Is the 455 Harmonic Balancer good enough to use on a strong street engine, or should it be replaced w/ a better aftermarket application? And at what point (hp/torque level) should a better aftermarket (ie; liquid filled) application be used, if indeed it's needed at all? Thanks in advance.


I know that on Chevys, a good aftermarket balancer is a good investment even w/ a mild build. But that's Chevys, and the Olds is a very different machine. In all the topics I've read through thus far, I've never heard anyone mention an aftermarket balancer f/ the 455.

 

I have never run an aftermarket one and I have never had one come apart, that being said, if you pla to beat on it, I dont know how much 30+year old rubber can stand before delminating.

 

My question has to do w/ the 455 I'm going to build. It'll be just a mild street/strip level engine, but healthy enough. I don't intend to rough it up during the rebuild (it's best to use the correct puller and be gentle w/ a balancer, old or new), but to put it to use, and will gladly invest in an after-market balancer if it will make a difference.

 

I know a guy who built a street/strip 468. Lost the outer ring on the dyno. Guess it was pretty scary. Not sure how old or what shape it was in tho. With my small blocks I got by up to about 450 HP with new GM balancers. Then one was about 3 yrs old and winging the 355 to 6200 those yrs. The outer ring moved 9 degrees, I then went with an ATI.

My machinest advised me not to go with a Fluidampner because it takes the fluid a few minutes to get warmed up and actually doing it's job.

 

That's been the concern w/ 2 piece stock dampers in the past, the torque of the enigne will cause that outer ring to spin on the rubber. The bigger GM balancers that came on the 4 bolt 350s were solid, and I ran those on afew engines in the past, and by "in the past" I mean 80s and 90s. Lately I've been one who goes f/ the aftermarket balancers, I think age did this to me, looking f/ smaller edges. But on this site, I had never heard anyone mention aftermarket applications, so I had to ask.

Honestly I had never heard anything in reference to having to warm the fluid up in the liquid dampers, but it makes sense. I wonder if anything like that is mentioned in the literature that comes w/ the fluid dampers that refers to warming them up 1st.? This would mean that the engine would, f/ a minute, be somewhat running out of balance if the damper isn't doing it's job, and that's NOT a good thing.

Looks like maybe I DO need to go w/ an aftermarket application.

 

I bought a new harmonic balancer from the auto parts store when I rebuilt my engine. I think it was made by Dorman. It works like a champ.

 

Their are lots of damper choices. And the RPM ramges vary greatly. I have seen the ratings anywere from 5,000 rpm to over 12,000 RPM for SFI rated dampers. Prices from $380.00 to $50.00. I need to buy a new one for my 455 going into the 48 Olds. Will most likley go with a SFI rated one in the lower price range.

 

I have loked this up recently here on the forums, because i am going to replace mine on my 455 build, I read in a thread here that the dorman was a slip fit while some others were a little tighter. the thread said you want them tight so the damper will do what it is suppose to do. My machinist said he builds all kinds of motors the cheaper ones will be fine, he knows this isn't a racing engine and it sounds like we are looking at similar builds.

 

Granted w/ a mild performance engine, a stock balancer is probably good enough. But will a quality after market balancer on a stock engine make the engine run smoother? Is the better balancer actually keeping the stock engine from vibrating less? Like I said to begin w/, if I knew that, on the Olds, the better balancer would really do a better job than the factory balancer, I'd spend money f/ an after matket component. Surely it would prolong the life of the engine.

How about it, all you knowledgable Olds technicians & gurus. Thanks again in advance.

 

bloody good question--mainly cos I would like to know the answer too !!!!!

 

I was the one who had the question about the slip fit Dorman on my 455, and it is working perfectly. Granted, I am just doing city driving and not reving it up to 6,000 RPM, but I am quite happy with it. Also their customer support is great if you have any issues or questions. Unless it is going to be a full on race engine, I would say go with the very economically priced Dorman.

 

My ATIs need a .0005-.0007 interference fit according to the instructions. So it needs to be honed out according to your crank. I think I would just asoon have it like that instead of a slip fit that might wiggle/wobble around up there. A guy just last year had his balancer/pullies pass him about 100" down the track. He was lucky, I have heard of them bouncing back up and destroying hoods, radiators and etc.

 

Silverriff & 380 Racer,
The fit of the balancer was something that never crossed my mind. I was concerned w/ the performance of the balancer(s)itself and how good it did it's job. I've never experienced anything but a tight fitting balancer, something that fit in using a key and key-way and needed to be taken off w/ a puller and installed (best) w/ a small press. This is a whole different ussue. Silverriff, I didn't mean to over-talk this issue, but looks like I did.
Whatever it takes, I'm going to use a balancer that fits tight and installs in a fool-proof manner. It may take some machining/bushing, but I can't see using something that could possibly cause a disaster.
Thanks f/ the info/replies. I learned something new here.

 

I run a BHJ Harmonic Balancer, quality piece. During my last build I added addl' degree markings, to make timing easier.
http://www.bhjdynamics.com/index.php...roducts_id=143

 

About 10yrs I had a funny noise in my engine, couldn't figure out what it was. Just happened to be under the car when the engine was shut down, the outer ring of the balancer was just floating on the hub. It appeared the only thing keeping it on the engine was the crank pulley. I replaced it with a new GM balancer, still going strong. I did put a small chisel mark on the hub and outer ring so I can see if its moving when I dissemble the engine for whatever reason.