krisjg

ok, first let me tell you about my '82 mustang, powered by a 302 from an older stang ('72 if i remember right) and a 5 spd from a newer one ('88). When this was being put together, the harmonic damper was swapped for one w/ the correct amount of pulley holes. Here's my affliction: this beast shakes like ****, i mean, the shifter wobbles side-to-side in neutral, when i rev it from under the hood it gives an initial rock, along with just shaking visibly all the time, and that is the best i can describe it; it shakes like mad. You see, i don't know much, and everything i do know i've learned in the past few months, and what i originally figure is that the damper needs swapped out for a flywheel-matching 50oz. assuming 'externally balanced' meant that flywheel/balancer matching was all i needed to worry about. Now looking around and reading about it seems that the crank must be matched with both of these, since every crank i look at has a balance weight attached (ie 50oz or 28oz)? So what i'm saying is that now, instead of being able to 'convert' my older 28oz imbalance to 50oz i need to pull out the whole damn transmission and swap out flywheels to make this right? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated b/c i don't know anyone who knows **** and i certainly am struggling teaching myself what the hell i'm talking about. Maybe i should just push it off this cliff into the Colorado river, which is about 5 mi away from my house?

roundman

the older 302's used a 28 oz. balance, so you need to get a flywheel and damper to match this in order for the cranshaft to be balanced properly. if you don't change to the right balance, the torsional vibrations will beat the bearings to death real soon. the '88 flywheel was a 50 oz balance, so this must be changed for a 28 oz one. same applies to the damper.