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b234 head w/ b230 block - timing gear / balancer question

tonybaroni

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Is the crank from a b230 compatible with the thicker b234 timing belt?

I'm test fitting these parts together and realize the timing belt pulleys from the b234 are thicker and as a result there is barely any crank snout left for the balancer to slide onto. Anyone know if I should have grabbed a different crankshaft, or do people machine the timing gears to be thinner? Or do they allow the harmonic balancer to have a very short engagement with the cranksnout?

2nd ?
I am also wondering if I must be missing a woodruff key, there is a slot in the crank, and in the balancer. But, the timing gear has just a little key protruding inwards into the crank slot. Anyone able to share if this is right? It appears wrong.

3rd ?
There are also timing belt guide washers on either side of the gear, with small cutouts. The washer on the side of the balancer slots into a protrusion on the timing gear, but the washer on the block side has no positioning feature and can slide/rotate. Again, this seems wrong, please let me know if I'm missing something.

Thank you
:)

Also, I've added some image links, but it doesn't look like they work. I still need to figure out the image posting.

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You need to get the 16v crank gear or (much better idea) use a Yoshifab forged unit.

As for the balancer you can get a conversion 16v underdrive pulley from KL Racing or machine down a stock balancer and cut a slot for the key in it.

The third option is to run all of the 16v pulleys to keep your belts aligned.
 
Thanks. The simplest seems to be machine of material from the block side of the harmonic balancer. I am using all 16v timing belt pulleys and plan to pick up either Yoshifab or the alternative tensioner I’ve read about of this site to get the belt to tension.

The harmonic balance machining will get the accessory pulleys aligned with water pump and hopefully i can use some stock mounts for the alternator. Assuming I can take off enough and still clear the timing belt with the edge of the inside balancer. I’ll measure it tomorrow.

The Yoshifab timing gear is great but I’m not planning on big power. It’ll be stock internals NA, just bumping compression a little and running Microsquirt.
 
If you are running the 16v accessory pulleys you will not need to machine down the mating surface of the harmonic balancer.

As for the Yoshifab crank gear, it's not an issue with power. You may be okay but I consider it to be cheap insurance. Be extra careful to align things correctly and torque the balancer down a bit tighter than spec, to keep things from slipping. Good luck!
 
thanks. I will have to source an alternator, brackets, and pulley. I have a couple b230 dampeners, but one has mismatched paint marks that appear to show it's slipping. I have b230 water pump pulley too.

Does everyone use that IPD crank tightener tool? Or is there a cheaper way to hold the thing from turning when cranking on the bolt?
 
Thanks for the links to KL. Thanks to Chrome for translating. I will ping them to see about pricing for shipping, and if those online prices are including VAT or not.

On the other side...
When bolting up the flywheel, I used the thick and thin steel plates on top of the flywheel, but the bolt engagement is too low. Should I skip the thick plate on a manual flywheel? Perhaps it's only used on the automatics?
https://ibb.co/Xxys7VK
 
Hi All
Trying to evaluate the parts I have at the moment..hoping someone could help with ID.

This part I believe is the pilot bushing from my b20:
https://ibb.co/6vkfFMZ

Here's the thin and thick spacers which would attach the flex plate in an automatic.
https://ibb.co/R0K1rNh
https://ibb.co/GWvHpyp

And here are two crank pulley dampers. This one pictured on the top and left, is thicker overall, and has different spacing between the v belt grooves. I suspect it's from a b230. And I suspect the thinner one is from a b234.
https://ibb.co/GJHk6tK
https://ibb.co/0DbGHD4
https://ibb.co/yYLFcLT

I also marked the position of the timing indicator with a small blue tic mark. Anyone know if that position is correct wrt the timing key groove shown? My guess is the thicker one has slipped (it's a junkyard one, and after I cleaned it up I found that orange paint marks which show it has slipped about 180deg). I don't know about the thinner one.
 
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