LRO: RE: RE: Engine Balancing

From: Hope Peter (hope_peter@bah.com)
Date: Thu Apr 05 2001 - 16:52:29 EDT

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    > However, Pete, only you can determine if the 'cost'of whatever
    > you decide to
    > do, be it in labor, parts or whatever cost, is acceptable to you.
    >

    John,
    thank you for your input.

    Boy I hope this doesn't comeout wrong, but cost isn't really the issue.
    Counting the original purchase price of the Rover (which had Warn hubs,
    weber 32ich, 8:1 head, Fairey OD, and Koenig winch), the cost of the steel
    (for the frme, bumper, roll cage, bull bar, tire carrier), new tires (5@
    33-1250x15), 8.5" rims, rebuilt front axle, tranny, custom drive shaft, 75
    amp alt, 2bbl Weber and intake, pair of drive lights, pair of fog lights,
    new wire harness, all new hydraulics, new clutch, and all the little bits
    that went into the frame over, I stll haven't spent 5k. And this has been
    spread out over a 30 month period.

    My frame is 250lbs heavier then stock, 150 for the bumper/bullbar, 150 for
    roll bar, want to add in a second fuel tank, say 100 when full.

    With the OD and tires I don't have any problems maintaining 65mph on the
    highway. The rpm's are lower then driving 35 in 3rd. The only problem
    comes when hitting the hills. The H2 heads up through the central valley.
    In a 2-3 mile stretch you are going from sea level to 1200 feet. This isn't
    much of a hill I know, but I have a hard time maintaining 45mph.
    I want to increase the performance enough so that I can maintain speed on
    hills such as this.
    I have heard from some people that have gone with the ACR stage II kit and
    are very impressed. Also talked with people that have just used a 8:1 head,
    2.5 cam, and 2bbl carb and had noticable improvements.
    So my current plan is to use the ACR cam, head, a weber 2bbl and maybe bump
    up the exhaust to 2".
    From ACR's web site, they have a standard 2.25 engine measuring 70bhp and
    120 lbft of torque.
    With their stage II head, su carb, free flow silencer on stock pipes, su
    carb they are measuring 113 bhp (%50+ increase) and 150lbft torque.
    This new torque figure is at 3400rpm, according to my conversations with ACR
    this set up still puts out the same torque at 1500rpms as the stock engine.
    The bhp increase is not as great with their Stage I head, but still
    impressive, about 10bhp less.
    The stage I is $290 with todays exchange rate, stage II is 456. Cam is 220.
    Core charge of 100 for the head and shipping of 120. So $900 for the Stage
    II, 740 for the stage I. I picked up the Weber 32/34 dmtl and 2bbl intake
    (all from a mid 80's D90) for 150. I can fab my own exhaust pipes, new
    muffler is less then 75. Electronic ignition is 75. The carb has an
    adapter so I can still use the oil bath, but for road use I have found a
    cone shaped K&N with the same diameter fitting.

    So if balancing the crank and rods is a good idea I will do it. And by good
    idea I mean...since I am increasing the output of the engine, aren't I also
    increasing the stresses upon it's components? If so, will balancing help to
    make the engine last longer? I am looking at around a total investment of
    1500$ for this upgrade. Maybe 1-200 more depending on shop costs. I still
    consider this to be well within my budget.

    This keeps the engine compartment relatively landrover, doesn't involve any
    fabrication work/time (exhaust pipes can be bent in less then an hour). If
    I spend a couple hundred more dollars and it means I will get a couple extra
    years out of the engine, then it's worth it to me. If this also means more
    power, bonus, but most important right now is durability.

    Thanks
    Pete



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