1971 LT1 Roadster purchased in 1976 from original owner who had already modified the engine and paint so it never was nor will be NCRS. Several years into a body off restoration and when the engine is finished will be ready to remount the body.
The only part of the original engine I kept was the block.

I am putting my Gen I stroker 383 back together and have installed a Scat internally balanced rotating assembly with a Cloyes timing chain cover with the adjustable cam button. Scat recommended their damper which I purchased as well. It is narrower than the stock LT1 damper and when I pressed it on as far as it would go the timing marks were all hidden under the pointer. I pulled it back about 1/2" so the marks were visible and I can add spacers to the water pump and alternator brackets so the pulleys are aligned. When I tried to torque the crank bolt to spec before it reached the stated torque it began pulling the damper back onto the crank and hiding the timing marks. I tried putting a spacer between the back of the damper and the front of the crank seal housing but that didn't work.

Running the engine with the damper not torqued sufficiently doesn't seem like a good solution so are there any high performance engine experts who can elaborate on how to solve this problem? I would greatly appreciate any and all input you can offer.

Thank you so much.

 

Sounds like you have parts that don't play well together. The harmonic dampener must be drawn all the way in. Timing marks be damned. You need a different pointer set-up or a different balancer.

 

is the water pump correct for 1971 C3 ? That requires a "short vette" pump, Not simply a short pump: close, but no cigar.

are you using all brackets & pulleys from OE 1971 ?

WP brand & P/N ?
SCAT damper P/N ?

Suggest R&R the ill-fitting scat damper. Pioneer is an old-line supplier of very good quality dampers. Suggest download & save its Harmonic Balancer Damper catalog number HB-2010.
It's a wealth of decent photos & dimensions. Large & Comprehensive coverage.
https://pioneerautoinc.com/pioneer-a...ic_Catalog.pdf

*I've owned two 71 sbc C3. IIRC, OE stamped steel Alternator Bracket is kinda flimsy & hinky And uses exhaust manifold as a mounting point. A later bracket aligns & fits correctly as well, but is a much sturdier cast 1-piece design and no longer works in tandem w/ ex manifold. If ALL pulleys and brackets aren't correctly, perfectly aligned; you'll never achieve correct belt alignment & joy. Also, SOME aftermarket pumps have a clutch mount hub that's Adjustable. Hub can be moved fore-aft on shaft & locked w/ internal hex screw threaded thru side of hub.

 

just an edjamacated guess:
seems they MISTAKENLY may've sent you a damper that's intended for a '96-2002 Vortec L31, VIN code "R", Gen 1 sbc truck motor. Those have a short snout that's about 1/4" inch Shorter than what most others' length are. Because those motors are unique; in that those have a 4-segment crank-fire reluctor wheel that sandwiches between rear of snout and front of crank sprocket. No OTHER Gen 1 sbc has any OE crank-fire arrangement. That L31 damper would fit Too-Deeply into your 1971 motor. AND, it'll go rather badly for you IF that snout does NOT fit snugly against timing set's lower crank sprocket. The torque on damper bolt Must pull damper snout Tightly against crank sprocket. Both Literally & Figuratively; there's NO wiggle room here.

Suggest you look at Pioneer P/N DA-3502 , OR heavy duty P/N DA-3502HD , OR street perf P/N 872003 , OR SFI race P/N 872023 --- probably --- a good choice will be either of the first two pieces.

 

Damper snout fits against the lower timing gear. The length of the bore is what determines if the rest of the pulleys align or not. Just compare the length of the damper bore against the bore on the new one. They need to match.

You don't see very much of the line anyway. Maybe just add a black or silver sharpie mark on the stripe?

 

A picture here would be extremely helpful!

 

Thank you for all the responses and I greatly appreciate all of the insight. I have uploaded pictures of the damper and how I bent the pointer.
all three pulleys line up perfectly (WP, Alt. & Crank) The damper is part number SCA8000 and I have contacted Scat to see if it is, in fact, the wrong one. Here are a couple of pictures.

 

That looks like a 7" balancer, to me, not an 8 inch one.
It is not close enough to the pointer.
The pointer looks like an 8" one, which is what an LT-1 or L82 had.
Look how close the tab is to the dampner in post 5.

 

Yup, either damper not 8" OR as below, that lower pulley oversize diameter and/or timing tab bolted to TC in wrong position.
Also, dollars to donuts that chrome pulley was never OE on a C3.
? tell us please, what torque value did you tighten that damper to ?
? did you employ Any spacers ?

* I peeked online --- scat P/N SCA8000 described as having 6.75" OD
Me thinks scat sent you the wrong & smaller damper for LT1.

Will it work ? If it torqued down correctly, yes it'll work

*** you should closely check and VERIFY piston #1 is truly at TDC when damper zero marks are aligned.

 

You might be better off with the right pointer

click that. The Pro Form pointer is inexpensive and gets the job done. GM sells a similar one too.

 

Ditto what rebelyell suggested.

Anytime you use any non original parts in that area, you should carefully check TDC of your new pointer/balancer system.

The racers I know just grind the tab to a point anyway, and use a dial back timing light, and/or a fully degreed dampner.
I have seen many race engines done like that, and even tho the tab is ground to a point, true zero is normally 1-2-3* off of zero on the tab.

All the ones that bolt on bend easily. The welded on originals were tougher.

 

That SCA8000 is Wrong damper because it's the Wrong, 6.75", Too-Small Size.
And ya have the wrong tab because it's made for a larger damper and ya bent it to fit.
But all that can function AOK; so long as damper did torque down and press fit firmly against crank sprocket at about 65 lb-ft.

OR get a Correct 8" damper and another tab made for 8" damper.