully seated. I havnt yet because I am at work for another couple hours. I will tonight though.
What is kind of funny (well not really) is that I actually started out using a brand new dampener I bought from (fluidampnr) and when I tried installing it on the crank, apparantly the dampener was a bit too small and when I pressed it on, the crank ripped a bit of the inside of the dampener out (luckily the crank wasnt damaged at all) and since it was missing some material, the dampener could go on a lot looser now, and I wasnt sure if I could still use it because the scrapes where kind of uneven and I was worried it would go on a tiny bit crooked. I think it is kind of wierd that they would make a dampener that is too small for the crank it is supposed to go onto, you know? i'm just kind of venting now I guess
 
i was using a miloden (I think it was miloden brand) balancer installer. It looked like a really long bolt, with smaller threads on the front end, which screws into the crank, and bigger threads along the rest which large nut spins on. there was a thrust bearing between the nut and the balancer to keep things from getting scraped, and you just turn the bug nut with a wrench.
 
Okay, that sounds good. Did semi-start the balancer on to the crank nose with your hands first (kind of with a rocking motion) to get it started. Just curious, sounds odd that would happen. Guess it's possible you got the wrong damper eh?
 
originally I was using an aftermarket dampener. But right now I have the stock dampener on it (or at least the one that was on the engine before I took it apart. It looks stock though).
 
i pushed it on with my hand, but I am not sure how straight it would get the dampener going. Someone else told me I should have tapped it with a rubber hammer just to get it started, that seemed to work fine when I put the old dampener back on, but I still dont know if the replacement dampener I got was undersized or something. However I checked a couple times and the dampener I got was definately for a chevy 350.

also, tonight I seated the dampener on the crank as far as it would go (against the crank gear) but it doesnt seem like the pulleys line up properly. it looks like either the dampener needs to go on more (which it doesnt look like it could do) or be pulled back some, which brings me to the original problem of the crank centerbolt not reaching. The pulleys ARE all supposed to be lined up perfectly right?
 
I'm pretty sure 89PurpleJimmy hit the nail on the head. Although I'm not sure if the 400 damper I.D. is different from the 350's I do know that they are two totally different dampers, because the 400 is internally balanced and the 350's are externally (or is that vice versa...I'm getting tired)

So are you saying right now you have a 350 damper on a 400 shaft?
 
i know that 350's are supposed to be internally balanced. the 383 stroker kit I bough (which had the 400 crank) was internally balanced to accept a 350 flywheel/flexpate and a 350 dampener. so as far as all the parts are concerned I should only need to get parts for a 350. and since I am now using the same dampener that was on the engine before I took it apart, things should be fine right?
 
Right. I would still look into why that Fluidampr won't work though. Take it to one of your local shops and see what they say.
 
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