Posted by Matt Wilson on Thursday, January 16, 2003 at 7:57PM :
In Reply to: Crankshaft Balancing posted by Matt Wilson on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 at 1:31PM :
I called some other machine shops and VPW, and they all said the Dodge flathead 6 does not need bob weights attached when balancing it.
Also, I called ABS Products, a manufacturer of balancing and other equipment, and they have books going back many, many decades. The person I spoke to looked up some info and asked another person there, and the consensus was that the bob weights are not needed and not appropriate.
So when I called the machinist and told him about this, he said he had already realized his mistake. He initially thought that the crank throws were offset by something other than 120 degrees. When he looked at it again, he realized he was wrong, and went ahead and balanced it without bob weights, as is correct. He said that if it had needed the weights, the balancing machine would have shaken like crazy when he spun up the crankshaft without them. The machine did not go nuts, meaning no bob weights were needed. In fact, the crank only needed some minor tweaking to get the balance right.
All is well once again.
Matt