Colts45s

Im about to drop in a 350 stroked to a 383 that was taken out of a chevy pickup. the problem is that the engine does not have a balancer. Do i use the balancer for the truck it came out of or do i just match it to my 92 305 tbi balancer or should i use a z28 350 balancer?

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Depends on how the crank was balanced.

If internally balanced, you can use any of those dampers.

If externally balanced, you need a weighted damper.

1ADan

iTrader: (4)

five7 pretty much summed it up short and sweet. 305s and 350s are internally balanced. 383 quite often use externally balanced flywheel and balancer setups (like found on the SBC 400s in the 70s), but that can depend on how it was built.


Definitely don't want to use the wrong one here; My 400 crank was destroyed when the previous owner thought it was ok to use the flywheel off his 350...

kens86

if it's a cast crank more than likely it is externally balanced unless it has 6" rods. 95% of forged cranks were internally balanced on 383's.

Colts45s

The crank is internally balanced. I guess my real question is that,"Are the timing indicators on the balancer the same?"

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Depends upon which timing tab it was marked for.

Is the zero mark close to aligning with the keyway slot? Then it's marked for a 2 o'clock tab (actually closer to 1:30).

Is the zero mark significantly counterclockwise from the keyway slot? Then it's marked for a 12 o'clock tab.