i have a gen vi 454 and the balancer that came with it is corroded somewhat bad but i am not sure it is enough to make it unusable? it appears to be in good shape besides where moisture got under the paint and ate it up a little. my motor is nothing really special and it a budget build so should i leave it and see what happens, see if there are any vibrations or should i be worried about it? is it more cosmetic at this point? if i were to buy a new one i am not sure which one to buy. i see them online and they say fits all bbc but i have been told that the different generations, cast or forged crank and engine size play a part in choosing one?? i found several for gen v motors cheap. will one of those work? i am not a balancer expert so i am not sure on this one. thanks

IMO, it is cheap insurance to replace them after say 5-10 years. Probably nothing wrong with it, but a replacement one is cheap. If you want to go with a good one, I prefer ATI Super Damper for all my stuff. Just my personal preference.

As for which one, measure you current balancer's diameter and simply get one with the same or closest. Make sure you note whether yours is external or internal balance.

What happens is the rubber gets rotted or cracked and the outer ring can slip. This will result in your timing mark not being at TDC when lined up with the scale of the timing cover. If the rubber looks good, you should be fine to clean it up and go. But new is best then you know the mark is right.

the rubber appears to be in good shape. i was told that on marine balancers they slip even if they are newer due to the high rpms we run and that i needed to remark my tdc just to make sure i am getting acurate readings?

Ummmm, no. We don't run that high of rpms compared to other engines. It is VERY rare that a new balancer will slip, especially a good one like Fluidamper or ATI... and I feel comfortable saying those will never be wrong.

When you get a new balancer you should put a punch mark on the inner hub lined up with the timing mark. Then you can always quickly verify it has not slipped.

BT