BB ATI Damper

Anyone know the right part number for a ATI damper that fits with a Jesel drive and has a Chevy front? Just want to know what I'm talking about when I call ATI so I don't get mislead.

Depends on if you want steel shell or aluminum and what weight of inertia ring. I think they have 4 part numbers that will work.

917120 is the steel shell version. I use an aluminum shell 918430 on my 470 engine. Look at the catalog on line and just read across the row that says Chevy front.

Here is a picture of the 918430 damper mounted up on my 470.

Is that the larger 8" Chevy crank trigger wheel in your picture? If so, I guess I will be ordering some AR Eng stuff.

Yes, I use the 8 inch Chevy wheel on my stuff. Other guys stay with the smaller Mopar wheel. I like the Chevy wheel since it centers on the large diameter lip which ATI puts on the front of the damper. Very clean and simple mounting arrangement. The Mopar wheel uses a little machined ring to keep it centered.

But the larger diameter wheel requires a different trigger pickup. The TDC pointer and trigger pickup is all AR Eng stuff but it isn't the standard part number. You have to make sure the dealer knows it is for a Chevy wheel.

I highly recommend the belt drive distributor once you have the Jesel belt drive. Especially if you're already going with a crank trigger setup.

I think I have one of the steel shell ones laying around here someplace.

Just wondering, why would anyone run the steel shell over aluminum?

Less expensive and works just fine on most bracket type cars.

ATI will also build you a damper with a crank trigger shell if you a running a crank trigger. I just ordered one earlier this year.

As for the steel shell they recommend them more for street applications due to the way aluminum will start to oxidize.

I ran one with the trigger wheel built in and wouldn't do it again unless I needed the extra 1/4" clearance in the front of the engine. Pretty expensive option and hope you don't need to make any changes to your pick up bracket location. Nice concept, but was very expensive in my situation. As a matter of fact I still have an extra outer trigger wheel shell and hub for a SB ATI balancer that I will never use.

As much as I don't want to it might make sense to buy a damper with the integrated trigger wheel. Since you make parts to hold the trigger do you have any data for the right damper to order to work with your set-up? Maybe where the magnets need to be clocked? I don't have the Chevy crank trigger anyway so there probably isn't any additional cost to add the trigger wheel to the balancer and just buy a new sensor. If you have the set-up that works with this can you turn me on to the right part numbers and which distributor that might have it in stock? Thanks,

Talk to Tim at FHO. He runs ATI dampers with integral magnets and buys a crank trigger kit from me that fits his setup. He should be able to sell you the whole setup.

I'm confused again Andy. You mention that you run the ATI 918430 damper on your 470 (three ring aluminum shell, Chevy front), but the description on your AR177K Crank Trigger Kit says to use damper 917127E. What one is correct? And if I am going to use the 8" Chevy trigger wheel do I need to call Hughes and tell them that so I get the right trigger bracket with my AR kit I just ordered?

Both are correct. I use the AR260 bracket with the 8" Chevy wheel on my engine. The AR177K is for use with a Mopar wheel.

I just ordered the AR177K from Hughes. Then I had to call him back to get the AR260 bracket. Wish you had a kit part number with that bracket instead of the bracket I won't be using now. (Would have saved me the $55 also). But I wanted to go with the same set up you have.

Ok. So I bought everything to basically match the same front drive set up that AndyF has in the picture posted earlier in this topic and I can't figure out how the MSD trigger wheel is supposed to center on the damper. There is no raised feature on the damper and there is a recessed groove on the trigger wheel just like it requires a centering ring to make everything concentric. Anyone else run this same set up that can shed some light? Thanks.

The MSD crank trigger comes with a centering ring.

This is why I was expecting the wheel to self center without a separate centering ring. My ATI damper hub is flush with the shell so I don't know how else it is supposed to work unless it has a centering ring.

Not sure if this helps. I always use a Peterson front spline drive. We machined a washer that was for the balancer bolt that also centers the wheel. Also use the double shear top pulley as I have had issues killing the thrust bearing on the cam pulley. That causes us to do a bit more work tot he balancer as well.

That makes sense Al, but why does your balancer bolt stick out that far? It's like there is no recess in the balancer hub. Did you space it out so you could use the washer to center around? A cross section thru the center would be helpful...lol.

BTW, I am trying to re-use my Star mandrel with this set up an hope the balancer bolt head sits below the machined relief in the mandrel.

We wanted a more positive way for it to center on basically and did not like what we had. So went this way. It does stick out a bit could have probably machined the bolt a bit more/

The BB stuff just snaps together. If your damper has the BB Chevy front then there is a raised area for the trigger wheel to center on.

Feel like an idiot. I see it now, just didn't expect it to register on the aluminum balancer ring. I was still looking for everything to center on the hub. Now to get the brand new hub machined so I can actually fit a crank bolt under the drive mandrel. Someone should just go ahead and make these for us to save the hassle.