Question on balancing my 455 What do I need to have my machine shop balance as not sure they know buick very well they said they need the following Pistons rods rings bearings Balancer crank flywheel pressure plate The crank is from a automatic and after years of sitting who knows what flexplate was used at that time also the balancer So I will be useing a 4 speed set up and flywheel is in car now can it be balanced off of any flexplate and balancer and be ok for street strip use and not damage anything Advice appriciated
I would give them everything that is going to be used on the finished product. Like above, if they asked for it, that's what they need. This is what my machinist asks me for when I have a balance job. I would look at the condition of the balancer you are using to either use, replace or have it rebuilt as required.
Good point on the balancer John, I've seen many OEM's that had the rubber bad or shifted,its nearly 50 years old.
Have. NOS balancer never been installed but is 25 years old im sure Correct the bearings and rings they asked for one bearing and one set of rings for weight The last 2 builds on 455 I put together I did not do any of this and it is smooth idle even with the KB 113 and smooth at highway speed with A/C on must be luck on that not sure. Thanks for some advice
Well the factory "balance" was good enough for highway driving and some abuse. Professional balancing will make sure that your engine can consistently spin to 6000 RPM's and survive! It is a good investment no matter what I believe.
As long as the machine shop guy knows what he is doing it will be done on this one it might get more than 300 miles every couple years like the others Be a couple weeks out yet and find out thanks again
The only time you can do an engine balance without using the flexplate/flywheel or balancer is when you are doing an internally balanced engine. In that case the flexplate/flywheel and balancer/ damper have no weights on them and so not contribute to the balancing of the engine. But in this case yes for sure they will need all the parts to do an externally balanced engine because the flexplate/flywheel and balancer all contribute towards the balancing of the engine. Just because an engine SEEMS to run smooth does not mean it's perfectly balanced...
I know that when balancing they will compensate for oil whipping up and around the crank, but what about if you have windage mesh, crank scraper. Is that just a grey area of balancing?
A few grams added for the oil vs. slightly less doesn't do much to the formula, esp. when you start adjusting the percentage for overbalancing.
