Didn't stay late today but shortblock is together, just need to slap the pickup and pan on. Going in tomorrow to get the longblock assembled and mated to the trans. Might be able to start vehicle install if there's an open lift.

There's lots of track days at gingerman, blackhawk farms and autobahn. If I'm not at a track then I'm at the dragstrip or autocrossing haha. I think I've only been to one or two shows with the evo, I don't find them as fun as I used to but every now and then I'll get dragged out to one.

 

Sad, but true. I'm now 43 years old and I, literally, don't even speak the same language as those kids.

That, and I get bored. Every car out there:
Looks like a race car but can't race car? Check.
Horrible offset and sized wheels? Check.
Tire stickers? Check.
Rinse. Repeat.

 

Hahaha I feel the exact same way; bored unless I'm with a good group of friends. Unfortunately I have to call those type of people the typical car enthusiast of my generation. Can't tell you how much I would give be born 10 years earlier...

 

This is so true. Haha

 

Well yesterday I got the engine from a block with a rotating assembly to a fully dressed engine ready to drop in. The only mishap er surprise I fortunately caught while I was timing the engine. During the whole time I had the engine apart I was on the fence about doing a balance shaft delete but in the end I didn't have the expendable funds to buy a kit that gets rid of the counterweights and I didn't want to run a stub shaft so I left them in. While I was timing the engine I found a slight issue with the rear shaft belt...




So no rear shaft for me. Next time I have the engine out I'll either throw in a weightless race shaft or pull the stock shaft and turn it down in a lathe. Going to get the clutch and trans on the engine monday morning and crossing my fingers there will be an open lift to start vehicle install monday evening.

 

Without the belt, the rear shaft won't move. No need to machine it down. Or are you talking about the front?
I left my rear shaft in with no belt so oil pressures stay the same. My oil pump already had the stub shaft installed. I was gonna use both shafts, but I couldn't get that stub out.

 

Front shaft. The race shaft kits are all like $200 which I'd rather not spend if I don't have to. Really just comes down to me having the time to pull the shaft and get it turned down. As for the rear shaft, can't you pull the shaft and rotate the bearings to keep oil pressure from dropping?

 

You can, but then oil pressure runs kinda high. I didn't want to have that problem either. I also wanted a turned-down shaft for the front, but I didn't have the extra $200, either LOL

 

Good to know, thanks. I suppose I could turn down the rear shaft as well to drop some weight lol. Or maybe drill smaller holes in the bearings to keep pressure where it is hmm

 

That's a lotta trouble to go through, though. You think it would make that much difference, as opposed to just leaving it in there?

 

Definitely not much of a difference at all honestly but I'm trying to save weight everywhere I can and I'd venture that both the shafts together weigh 10ish pounds, I bet their weight is posted somewhere.

My goal is to get the car under 2700lbs retaining factory body panels and fuel tank.

 

You can't run one balance shaft, it will cause issue. Just pick up the OEM stub shaft, they're like $30, and leave the rear shaft in with no belt on it (so you don't have to redo the bearings to cover the oil ports)

 

Car should be back together and running tomorrow. Just need to reconnect the hotpipe, downpipe, oil cooler lines, serpentine belt and front engine mount as well as fill it with fluids. Then I'll break in the clutch and engine and try to get it on the dyno before the week is over.

Gave the new clutch (comp stage 4) a try and was surprised at how light it is. I've grown used to driving on/off feeling twin and triple disk stuff but this barely feels more aggressive than the exedy stage 1 I just took out. But that's just initial impressions without the engine running.


I actually have experience developing balance shaft assemblies for OEMs. After reviewing hundreds of run hours of data on engines I can't say they really do all that much. Now I haven't looked at the design used on the 4g63 but if it's like most balance shaft systems then it shouldn't be of much concern to just run one. With paired shaft systems (pretty much all balance shaft designs) the counterweights on the shafts aren't canceling out each other other, they're damping crank vibrations due to inherent design imbalances that all 4 cylinders have (by the way there are plenty of 4 cylinder engines that don't use balance shafts). By running 1 shaft you're just cutting that damping weight in half, it's still in time with the engine. Either way, I'll find out.

 

ah rpf1s look so good . good progress cant wait to see it done

 

I know there are plenty of I4's that don't use balance shafts. As far as how they're timed, I've never bothered to look and see if the balance shafts are timed the same as each other. I guess if the they are timed the same, running one won't hurt.