engine balancing

[xrtim]

Engine is close to being assembled, a few parts have yet to be decided upon and then need to balance the assembly. I have read a few articles about Vibration Free in Oxon and am going to get the engine balanced there. Has anyone had any experience of there work ?
Regards Tim

[V8Dom]

best ask Charles Dunn, he will know if they are any good
he has balanced a few of mine and they are perfect
you will need flywheel front harmonic balancer and rods too

[Boosted LS1]

Have you done a mock build?

Ideally you need to ensure everything rotates in the block without any clearance issues. Otherwise you'll end up balancing an engine that then needs to be 'adjusted' and balanced again. Also, to do it properly all the components should be weight matched and anything out of tolerance will need to be lightened etc or shuffled about to get the ideal. The rods can be checked/weighed end to end but the manufacturer should have provided those details. Still best to weigh them again. Once all that's been done you just need to send the crank off for dynamic balancing along with the harmonic damper. They'll need to know the rotating and reciprocating weights.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Monday 14th November 15:46

[CAP675]

Can you share what engine you have? This can have a major difference as to what components you need to have balanced as an assembly, especially if you are using certain SBC's.

I can't comment on your balancer question but can recommend EDA in Castleford, Yorkshire. Speak to Kenny.

[Boosted LS1]

It's an LS, probably 400 or 427. I can't quite remember the capacity.

[xrtim]

engine is now 4.8l LS, decided to up the RPM capability of the engine and reduce the torque for the gearbox with the turbo's (turbo's may be a bit large now as originally specified for 5.3l)

New block 4.8/5.3 Iron
New OEM Cast crank 3.268
Eagle H Steel Rods + L13 bolts 6.300
Wiseco 3.780 forged Pistons
Total Seal Gapless Stainless rings (suitable for boost)
Commetic head Gaskets
Trick Flow 215cnc Heads
Comp Gold Roller Rockers
Clevite H mains and rod bearings

Havn't made my mind up on
ARP Head Studs
Johnsons link bar Lifters
Manton Pushrods
Cloyes Hex Adjust timing set
Comp cam 279/279, Lift .600/.600 116 LSA
2 piece timing cover

Engine will be built and checked before balancing,

[Boosted LS1]

Looks good. Your rods should clear the block but I would make sure that piston 8 doesn't foul the trigger wheel and that your cam gear is compatible with your ecu if you're using a front sensor.

Head studs are always good. Push rod length can be chosen after the test build. You'll enjoy gapping the rings :-). I use a modified electric tile cutter with a dti attachment to remove most of the metal. The last few 001's I remove with a hand tool.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Monday 14th November 19:45

[xrtim]

top rings are gapless so only have 8 second rings to check, bought a ring filing tool from Summit so should be OK, but I like the idea of the tile saw (which I already have). just had a quick weigh of the Wiseco piston set and only found a variation of 1.29g from the lightest to the heaviest which works out roughly 1/3 of a sheet of A3 paper,pins are even better 0.13 (weighed them with the plastic wrappers on so probably all the same) very impressive

[Boosted LS1]

xrtim said:

top rings are gapless so only have 8 second rings to check, bought a ring filing tool from Summit so should be OK, but I like the idea of the tile saw (which I already have). just had a quick weigh of the Wiseco piston set and only found a variation of 1.29g from the lightest to the heaviest which works out roughly 1/3 of a sheet of A3 paper,pins are even better 0.13 (weighed them with the plastic wrappers on so probably all the same) very impressive

Your top rings will be two piece. One part drops into the other part. A bit like laying a thin ring into a horseshoe. They still need gapping. You'll probably find they won't even fit into the bores before you even start to gap them.

Good news with the piston weights.

[xrtim]

Gaped all the rings today despite wasting time with the Summit manual ring gaping tool (1 1/2 hours for .2mm removed, no good for stainless rings) modified my tile saw with a 250mm porcelain continuous rim diamond blade. Worked very well,I found that I could remove metal just by turning the blade shaft by hand. Changing the 24 tooth reluctor ring for a 58 tomorrow and starting the dry build of the engine. With a bit of luck I should be at the balancers for the new year.
Merry Christmas

[Boosted LS1]

Cool, slow progress is best if you want to get it right. The balancers won't be fit to balance anything until a few weeks into the new year ;-) I'd take my time, no rush etc.

[xrtim]

Good progress, crank,rods,pistons,cam and timing chain installed (not fitted on picture). Spent remainder of the day trying to find my degree wheel with no success, will have to get a new one today or print one from the internet. Reluctor wheel change was surprisingly easy, tap the old one off noting alignment position, heat new wheel on gas hob (3 mins for me), place on crank and align, job done