[BogiesAnnex1]

Much of this stuff is cast or forged, as the case may be, in China with the higher end stuff being machined in the USofA. The stuff cast or forged in the USofA tends to be the more exotic versions of the material (like basic spec 4340 from China but electro, vacuum, remelt 4340 being made in the US) there used to be startling price differences between the Chinese made from material to the domestic, but thanks to tariffs that difference isn’t as big as it was 5 years ago.

Bogie

 

[eric32]

Yeah I know American made cranks would be way better but those Liberty cranks are made over seas just like the most entry level cranks are along with connecting rods etc. Its just Carl acted like they was the best there is period for that price range vs everybody else. I have had nothing but great experience with the Scat brand of parts and they have always been spot on for me.

All I wanted was to use what I was used to. O well can please them all. My machine shop I have used for years will make suggestions but does not force anything on you and will make up for any mistakes without issue. When I tried to work with Carl I thought it would be nice to just have everything done at one time last year as he sells the Dart shp block already with all the machine work done for just hardly more then what the bare block cost me and it would have saved me over a grand or more in machine costs and parts.

But well it fell through and I guess it was for my good as it would have not been the way I wanted it to be but I am the type of person who tries not to cause any trouble and like to be nice to everybody even when there not nice to me. I do my best to always give respect as best as I can even if someone does not even like me or gives me issues but I am still human. Things came up anyways and I would have not been able to pull it off then when I was thinking of paying him.

 

[Betterdays]

Sanding the rod doesn't hurt the integrity of the rod.
It's rare to need to touch the better rods or Pistons they are so close to correct weight right out of the box.

Even though it's been a couple of moments since I put something together, it shouldn't take much at all. Invest in a good scale, weigh your rods by themselves. Same with pistons. There should not be a wide variation on any good quality items with today's processes to manufacture and machine parts. Used to be I would use a balance to find the heaviest and lightest, get a fine file and go to work. Rotational mass dynamic balancing is another story. How much do you include? Flywheel and pressure plate or flex plate and converter? Should you balance a converter without fluid in it? With today's fluid dampners, balancing the rotating mass should be almost nil.

 

[eric32]

Already done that. My rods are within average of one gram each and the same with the pistons. They were pretty spot on and I weighed them several times and they are really close so they should not have to do much to get the proper bobble weight. The problem is they normally want the balancer your going to use and the flexplate but there already on my current engine and I won't have my engine out till I have my parts all done and that is a downer there but I am not buying another $290 ATI Damper but the flexplate I can buy as its not that big of a deal at $65 bucks give or take a little.

The thing I always ask them is well what happens when a balancer goes bad and you have to replace it or the flexplate if it went bad? But I know they like to get it as good as possible but I don't know all the ins and outs except they look for a certain bobble weight of things and other stuff.

 

[Betterdays]

1 gram or less across all 8 piston and rod assemblies is pretty good. At that rate, match heavy piston with light rod and vice versa to even it out. A fluid dampner can't really be balanced because it can change as needed. A torque converter without fluid can be tricky if the stator bounces some. Shake a new converter and you'll feel it. Point is, there us a limit to what you can get away with and not be a detriment to your engine. I used to spin 327s to 8K with no issue and NO balancing beyond the factory. Baked the rods at 400 for a few hours to stress relieve, installed ARP rod bolts, bolted a Hays centrifugal flywheel and clutch with a fluid dampner.

 

[eric32]

My ATI damper is not a fluid damper but a traditional elastomer one. Below is what I use.

ATI Performance Products ATI917781 ATI Super Damper Standard Harmonic Balancers | Summit Racing

Find ATI Performance Products ATI917781 ATI Super Damper Standard Harmonic Balancers and get Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing! Patented ATI Super Damper standard harmonic balancers are the only crankshaft dampers designed exclusively for high performance engines. Inner and outer...

www.summitracing.com

 

[lmsport]

A neutral ATI damper does not need to be balanced.

 

[eric32]

Yeah I know that my flexplate is neutral as well and I always wondered why they wanted to have that for balancing but they always do for some reason. I don't know the last time I bought it from them as I was going to get one from Summit anyways and they matched there price and they also honed it out for me for the crank snout so it would not be to tight.

I don't know if they will ask for it again or not till I call to get an estimate. If they say they need it I will tell them like I did in the past I don't have it on hand and they can balance my stuff as is.