440 6pk Damper Needed

MyBigBlockDodge

MyBigBlockDodge

Screw it. Give me the red AND blue pills.
Hey Guys,

A friend of mine has a '70 RT SE 440 6pk Challenger in his shop which is undergoing a resto. He's looking for a damper for that and has hit a wall with his sources. Could anyone recommend where to get one, or maybe someone here has one they would be willing to part with?

Mopar part #3512017 should be the correct part for the '70 or '71 I believe. Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this info as I want to make sure he gets the right part the first time.

Thanks for any help on this. :cool:

Adam
 
All '70 and '71 440HP engines, Six Pack or not, used the heavier (but not one bit stronger) rods, and therefore the same external-balance dampener. The damper from a 370/375HP engine is the same as the one from a Six Pack/Six Barrel engine. '69 engines did not use it, nor did '72s whether or not they were multi-carb. About the only suggestion I have is Stephens Performance in Alabama, but your friend should be prepared to open the wallet wide. Ted is a good guy, but he's not cheap.

Another option, for the sake of looking correct, would be to use a later cast-crank balancer. Fill in the casting where it says "USE WITH CAST CRANK ONLY" with J-B Weld or Liquid Steel and sand smooth. I have a hard time believing a show judge would catch it. However, and I can't stress this enough: THE RECIPROCATING ASSEMBLY ABSOLUTELY MUST BE REBALANCED, includig the flywheel or converter. That process would probably cost more than finding the correct dampener, but it can be done.
 
Hey Jass!

I don't think they are worried about the judging or that sort of thing, but having the correct part is a must. I would assume they will have it balanced because they are trying not to cut any corners with the project. I'll check out that Stephens has to offer and pass that info along to him.

Thanks!
Adam
 
If they're not worried about judging, put a set of later 440 LY rods in it and use a neutral-balance dampener and torque converter from a 383 or non-'70-'71 440HP. Just as strong and quicker to rev. Seriously, the heavier '70-'71 HP rods have absolutely no strength advantage over any of the others.
 
I want to expound on what Jass is saying-not balancing an engine you rebuilt with parts roughly the same weight as you removed is one thing. Mixing six pack rods up with standard dampers and flexplates/flywheels (or vice versa) is something else entirely. That kind of thing will let you know what you did wrong right quick, as it'll try to shake the entire car apart while it beats the bearings into molecule-thick shadows of their former selves.
 
All 440HPs are external balance in '70-'71. Nothing on that page would work for him, including the fluid dampener. Like you said, it would shake the engine to pieces. Cummins engines, like all inline sixes, are internallly balanced just due to the nature of the firing sequence in relation to crankshaft rotation and the angularity of the rod at the moment of firing.
 
Yep, the fact that a cummins uses a neutrally balanced damper is not related to what a big block with 6 pack rods needs.
 
I didn't think the 440's went external balance until 72. The 71 440 in the wagon I'm pretty sure is an internal balance motor. Same balancer that was on my 383's.
 
ALL 440's with 6 pk rods are external balance, and not the same balance factor as the cast crank motors.
 
OK my information I have gathered over the years must be faulty then. My understanding was that all motors, pre-cast crank...so 72/73-ish...were forged steel cranks and therefore internally balanced. Once they went cast cranks they were all externally balanced. :huh:
 
That's true, except for motors with 6 pack rods. THEY were all forged crank, EXTERNALLY balanced. They were externally balanced because the 6 pack rods are so much heavier than the regular LY rods that they couldn't be internally balanced without adding mallory metal to the crank. Put differently, the counterweights on even the forged crank are not heavy enough to properly offset the weight of the 6 pack rods. So, that's how you end up with a factory forged crank externally balanced motor.
 
Correct, and as I said way back up yonder, all '70-'71 440HP engines (four or six barrel) are external balance, as they all have the heavier rods. The '69 engines do not, nor do the '72s. The standard-performance 440s were not.
 
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