I am rebuilding a chevy 350 (1 piece rear main seal) that will make around 400hp, and i was wondering if a stock replacement, or the balancer originally on the engine would be ok to use? The one that was originally on it has a few cracks in the rubber but thats about it.

 

The stock one should be fine, but I'd get a Fluidampr type damper, the engine will run much smoother.

 

I noticed a few days ago that Fluidampr's website is gone? What's up with that?

If the balancer has cracks in the inertia ring, might as well replace it now instead of later... otherwise, you -know- it's gonna be on your mind for a while! As long as the rubber isn't trying to escape the balancer, it should be fine for a while...

 

The impression I'm getting from various Internet sources is that they quit business. Of course, I may be wrong... in fact, I really hope I am, 'cause I'm gonna need one of their dampers when I start my planned Firebird rebuild in a few years...

(EXPLANATION: I tend to think on longer-term time scales than most people, and I typically spend several YEARS researching options before I buy parts on ANY project, because I subscribe to the theory of getting it as close to right the first time as possible--which also helps conserve my currently-meager college-student budget. This has made me the butt of all kinds of derogatory references on other boards...)

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings...

Later.
nedry OUT