I have been wanting to get a new SFI approved damper for some time.I have been wondering about the new lightweight pro seies fluidamper (in Jegs)it weighs about 6 pounds.It is about 3 pounds lighter than stock,would this throw my engine balance off?I just thought since I want one anyway,I could buy one with less reciprocating weight which would allow me to rev a little quicker.
Opinions please?

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92 GTA(only 226 made)ort matched sportsman heads with 2.05 valves,64 cc,milled .015,.028 head gaskets,port matched Accel runners,port matched plenum,port matched edelbrock intake,flow matched injectors,jet hot headers and 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust,Flowmaster muffler,underdrive pulleys,slp cam,1.6 rockers,slp cold air induction,52mm throttlebody,performance resource custom chip,Dyna module,Screamin Demon coil,Accel 8.8 wires,Bosch platinum plugs,timing at 10 degrees,tb bypass,relocated map sensor,shift kit,Fairbanks billet servo,pump vane kit & 2400 stall,Torque converter lockup switch,3.42 posi with welded axle tubes,Zexel Torsen HD diff.,Summit rearend girdle,solid pinion spacer,& alloy axles.Boxed panhard bar,lakewood lca's & edelbrock strut tower brace,Jeg's torque arm,Jegs welded in subframe connecters.Performance friction pads,turbo slotted front rotors,stainless braid brake lines.Roh ZT 17x8.5 front wheels with 255/40ZR/17 tires. 17x9.5 rear wheels with 275/40ZR/17's on the street.Hoosier 26x9.5 slicks on the strip.

 

No, it will not affect your engine balance. Our engines are balanced externally at the flywheel or flexplate, depending on transmission. But, our L98 engines still use neutral balanced harmonic dampers. So you can use a Fluidampr designed for neutral balance.

FWIW, I bought the SFI approved "fluid damper" from PAW. It is chrome plated, has the SFI sticker, looks identical to the "Fluidampr" brand and I was told by the salesman it is in fact mfg'd by Fluidampr. It only cost $129.95 though, which is a great buy and it works fine on my engine.


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FORMULA 350 TK
Southern California 3rd Generation F-Body Organization©

 

Thanks for the reply Tom.I knew about the 1 piece seal engines being having the counter-weighted flexplates,but I wasn't sure if the balancers were neutral balance or external balance like a 400 sbc.

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92 GTA(only 226 made)ort matched sportsman heads with 2.05 valves,64 cc,milled .015,.028 head gaskets,port matched Accel runners,port matched plenum,port matched edelbrock intake,flow matched injectors,jet hot headers and 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust,Flowmaster muffler,underdrive pulleys,slp cam,1.6 rockers,slp cold air induction,52mm throttlebody,performance resource custom chip,Dyna module,Screamin Demon coil,Accel 8.8 wires,Bosch platinum plugs,timing at 10 degrees,tb bypass,relocated map sensor,shift kit,Fairbanks billet servo,pump vane kit & 2400 stall,Torque converter lockup switch,3.42 posi with welded axle tubes,Zexel Torsen HD diff.,Summit rearend girdle,solid pinion spacer,& alloy axles.Boxed panhard bar,lakewood lca's & edelbrock strut tower brace,Jeg's torque arm,Jegs welded in subframe connecters.Performance friction pads,turbo slotted front rotors,stainless braid brake lines.Roh ZT 17x8.5 front wheels with 255/40ZR/17 tires. 17x9.5 rear wheels with 275/40ZR/17's on the street.Hoosier 26x9.5 slicks on the strip.

 

Since the damper is lighter, does this effect parasitic hp loss at all, like a lighter driveshaft does?

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There can be only one!!

 

Works kinda like smaller power pulleys do.

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Smaller pulleys create horsepower because they spin all of the parasitic components slower. It has nothing to do with their mass or their specific diameter. The lighter balancer, like a lighter fly-wheel will create less rotating mass, which means slightly more high rpm horsepower, but the rpms fall off quicker between shifts, so sometimes it's not so great for a manual car. Of course, a 3 lb difference would be totally negligable, but in THEORY that's what would happen.



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According to David Vizzard (some engine building wizard) light weight harmonic dampners DO NOT increase horsepower, they do not absorb harmonics as well as larger ones. More harmonics equal less power.

 

While it is true that they do not add horsepower,a lighter weight one would free up already existing horsepower.
I just talked to Fluidamper the new lightweight balancer is made of aluminum but was designed so that it has the same dampening capabilities as the regular fluidamper.I believe that this damper along with a new 9.5" Vigilante converter(again less weight),would really add to my GTA.

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92 GTA(only 226 made)ort matched sportsman heads with 2.05 valves,64 cc,milled .015,.028 head gaskets,port matched Accel runners,port matched plenum,port matched edelbrock intake,flow matched injectors,jet hot headers and 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust,Flowmaster muffler,underdrive pulleys,slp cam,1.6 rockers,slp cold air induction,52mm throttlebody,performance resource custom chip,Dyna module,Screamin Demon coil,Accel 8.8 wires,Bosch platinum plugs,timing at 10 degrees,tb bypass,relocated map sensor,shift kit,Fairbanks billet servo,pump vane kit & 2400 stall,Torque converter lockup switch,3.42 posi with welded axle tubes,Zexel Torsen HD diff.,Summit rearend girdle,solid pinion spacer,& alloy axles.Boxed panhard bar,lakewood lca's & edelbrock strut tower brace,Jeg's torque arm,Jegs welded in subframe connecters.Performance friction pads,turbo slotted front rotors,stainless braid brake lines.Roh ZT 17x8.5 front wheels with 255/40ZR/17 tires. 17x9.5 rear wheels with 275/40ZR/17's on the street.Hoosier 26x9.5 slicks on the strip.