Flathead balancing?

[Fourdy]

Do I have to send in a flywheel when I have the eng. balanced. I need the flywheel to break in the engine (starter) but may not want to use the flywheel for future use. Or, the new buyer has other plans.

If needed couldn't the flywheel be balanced separately later?

Thanks,

Fourdy

[Brian]

The flywheel/clutch cover can be balanced separately. But, I'd get the whole assembly balanced at same time; why would you run an unbalanced flywheel on the rest of the balanced assembly?

[Fourdy]

Thnx Brian. Seems that if the flywheel is balanced WITH the crank then anyone that bought the engine and wanted to say, put a C4 in it the balance would go away.

Fourdy

[Brian]

Not so...the flywheel and pp are the last things in the entire assembly to be balanced.

[Pete F]

Most Engine shops balance the flywheel separately so that if down the road you wanted to change the flywheel it could be balanced alone.


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[JWL]

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Brian is saying that a neutral balanced engine can have neutral balanced external components added, changed, or subtracted without the "balance" of the engine being compromised. Flatheads are neutral balanced where some newer engines use offsetting weights to improve balance.

[Fourdy]

Thanks so much to all of you. Stress level settled down again.lol

Fourdy

[Andy]

Most flatheads have excellent balance from the factory. Keep sets of rods together. I suspect they are factory matched in weight. I have had two complete rotating assemblies ruined completely by shops not knowing how to balance a flathead. One was a custom stroker and pistons. A third wanted to balance the rods with washers under the nuts.The engines don't turn fast. The smoothest engine I ever had was a completely stock 34.
Beware of race shops. They sure have no idea about flatheads.

[tubman]

I second Andy's condemnation of shops that brag that they build "Race Car Engines". I have been burned twice; first on a flathead and again on a original to the car Corvette 327. Luckily, in both cases, I realized something was not right early on and was able to find out what they did wrong (hint: if the bill they give you has an entry for a "High-Volume/High Pressure" oil pump, be prepared to change it out).

These days, I have a machinist that I can trust putting the short blocks together, and then I finish them myself. It's also a lot of fun doing it this way,