Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 292 balancer & timing marks ?

I'm planning a swap from a 230 to a 292 in my van.

I have a rebuilt 292, but it did not come with any tin or accessories, no balancer, no timing cover etc.

OK, I found in Santucci's book that the 292 needs the 'big' balancer. He says that a smaller STD-LD balancer should never be used on a TD-HD (292). So I am going to need a 292 balancer. Anyone have one to sell?

Is there also a corresponding required timing cover that has the correct timing marks for use with the larger 292 balancer? Or can I use the existing timing cover from a 230 with the larger 292 balancer? Or is there some kind of aftermarket timing pointer I can use for proper timing?

Strongly recommend that you check the timing mark versus TDC on whatever parts you use, purchased or fabricated.

Timing pointer does not have to be anything fancy. Paint pen works. Mark in 5 or 10 degree increments if you don't have a dial-back timing light.

One last suggestion: Buy a new or rebuilt damper. They don't last forever.

I use a modified small block fluid damper on my 250 stroker with modified 292 crankshaft. Seems ok. I cannot say it is ideal, only that the crank has not broken yet...

I'm using a 250 truck 2-groove damper on my 292 Nova, so far so good but I don't plan on turning it over 5000.

I do have a giant truck 3-groove 292 damper (in fact IIRC it is from a van!), painted nice fresh Chev orange, weighs about a ton, cant use it because its too long to fit in the Nova (even if I used an electric fan). I can sell that to free up space as it is pretty much just a display item for me, wont fit early Novas.

I don't remember any timing pointer issues swapping dampers or into the 292 but those could vary by year. As stroker noted, you should always find TDC and degree/check the damper yourself, new or used, so you know where you are.

[quote=DeuceCoupe]I'm using a 250 truck 2-groove damper on my 292 Nova, so far so good but I don't plan on turning it over 5000.

Hey Deuce....not to highjack this thread but may I ask. If you are using a 250 damper on a 292 are you using the water pump with the big coolant bypass outlet. I am curious because I am using the same 250 damper on my 292 and the pulleys don't line up. Do you have a pic of your set up?
If you look close at my pic you can see that the rear most groove on the pump pulley only lines up with the front most groove on the dampner. Is that how your is???
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Stan,
No pics handy but I am using
* The 2-pulley damper, looks like yours
* Airtex aw5030 water pump, 292cid 1978-86
* I paid $50, Northern has em on sale right now for $33, good deal
* Housing from 194-230-250, no bypass
* Pulley from 283-194-230 early 1960s single groove
* Pulley groove matches 1st groove in crank, closest to engine
* 4-blade fan is spaced out about 1/4" so it clears the damper but still clears the Nova radiator, it gets pretty tight in there

* Now that you mention it, I did have a heater core leak a couple years ago, I hope I put a big enough hole in the thermostat so the lack of bypass is not overpressuring the heater. Gotta check!

Hey thanks Deucecoupe that helps a bunch. I figured you weren't running a bypass pump. My problem is I am planning on running power steering and would like to have it on it's own belt around the pulley and dampener. I guess if I have to I can run the belt off the front groove of the damper and spin the power steering pump off the alt.
I guess in the perfect world I should be using the correct balancer but I popped for big bucks on this Walt Pearce piece when I originally planned on running a 250 in my truck. When I made the switch to the 292 everybody told me I could use this balancer as long as I wasn't racing. I guess none of us thought about pulley alingment. Oh well live and learn.

Why does the 292 use the bypass anyway? And how can you get away with not using it?

For you guys using smaller 230-250 style dampers, do you ever get bad vibes?

I do not plan on ever taking this 292 to 5000 rpm

I took a bone stock 292 to 5000 rpm. lol Here's a dampner from Summit. Same one I got for my 292. Just a stock replacement.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-594-031/overview/make/chevrolet

I've been shifting my 292 at 4400-4500 no problems so far. Will turn it higher when I get the cam in but not above 5000.

292 water impeller is bigger, my guess is its "tighter", generates more pressure than 230-250 pump so needs a big bypass or so they thought. As noted, I am using my heater as a bypass which is not always a great idea, maybe why it blew. Plan a bigger hole in thermostat before I take it out again!

Big bypass makes it run hotter cuz it does what the name says - bypasses the radiator - but if the thermostat is sealed shut you need to bleed off that pressure somewhere.

TJ, If that is in fact the balancer your running, (looks just like mine) How does your pulley grooves line up? Are you using a pump with a bypass, are you running power steering? Seems to me with that balancer, you will only be able to use the back groove of the pulley and the front groove of the balancer.

Looks like that 2 groove balancer is the one I need for my 292. Thanks for the link

I don't know if the 292's are the same as the 250's,( as far as damper pulley spacing)

But,, the early 250 damper's had a closer V-belt spacing.

I am thinking the cutoff year was about 1975, in 1975 the 250 dampers had a wider spacing, they would not line up with the older water pump pulley's spacing.

IIRC, You could still use them being misaligned, but you can really see that the spacing was off.

MBHD

Krispy, you might want to look around and see if you can find a 292 balancer with the right back space. here is the same balancer on my 292. I guess you might be able to run the alt directly from the back groove of the balancer and then run the power steering off the from groove and pump.

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I won't be running power steering. I haven't actually hooked everything on yet but I did do a "test fit" and everything seemed ok. I know that my old 292 was stock with a bit of off-alignment. Mine had the double groove dampner and the single groove water pump pulley. Most C10's didn't come with p/s so that's a very common setup. The 292's in the big rigs sometimes had a 3 groove dampner and water pump pulley.