I need to figure out some things concerning my 55 Dodge 270 Hemi. I think I made a mistake when having the machine work done. I had the crank internally balanced after cutting .010/.010 under, rod and mains. Looking back maybe I should not have. It doesn’t have a harmonic balancer so I thought it was originally internally balanced. When I looked it over I didn’t see weights on the torque converter but after looking again, I do see some small sheetmetal weights welded to the torque converter shell. Now I’m wondering if it was an externally balanced engine? This engine doesn’t use a flex plate, the converter is directly bolted to the crank flange. Any good ideas or input?
I believe you'll find that the weights on the converter are only to balance the converter itself and are not an external balance factor for the engine. You should be fine.
These are not externally balanced, but you should always have the flywheel or flex plate and any balancer you use balanced with the rotating ***embly. Most people building the early hemi's are running a 318-340 balancer that has the keyway recut or remarked for proper timing marks.
The Jalopy Journal
