damage from unbalanced 440?

[timmycharger]

Im almost to the point of getting into the motor, which has been sitting on the stand since 2002 when it last ran.  the motor was rebuilt in the 90's by a machine shop and i maybe put a total of 2k miles on it before I pulled it out of the car.  The more I research how much it will cost to rebuild this motor again, I want to freshen it up and put it back in.  The last time I had a head off of it in 2002, the cylinders looked great, still nice crosshatch pattern and no visible wear.  What Im worried about is the fact that its a 440 six pack, with the heavy rods/crank and the special damper that goes with it and for a period of a year or so, not many miles though, I was running the motor with an un weighted torque converter. I know this because I ordered the converter and blew it when they asked me if it should have a weight, and I said no.  So, after about 8 months, I noticed that the bolt for the balancer was coming unscrewed and the balancer wasnt fitting tight anymore, so thats why I think It wasnt balanced, so like a dummy, I bought another original 6 pack balancer, and tightened it down and ran it until I pulled the motor.  The car had no obvious symptoms, the motor seemed smooth, I was shifting it at 6500 RPM and racing it at the track, made plenty of power as the car was in the 12's.

Now that its going back in the car I want to know what damage I should be looking for, I was planning on pulling the heads as Im upgrading to aluminum, then flipping it over and pulling some caps and checking the bearings with plastigauge to see if they are still in spec.  I also want to measure the crank end play.  Any other suggestions?  Also, since Im going to a 4 speed, can I just order a flywheel thats weighted and call it a day or am I pulling the crank and bringing that and the balancer to be professionally balanced as a mininum or now do the rods need to come out again? at that point, Ill probably just go to new lighter rods, but Id like to make what I have work.  Appreciate any suggestions..

[ACUDANUT]

I'd choose the easier route and buy a fluid dampner balancer type and you should be good to go.

[cdr]

Because it had no signs of being out of balance with the wrong converter i would take it apart to ck everything & get it balanced with the flywheel & balancer.   

[fy469rtse]

If critically unbalanced, check big end and main bearings for signs of wear in unusual patterns,
But more importantly is this the time to upgrade, replace those heavy rods, maybe better pistons ?, just saying because you might have re balance assembly anyway,