Last Mohecian
Administrator
I agree with D. $140 will be money well spent.
460 buildup
- Thread starter blazeracer
- Start date
blazeracer
New member
Well, I just spent 20 minutes carfully removing material from a piston and got it down 1/2 gram.... a couple of them need two grams and one needs three grams to make them all equal.... Forget it. I'll pay someone else to do it. LOL
Crusader
Moderator
blazeracer said:
Noob here when it comes to building motors. What are you doing? Are you trimming material away from the piston to make them all weigh the same? If so....where are you taking the material from? Underneath and inside the pistons? Also....were the stock pistons close in their weights or thats what you meant above that they were within 12 grams of each other?
Just tryin' to keep up and understand the convo is all.
Last Mohecian
Administrator
'78 Crusader said:
You pretty much nailed it.
blazeracer
New member
'78 Crusader said:
The underside of the piston where the pins go through there are big meaty bosses. You can carefully remove material from the corners of the bosses and reduce the weight, but it's tedious. But yeah, the point is to get them all the same weight. It will help engine rev quicker, the engine will run smoother and last longer. Especially at high RPM's. If the weight is off too much the crank is in there trying to resist the urge to break in half from the opposing forces. Back in the 80's V6's were notorious for breaking cranks in half cause is next to impossible to balance a V6 just right.
For a 460 Lincoln motor that rarely goes over 3,000 RPM, being within 12 grams is probably fine. A boat motor spinning at 5,000 or more most of it's life will beat down the bearings when it's out of balance. The bearings in my motor were all out of spec, and although it was 33 years old, seasonal use keeps it fairly young. The cylinders were in great shape and had no carbon ridge. With the condition the cylinders were in, the bearing should have been in equivalant condition. Shows you right there what out of balance and higher than designed RPM can lead to.
Usually assembling a mild performance engine with quality aftermarket parts you're not going to have a big balance issue. Good performance parts come with tighter specs than factory iron, but I'll pay to get mine spot on. It's handle the nitrous better...
blazeracer
New member
'78 Crusader said:
Using a Dremel and a rasp bit.
Crusader
Moderator
Ahhh...so that's what it means to have a motor "balanced"...means the pistons all weigh pretty much the same.... Thanks for that explantion. When the pistons all weigh the same, the crank will spin more evenly and will not try to bow in a direction that the heavier pistoons are pulling them.... clear as lake lavon now.
Okay, next noob question...what does it mean when a motor is "blue printed"? Balanced and blue printed...balanced being the pistons.... blue printed meaning?
Okay, next noob question...what does it mean when a motor is "blue printed"? Balanced and blue printed...balanced being the pistons.... blue printed meaning?
blazeracer
New member
'78 Crusader said:
Balancing is a total package, pistons, pins, rings, rods, crank, balancer and flex plate.
Blueprinting is nothing more than taking measurements of everythings and documenting it ensuring everything is withing spec eliminating any weak points that may cause a failure. It usua,ly involves putting your motor together and taking back apart like four times...
HammerDown
New member
Balancing is certainly worth every penny you spend on it. Alot of your performance parts houses will spin bablance your rotating assm for you. I bought a 496 kit from CNC motorsports and got it unbalanced so my machinist could match it to my flywheel. World of difference in how the motor idled and revved.
Gold Member
New member
blue printing an engine means to put it back to exact factory specs with no after markit parts.'78 Crusader said:
duanehydro
Active member
Motor Head said:
:cheesy: wth?
Gold Member
New member
Thats what this engine terminology book i have says anyways?Motor Head said:
Last Mohecian
Administrator
Motor Head said:
That must be a different kind of blue printing.
Gold Member
New member
blue·print·ing   /ˈbluˌprɪntɪŋ/ Show Spelled
[bloo-prin-ting] Show IPA
–noun Automotive Slang .
the procedure of improving the performance of an engine by dismantling and then rebuilding the reciprocating parts so that they meet exact tolerances. (found this online and sounds more like what i always thought until i found this old book i have. ill try and find it too.)
[bloo-prin-ting] Show IPA
–noun Automotive Slang .
the procedure of improving the performance of an engine by dismantling and then rebuilding the reciprocating parts so that they meet exact tolerances. (found this online and sounds more like what i always thought until i found this old book i have. ill try and find it too.)
Last Mohecian
Administrator
Motor Head said:
That is a better definition of engine blue printing as I know it.
Last Mohecian
Administrator
Here is a pretty basic definition from Super Chevy magazine. There are different levels of blueprinting.
WHAT IS BLUEPRINTING?
Contrary to its name, blueprinting an engine has nothing to do with big rolls of paper that have strange, blue-colored drawings on them. Blueprinting an engine starts by designing it on paper first. Calculating things like compression ratio, piston pin (compression) height, displacement, and carburetor cfm requirements are all the beginnings of the true blueprinting process. From there it involves properly communicating your needs to the parts manufacturers and to your machinist and finally checking the parts, by hand, to ensure that they all meet your requirements.
WHAT IS BLUEPRINTING?
Contrary to its name, blueprinting an engine has nothing to do with big rolls of paper that have strange, blue-colored drawings on them. Blueprinting an engine starts by designing it on paper first. Calculating things like compression ratio, piston pin (compression) height, displacement, and carburetor cfm requirements are all the beginnings of the true blueprinting process. From there it involves properly communicating your needs to the parts manufacturers and to your machinist and finally checking the parts, by hand, to ensure that they all meet your requirements.