Bought to set my valves and I have a few questions..When my engine builder put my hub back on he didnt line it back up with #1 at TDC so the cast arrow on the balancer does not line up at 12oclock when #1 is at TDC..Do our balancers have any kind of weight on them or anything? I was just gonna make a little mark on the balancer when #1 was at TDC..dont have access to a puller and dont have time really..It ok to do it like that?

Cody

 

Look or probe in the holes around the outer radius of the balancer..
If there's no 'plugs' in them then it's neutrally balanced and OK in any position..
Some of the cars have a plug or 2 in the joles for final balancing..

 

The balancer on my car is drilled for balaning. The pully and the balancer have a offset bolt patern so the only go on one way. If you are getting any vibration in the motor realign the hub at tdc and put the pull and balancer back on and that should fix it.

 

Talked to my engine builder again today and he said it does NOT matter where the hub is in relation to the crank..told him I had a plug in one of the outer holes in the balancer and he said it still wont matter..guess thats why our hubs dont come with a keyway

I put my finger over #1 spark plug hole and waited till it stopped pushin air and marked that as my 12oClock on the balancer..Then I set cyl. #1 both valves..Preceded to turn the crank 90 degrees and set the next cyl in the firing order..

Cody

 

If it 'doesn't matter' ... do you think GM plugged one 'weight hole' due to boredom? or excess profits?
It matters... it may not matter a GREAT deal... but it matters...

 

take the #1 plug out and stick a long screwdriver in there... when it stops comming out and starts going down again put the hub on with the arrow pointing up, and your set.

we did this when i forgot how mine went on, and had no problems. also, the bolt patturn appears to be slightly offset so it might only go on one way, thats what mine was like.

 

The engine builder internaly balanced his motor. It dosen't matter. If it were externally balanced THEN it would matter. This is why you had to get your flywheel neutal balanced also.

 

Your engine builder may be wrong, BUT... if you don't experience any vibration it's fine. Trust me, I had my harmonic balancer on wrong before and it almost rattles the car to pieces.

I tend to think that your engine builder is wrong because the LT1 is both internally or externally balanced. Most engine are one or the other. The thing is that the flywheel is weighted to balance the engine similar to the harmonic balancer.

Unless the flywheel was replaced with a neutral one or unless you have one of the freak LT1s which are neutrally balanced throughout (and they do exist) then you need to have the balancer put on properly.

If your engine isn't installed yet have him correct this.

 

I just love draggin up old posts!

SO, if there are NO weights in the hub/balancer.. its nuetral.. right? I have always balanced it.. but I am trying to get a friends motor together.. its completely internal, I assume I can just pop the lead out of the balancer..

 

Heh, makes you wonder if they put the weight in there to counterbalance the crank or to neutrally balance the hub and pulley assembly, itself.

 

So, the general consensus here is that the hub HAS to be put on the crank so that the arrow on the hub points straight up at #1 TDC?

The reason I am bringing this up is that I am tracking down an engine vibration and this is the only thing I have left to check!

 

I was told the weight added to the balancer was to neutrly balance the dampener. My machine shop said the thing was neutral when they balanced my rotating assembly.

 

I am thinking about getting a "keyed" hub! Our cranks are already have the keyway machined on them right?

Thanks
Bora

 

yep.

 

Thanks..