Track Day Monster 2009 SS/TC Track Frame

[Six-Gun-Todd]

You do not use Bob weight calculations or Bob weights while balancing four cylinder engines.

When balancing a four cylinder crank you first balance the crank by itself.

Then you bolt the flywheel on the crank and balance that as an assembly and only drill the flywheel to correct any unbalance.

Then you bolt the pressure plate on the flywheel and balance the pressure plate by drilling, grinding or welding wieghts around it.

You need to make sure your Pistons are all within a gram or so of each other.

For the rods you need to use a jig that supports the wrist pin end of the rod while the big end is on a gram scale to make sure the big ends all weigh the same by removing weight from the heaviest rods to make them match the lightest big end. Once you get all of the big ends the same weight you can weight the whole rod and grind on the little ends of the heavier rods until they all weigh the same.

When balancing an engine that is 90 degrees such as a V8 you have to use a percentage of the Piston, rod big end, rod wrist pin end, bearings, wrist pin, wrist pin clips, rings and a little for oil under the Piston.

From these measurements you load up Bob weights to the calculated weight and bolt them to the crank rod journals. Some V8 cranks also have external weights on the flywheel and balancer that will need to be in place while balancing the crank.

With a V8 if you change the wieght of any of the rotating or reciprocating components it changes the Bob weight so you have to rebalance the crank.

We agree to disagree

I've spun a couple hundred Honda, VW, Subaru, and the like and have always found room for improvement. The balancing machine I used was accurate enough to "see" weight as light as a dollar bill taped to a counterweight....would it impact something outside of a racing application perhaps unlikely. My background is racing engines so I'm a bit one sided....still like to chase perfection though.

 

[Lonny]

We agree to disagree

I've spun a couple hundred Honda, VW, Subaru, and the like and have always found room for improvement. The balancing machine I used was accurate enough to "see" weight as light as a dollar bill taped to a counterweight....would it impact something outside of a racing application perhaps unlikely. My background is racing engines so I'm a bit one sided....still like to chase perfection though.

So do you put Bob weights on the journals of your four cylinder cranks while balancing?

 

[dperkins]

It's been a while since I last updated something and unfortunately I cannot say I have solved the problem of mounting the fuse box to the transmission mount. I just don't have enough clearance with my hose routings to mount the box the way it was intended . But Thanks to Rich for helping me out a lot on the coolant hose mounting.

 

[Waterdriver]

It's been a while since I last updated something and unfortunately I cannot say I have solved the super easy but impossible for me problem of mounting the fuse box to the transmission mount. I am clueless why I am stuck on this, but I am. I just don't have enough clearance with my hose routings to mount the box the way it was intended . I just don't understand why this is such a problem for me but super easy for others. But Thanks to Rich for helping me out a lot on the coolant hose mounting.

I had to move the fuse box over to gain some clearance. I made a small bracket for that lower mount to move the fuse Box over, out of some steel flat stock.

 

[Briann1177]

The fuse box was--and still is--a huge PITA for me too. I can't seem to find a good way of mounting it so that it feels sturdy.

I like Carl's idea of a piece of flat bar. I'll have to look into that.

 

[dperkins]

I tried making an extra support but somehow it broke. I think I need to make it out of really thick bar so it doesn't break again.

 

[George]

My setup

Brad

 

[ctuinstra]

This is interesting because it's another one of those areas where each tend to do it their own way. I had welded a tab on the upright tubing instead of using the "L" bracket and drilled a custom hole in the trans mount. This did limit the hose routing but was able to make it work. Sorry, no pictures.

 

[dperkins]

After a trip to Home Depot I finally got something that sort of works. It's not my favorite and it doesn't look amazingly sturdy but I might redo it when the car is actually running.

 

[dperkins]

Pretty much ready to do the first start. All I need now is my fuel line to be delivered and then I can get rolling with that start. While I am waiting I am doing some wire organizing underneath the fuse box. Some of the wires are getting caught on the shifter counterbalance weight. Is it ok to cut it off? I know JSTAX took some of his off, just want some input on what the results would be.

 

[dperkins]

Ok disregard that question about the counterbalance I have fixed the issue. I decided to fix the weak fuse box mounting problem by custom fabbing a bracket to bridge the end of the box to the transmission. Took me 15 minutes to make. I think DF should provide something like this in the future since it's to easy to make and solves a common issue.

 

[TheNuker]

I have wondered if you can remove the counter weight also on that shift arm. Could only find a few cobalt guys that have done it without issue.

Nuker-

 

[dperkins]

Getting ready for the first start! I am probably going to do it tonight if I can get the last rad hose on. I am so anxious to see my creation and first ever engine build starting. The turbo won't be hooked up, and neither will the MAP and MAF sensors, but everything else should be good to go (I hope, the vacuum system might not work). I'm guessing I won't have (too bad) problems without those connected and it will start?

 

[dperkins]

Ughh... no dice. Everything powered on and worked, EXCEPT the engine would not turn on/turn over. The relay in the fuse box for PWR/TRN buzzed like a piezo buzzer and stopped everything on the motor from working. The check engine light blinked in sync with the relay piezo buzzer and I made sure that the relay is not the problem. I checked the voltage going to the relay and there were 4.5 volts, and on the other pads, it was pulsing between 0v and 1.5v faster than my meter could read. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Briann1177]

Not sure why you're getting 4.5V to that relay, but you should be getting 12V on pins 85 and 87.

Sounds like you have something majorly wrong.

 

[Brian74]

Check grounds. Seems the common culprit.

Check voltage drops for that circuit further up the circuit to better isolate potential ground locations.

 

[dperkins]

Check grounds. Seems the common culprit.

Check voltage drops for that circuit further up the circuit to better isolate potential ground locations.

I have all of the grounds connected with a single piece of starter cable so I'm pretty sure it's not that. I need to look at the manual a little bit better to figure it out.

 

[dperkins]

Ok. New problem. The power train relay stopped buzzing, but it's doing something strange. It only stays on for about half of a second before turning off again, no matter the key position. When I short the relay, I can hear the crank relay working and some relay up front (probably the BCM) working, but no starting or anything.

 

[dperkins]

I might have found the issue! The fuse box itself might be the culprit. The purple starter solenoid cable that attaches to the starter motor goes to the black multiplug at B10. The pin on the fuse box for B10 is supposed to be attached to 87 on the crank relay, but somehow it's not. I'm guessing that the motor isn't actually getting the signal to start and there is some broken connection on the box (if my tests were done correctly).

 

[Briann1177]

Make sure you're looking at the right pin on the fuse box. The relays are designed so they can't be plugged in upside down. So pin 87 can actually be plugged into two different spots on the fuse box. I think opposite corners. So pin 30 could be pin 87 and vice versa. From an electrical standpoint, it doesn't matter because it's just a switch.