55' Special 264 ---2groove crank & water pump pulley---why can't I make them

[btate]

Seems to me I could take the 1 groove and have a CAD guy draw up a 2 groove and take it to a shop and have them run it on a CNC machine using a solid billet. Chipping metal. Why not?

[2carb40]

Seems to me I could take the 1 groove and have a CAD guy draw up a 2 groove and take it to a shop and have them run it on a CNC machine using a solid billet. Chipping metal. Why not?

If Your looking to add power steering, I wonder if my 1953 322 cast 2 belt crankshaft pulley and 2belt fan pulley and power steering pump might not work if you just file a timing mark where it is on the 264 cast pulley? Let me know if it will work. If the pulley needs to be rebalanced, I also have a 264 single pulley cast pulley to match balance with and a local vender( Bensteds transmission adapters Manufacture) Who has rebalanced 264 flywheels to use on 322's at a very reasonable price. I think rebalanceof that pulley is not to difficult. Actually, i was told that the only "correct" crank pulley for 53 v8 power steering cars was this cast one I have, the local yard I frequent has two 53 v8 cars with harmonic balancers on them, which matches the service bulletins which says the "after" jobs used balancers for replacement, so If you want a balancer style front crank pulley, one of those can be done as well, then you could just stack three pulleys on with spacers like Buick did originally. If you need those parts I can supply them. Let me know.

[old-tank]

The 322 and 264 nailheads are externally balanced, meaning that the pulley or harmonic balancer and the flywheel/flexplate contributes to the overall balance of the engine. The problem is that the 2 engines are balanced differently and the parts are not interchangeable. If you had a pulley machined, it could be match balanced to the existing pulley or a 322 balancer could be match balanced also. Just finding someone to balance would be the problem. If you rebuild the engine, the whole assembly could be balanced using your choice of parts.



Click on image for another possibility, however obscure...
Willie

[btate]

So, if I understand what you are saying is the single groove crank pulley on my 264 is balanced as a whole along with flywheel or flex plate. So, if I took another person single groove pulley and installed on my 264 it would not be balance. Is that correct? Thanks Bill

[old-tank]

Any pulley from any 264 will work...others will not.

[NTX5467]

With all due respect, I don't recall pulleys being balanced, or the need for them to be. Running "true and straight", yes, but balance?

When we started getting driveshafts rebuilt due to balance issues on later-'70s Chevy pickups, the shafts we sent them had to be completely replaced (the factory tubes were of differing diameters at their ends, and the shop only had constant diameter tubing). When they came back, no balance weights? I inquired about that and was told that the tube stock they used was constant diameter, the weld-in flanges were machined rather than cast, so when it was assembled, as long as it wasn't bent (which it should not be), everything was of uniform weights (circumferance-wise) so "balance" was achieved with no balance weights. He showed me the "as cast" backside of the GM u-joint flanges, which were not very evenly cast, so they needed external balance weights to compensate.

Therefore, a billet pulley should weigh the same at any point on its outer circumference . . . using their logic, which seems to make sense.

Certainly, when balancing a motor, the flywheel and harmonic balancer would need to be a part of the "affected and included" parts being balanced. Just never heard of anybody doing pulleys, with all due respect.

Also, as I understand it, there is NO one single "balance", but a range of "balance" with respect to the engine's desired and most prevalent rpm range. "Underbalance" and "Overbalance", plus "normal balance" orientations. One way makes the engine smoother in the lower rpm ranges, the other favors the higher rpm ranges, and "normal" is probably the "best blend" of how things can be.

Enjoy!
NTX5467

[old-tank]

Willis
The pulleys and balancers for the 322 and 264 engines are not symmetrical (and the 'device' at the front of a 264 is just a cast pulley). There is a heavier side cast into them that when installed lines up with counter weight of the first journal....same with the flywheel/flexplate on the other end.
Since the 264 is going to be rebuilt, have it balanced. Take the flexplate that came with the engine and a 322 balancer when the rotating assembly is balanced. With the 322 balancer you can bolt on any combination of the available pulleys to achieve your needs.
Willie

[btate]

I may have located the crank and water pulleys in a two groove version. I did noticed on my 1 groove there's several holes on one particular side and I assumed that was the balance.

[MrEarl]

Hon, you're still not listening. Do as Willie said. Take advantage of this great opportunity of having your engine rebuilt and get rid of that cast iron pulley in exchange for a nice harmonic balancer with which you can stack as many pulleys on til you hit the radiator. You may want to add AC some day, then you'll be ready to just add another pulley.

[btate]

A lot of this stuff I don't understand, that is why I ask questions. I am adding a/c and power steering. So, does that mean I need to add 3 groove pulleys? I need to go back and read Willie post and try to understand it.

[MrEarl]

That is correct. One for the generator, one for the power steering and one for the AC. A 3 groove cast iron crank shaft pulley is rare because not many Specials with the 264 engines (only produced two years 54 & 55) were equiped with AC. A 322 from '53 would work but wouldn't have the timing mark. The two groove below is probably what you have located, even they are rare, congrats on that find. The 3 groove is from a rare lil Special with power steering and AC, procured from Father Buick (he must have had "connections" to have obtained it himself . )

No problem with the questions and I did't mean to sound rude. Just cuttin up wit ya. Hell we were all where you are at at one time. When hearing Willie, I think I still am.

[btate]

Ok, I will tell the fellow in the UK that I need three groove and the best way to do that is with a harmonic balancer that has the weight removed and balanced. I hope I have this right. The fellow in the UK wanted $200. And that included frt. Which I was agreeable to.