benefits of crank and flywheel balancing??

[Retro-gone.]

when i spoke to engineer about my rebore he asked if i wanted my crankshaft balancing while it was out, i just said no thanks.. but on way home i got to thinking what exactly does this do, it must have some significance or he wouldnt of asked.

he also said all the old pinto lads used to have 20tho skimmed off their cyl heads to raise compression, now i dont wanna go too far with all this but what difference could i expect over stock performance from my 2.0 pinto if i were to have the following work done..

 

balanced crank & flywheel.

skimmed & gas flowed head.

fr31 or 32 kent cam.

then fit a 4-2-1 manifold.

remember i want to keep a smooth tickover, 2 of my pet hates on a car is a lumpy tickover and a smoking engine.

[5hane]

balanced crank & flywheel.

skimmed & gas flowed head.

fr31 or 32 kent cam.

then fit a 4-2-1 manifold.

remember i want to keep a smooth tickover, 2 of my pet hates on a car is a lumpy tickover and a smoking engine.

 

balanced crank and flywheel will let theengine run smoother and more efficent (think)

skimmed head, raise compression (good thing )

gasflowed heads, nother word for porting, the more the faster you will go (think )

kent cam , shift the rev range and power, not sure of thos cams tho

4-2-1, a 421 helps torque, so good for road/fast road

 

 

some one say if im wrong please

[Vista]

I can't say how much power you'll gain from all that as it's largely down to the quality of the porting work.

 

What I would say is if your budget will stretch to it then get it all done

 

edit: I assume he's going to balance your rods and pistons too?

[Retro-gone.]

i dunno mate, he never mentioned that and ive never heard of it. im really thinking about ..

A - backing out of this and using all the parts ive painted and polished for my 1600 engine

B- just putting the 2.0 engine back together as it was and fitting it in the car, at the end of the day it ran smooth, picked up well and didnt smoke.

 

it just seems every corner i turn theres something else i should get done to the engine and its gonna cost a fortune cos it all adds up.

i got told today im goin on 3 day a week for a while till things pick up, im not on a great wage as it is

[Vista]

If funds are that tight mate then I'd probably go with spend as little as possible having the block honed, a piston and ring set for the one cylinder, an oil pump and then fit it back in as is. I don't know how much honing will be but an oil pump and piston & ring set should be around £60 to £70 for the lot.

[antz]

If funds are that tight mate then I'd probably go with spend as little as possible having the block honed, a piston and ring set for the one cylinder, an oil pump and then fit it back in as is. I don't know how much honing will be but an oil pump and piston & ring set should be around £60 to £70 for the lot.

 

id get that done as well.

 

once you start balancing and lightening it just snowballs and the next thing you know is that you get a bill from the bank wanting money

 

follow vista's advice

[Retro-gone.]

well, i borrowed a honing tool and cleaned up the cylinders, hasnt really helped the scored cylinder exept clean it up , ive been offered 4 new std pistons and rings for 50quid posted, bought in error by a guy rebuilding his pinto.

its just that scored bore that worries me, i can hear it calling me whan im in bed

 

i spoke to duchy boy again today, i bought the engine from him, heres what he said (and i trust him)

bought the 2.0's for the interior, the car was an mot failier, he drove it home 40-50 miles with his mate behind him, the car drove perfect with smooth good acceleration, his mate behind said it puffed on start up but no smoke while driving (the stem seals are rock hard by the way) , when they reached their destination they both remarked on what a great runner it was whilst it was ticking over.

even the old lad they bought it from said it was his daily drive, ran perfect and never leat him down.

 

so whats bugging me?

the scores in the bore, the carbon stuck solid to 3 of the pistons and ive never ever seen so much carbon build up on top of the valves, its a good half inch thick which leads me to believe its not had regular oil changes.

But.... it ran well

[countrybumpkin]

how deep would you estimate the score to be less than 1mm? i would be happy if the scores were less than 1mm to give it an extra hone and then just rebuild it as its just going to be a road engine i'm sure it will be fine

[bortaf]

To be fair any high millage carb engine that hasn't had regular tuin-ups will be coked up

I never really noticed as all engines were the same, till i opened up my first high millage EFi then it really stands out.

Most of the crap on the valves wil be from the breather system dumping oil fumes into the inlet manifold, you have to remember back in the 70's the cams were dropping out left right and centre so the build quality was allways susspect and a heavy breathing pinto was the norm.

There's a whole world of difference between a 2.0 and a later 205 blocked engine in build quality, what you describe sounds normal to me for a 2.0

[fezza]

If you do go down the balanced flywheel and crank route make sure you give him the clutch assembly to bolt on too

[Retro-gone.]

how deep would you estimate the score to be less than 1mm? i would be happy if the scores were less than 1mm to give it an extra hone and then just rebuild it as its just going to be a road engine i'm sure it will be fine

 

scores are i reckon half a mm, theres 2 , if i run my finger nail around the bore my finger will stop dead when my nail hits them, they are adjacent to each other, they dont run from top to bottom, but not far off.

itd be ace if i could just pass the block around you lot and say 'here, see what ya think

[Gonzo]

If it were me, regardless of cost, I'd at least get a decent rebore and new pistons and rings to match. That way you know it's gonna be sound for the foreseeable future and you don't have to worry about it.

 

Crank balancing only really makes a notable difference if you intend to keep it in the high revs more than half the time, and ideally you want the rods and pistons balanced with it.

 

A balanced and lightened flywheel is always worth it imho. Helps the engine rev quicker.

 

Getting the head skimmed is a good investment if you can stretch to it. Gives a more complete combustion, thus more power and better fuel efficiency.

 

Hope this is of some use to you.

[antz]

 

A balanced and lightened flywheel is always worth it imho. Helps the engine rev quicker.

 

 

but gives a lumpy tickover

[Stu_B]

How does a flywheel balance give a lumpy tickover? Surely it should result in a smoother tickover!

The cam would give a lumpy tickover

[antz]

How does a flywheel balance give a lumpy tickover? Surely it should result in a smoother tickover!

The cam would give a lumpy tickover

 

i thought it would give a lumpy tickover as there is less mateal rotating so it hard to work harder on tickover to keep the car runing.....ok when giving it some welly but i thought itd give it a lump tickover.

 

 

then again i could be talking out of my lower rear exit

[sambo]

Nah, your right Antz, a heavy flywheel would have more inertia as its spinning therefore smoothing the tickover. A lightened flywheel is effective because there is less weight to spin up when gunning it.

[Gonzo]

Won't necessarily give a lumpy tickover though. All depends what state of tune the motor's in, how you've got it set up and how light the flywheel is. If it's been lightened to frisbee-type weight, yeah, your tickover's gonna suffer. If you've not taken a lot off, it shouldn't make any odds.

[Rick]

i never understood flywheel dieting.

 

theyre heavy for a reason sure alight flywheel will rev quicker but itl also slow down quicker not much use on the road

[Jimbob-Squarepants ©]

First question, are the pistons in the block marked 'STD'? If they aren't, there is no point in wasting £50 on standard pistons and rings.

 

I would agree with both Gonzo & Vista to be honest. There is no point in wasting money on having everything lightened and balanced if all you want is a reliable perky engine. You have been rolling with your 1.6 for a while, so you will notice a hell of a lot of difference when you change to 2.0... thats without having camshafts fitted etc. etc.

 

The best thing to do is to have the block rebored and have new pistons and rings fitted, then big and main end shells, big decoke and lap your valves in. Oh and don't forget your new oil pump If you want to fit a cam, go for it. Then you have a nice sorted reliable and perky pinto.

 

If the score isn't that deep, I would just put some new rings in. If your block is standard, buy those pistons and rings for £50 (that is well worth it) and fit those. I really don't think you will have much to worry about with those 2 small scores.

 

When I did a compression check on my 1380 pre crossflow, number four cylinder was showing good compression (about middle for the four readings), and when I took it apart, the piston and bore was bolloxed beyond belief. That was a seize up due to insufficient boring tollerences.

 

Before you do anything, make sure you can get all the parts you need... Big End & Main End Shells, Pistons and/or Rings, Oil Pump, Gasket Sets, Oil Pressure Switch, Water Temp Switch, Thermostat etc. Because as I said the other night, I have 2 engines in pieces which can't go back together because pistons and rings are un-obtainable.

 

Heres a pic of my 500 mile old piston which was brand new and was showing good compression... the bore was worse.

[Guest cortinamad-gonetoo]

 

A balanced and lightened flywheel is always worth it imho. Helps the engine rev quicker.

 

 

but gives a lumpy tickover

 

just getting the flywheel lightened and balanced doesnt give a lumpy tickover it just lets the engine rev better

less weight for the crank to turn over

[TwoLitrePinto]

Everything you said (without the lightening an balancing) will give a VERY noticeable difference, you will lose a little bit of low down torque with the fast road cam but when you get past 3000-3500 rpm and hold your foot down until its screaming its tits off, then you will see what there intentions were

 

this was basically what my 2.1 pinto consisted of, apart from oversized pistons+rings, shortend rods and decked block. none of it was lightened or balanced and it was a completely standard LEADED head with a FR1 cam and 421. it put a smile on my face at 7000rpm put it that way

[Retro-gone.]

cheers lads, im gonna go with the standard engine for now, just renew the basic neccesery parts , all parts are available easily enough

[Vista]

i never understood flywheel dieting.

 

theyre heavy for a reason sure alight flywheel will rev quicker but itl also slow down quicker not much use on the road

 

Have a read and see what you think.

 

http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/FLYWHEEL.htm

[richie_stix]

i never understood flywheel dieting.

 

theyre heavy for a reason sure alight flywheel will rev quicker but itl also slow down quicker not much use on the road

 

Have a read and see what you think.

 

http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/FLYWHEEL.htm

 

read this before, but it was good reading again now i'm wiser and older... ahem... seems, quite advantagous then? how much does this lightened flywheel malarky cost then? and recomend anyplaces? seems my pinto may need some of this!

[Stu_B]

I'm guessing my flywheel has been balanced... looks like some one has attacked it with a drill