Sooo, I'm building a 3.8 bottom end for my new turbo build and I obviously don't need the dual ribbed balancer, so my question, is there a performance balancer anyone would recommend with just the single ribs. Also should I go with an overdrive or an undedrive pulley?

 

First off, this would get more hits / replies in the engine section rather than the detailing section. Perhaps a mod can move it?

I wouldn't 'build' a bottom end. A junkyard engine is fine. If you're going to run big boost, get an L67 bottom, if moderate, then an L36 would be fine.

IMO it's a waste of money, especially for a turbo car. I've got an ATI and it's a very nice piece, but a new one is a lot of money for zero performance gain. It's not like you're going to be spinning crazy high RPM or anything on a 3800 anyways, and you don't need the extra ribs like a superchaged car would want.

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If you had to get one - under drive would give a tiny bit more power. I'm personally not a fan though as it slows down all of your accessories too. That can be problematic, especially for greater under drives at idle.

 

Great answers, thanks for the quick response. I'm going to "build" the bottom end because I got the whole setup (60,000 mile l32 block and rods, new eagle crank, new aluminum pistons, and all that good stuff) from a guy nearby for pretty cheap so I might as well. So for my balancer I'll just run a better one for a N/A 3800. Otherwise thanks again for the help man.

 

If that 60k mile L32 is still all together, I'd just leave it. No reason to tear apart a good engine.

One downside to building an engine is that even the machine shop work alone will cost as much as a junkyard engine.

I'm not really sure there are any 'better' ones for an NA engine than stock. I just took a look at the ATI site and it looks like their only option for a complete set is for a supercharged engine. You could always buy just the hub and have them custom make a shell without the outer ribs, but they're already awfully expensive to start with for an off the shelf model.

There are definitely a lot of replacement ones (Dayco, Dorman, Powerbond, etc) but I wouldn't say they're better than OEM.