Was able to get some progress done in recent weeks on some of the projects and other winter maintenance.
One of the first things to get sorted out was the balancer/pulley situation. Ordered an ATI 917221 Super Damper which is much lighter and stronger than the PB unit (2 threaded holes striped out of PB unit). Got the proper balancer pointer (ATI 918954) and a longer crank bolt (ARP 234-2501) . Extreme difficulty getting it to seat back all the way, multiple tries on multiple days. eventually a little bit of filing by hand, adjusting the key in the keyway on the crank, heating the balancer to 250 deg in my wife's oven, and blasting some cold nitrous at the crank snout, lubing the snout and it went on; fully seated! Blue loctite on the bolts and triple check measurements.
Decided to FINALLY scrap the old oem steel crank pulley and the oem water pump pulley. Never realized how heavy those are until I had these new March pulleys as a comparison. In order to help the alternator survive, the underdrive pulleys were mathematically a great idea. Instead of a 7" crank pulley , its now 22% underdrive, via a 5.5" crank pulley. Alternator now spins at 2.75:1 ratio instead of a 3.5:1 ratio like before. Used nice new arp bolts (430-6802) for the water pump pulley and the ATI provided bolts for the crank pulley. Got new shorter belts; contintental 4050400 (40" 5 rib) and a Dayco 15345 (34.5" v belt).
My Champion radiator developed a small leak during the fall season, and thankfully Champion has a lifetime free-replacement warranty. I had a leak in another champion back in 2021 and thats when this radiator arrived. So, again, Champion sent me a brand new CC951 radiator (3 row) for free and I dropped it in along with brand new hoses (Upper E71208 Lower D71131) and I put the steel springs inside each hose like usual. Used some new hose clamps that have a nicer design that doesn't dig into the rubber of the hose (Mishimoto Smart-seal).
Reused most of the Evans coolant that I drained out and topped it off with some fresh Evans.
Oil change, stuck with Valvoline VR1 20-50 for now, but probably in the future I'll likely change that.
Decided to go with a different oil filter; Baldwin B279 which comes highly recommended in the aftermarket sbc world.
The nylon/plastic washer at the Moroso drain plug had a small crack in it, which was slowly leaking oil, so I replaced the whole drain plug since I couldn't find only the nylon washer. Still would like to find it, or maybe a copper washer alternative to keep as a spare.
Replaced the two transmission fluid filters. The in-line Magnefine filter by the second trans cooler came out clean. Fluid also drained nice colored and clean from the pan drain plug. Dropped the trans pan and put in a new wide filter (A74010) and felpro gasket TOS 18663. Refilled the system most of the way with a blend of AMSOIL synthetic ATF and soem CATerpillar trans fluid.
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Bought a "carb screen" to put on when I am at the track instead of running a fully open throttle body. Intensity racing products #IRP4150LP for $105. Looks great, fits great, and its good piece of mind (I'll probably remove the sticker on it soon).
Pulled the valve covers off while I put in some longer 1/4-20 bolts. Three of the holes had gakked-up threads so I gently chased the threads before installing ARP 611-1000 fasteners which are 1/4-20 x1" long.
Removed the Oxygen sensor bung extenders. They were a total of 1" long and since I am only spraying wimpy nitrous shots, my oxygen sensors should survive.
Next up will be to bleed out all the old brake fluid from the car, service the brake sliders and calipers too.
