Balancing an engine at home (Newbie)

[old31]

Originally Posted by wensum

First fit a harmonic balancer pulley, You will be surprised at the transformation and it could save you a great deal of trouble and expense!

Wen, who sells a harmonic balancer for the A?

[old31]

Originally Posted by Railcarmover

I went down to the local 'emporium' and bought a gram scale..balanced the rod piston pin and rings as assemblies,I know it isn't the proper way to balance but I did get them within a gram.they did have a 10g or so variance so it helped.The biggest bang for your buck balancing is getting your flywheel,pressure plate and clutch done as an assembly.

In line four cylinders have an inherent shudder,accentuated in the A with siamese intake ports ,mine runs pretty smooth,thouigh I dont know if the fooling I did with the scale was the difference..probably not

Rail, what did you to balance everything. Grind, file, drill?

[Dave in MN]

Originally Posted by old31

Wen, who sells a harmonic balancer for the A?

Check with Murray Horne.
I have one of his front pulley dampeners.

Murray Horn <[email protected]>

Good Day!

[denniskliesen]

Originally Posted by Dave in MN

Check with Murray Horne.
I have one of his front pulley dampeners.

Murray Horn <[email protected]>

Good Day!

Does your dampener have the spiral cut groove and if so what are you using for a front seal? I'm done with rope seals. Never had one that didn't leak.

[SAJ]

Murray will make it without the scroll if you request that
SAJ in NZ

[Dave in MN]

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Originally Posted by denniskliesen

Does your dampener have the spiral cut groove and if so what are you using for a front seal? I'm done with rope seals. Never had one that didn't leak.

Yes, It has the spiral grooves and used with rope seal. 11,600 miles and no leak...yet.

[Straw530]

I sent Murray a message and he got back to me already! Sounds like he is 4 weeks out. Does this help quite a bit with the vibration? I don't mean to ask so many questions, I just don't understand it yet. Do I need to do anything else to make it work? Thank you.

[Railcarmover]

Originally Posted by old31

Rail, what did you to balance everything. Grind, file, drill?

I smoothed the casting ridge on the side of the rod. It wast a scientific job,weight variance an the piston has a greater effect on vibration than a weight variance at the big end of the rod,its further from the axis (center of crankshaft)
I figured anything would help,the imbalance on a low rpm engine isnt that big of an issue,as rpm rises (like 4 or 5k) it becomes huge. If memory serves I pulled out a 10g variance.

[Rusty Karz]

Who makes a harmonic balancer pulley for a Model A? Sounds like a good solution to me.

[daveymc29]

Check no. 24 above. Murray Horn <[email protected]>

[Terry, NJ]

Chances are that that the flywheel housing will be radial cracked around the bolt holes, almost every one is..
I don't recall whether or not that I read that you replaced that 4 inch tube that drains oil from they rear main. The engine can leak quite a bit of oil if it's missing (Don't ask me how I know) Also, there is a tiny tack weld that prevents it from turning itself out.
If you have access to a large lathe, turn some weight off that monster flywheel (63 lbs) There are drawings of where the extra stock should be removed. Then have the flywheel professionally balanced. (cost, about $60-80) This will reduce the rotating mass.
Check your compression! Ideally each cylinder should be within a few lbs of the others.
Terry