|
After driving an Elise which had an engine fitted which
was balanced by Steve at Vibration Free, I knew I
wanted my next engine to be balanced by him.
It was
easily the smoothest Elise I'd ever driven! I
met Steve at the AutoSport Show and he went to great
lengths to explain the principles and benefits of engine
balancing to me in layman terms. -even though I
was already sold on a balancing job Steve
went on to explain the research he'd completed on the
undersized counter balance weights used in the Rover K
series crankshaft and the resulting imbalance, bending
movement and increased loading on the main bearing next to
the flywheel, that would result from high revving of the
engine.
When I
built my next engine I decided to go for not only the full
balance, but also the heavy metal insertion of the cranks
counter balance weights such that they correctly counter
balanced the rods & pistons. Te resulting 1.8 engine
was even smoother than my original Elise engine that Steve
had previously balanced. It went on to break the
Emerald rolling road record for power and torque for a
transverse 1.8K series install. 10,000 miles
later the engine was still making the same power and had
done so with complete reliability; a direct result of the
balancing work! I used this engine to win the
Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship in 2004.
.
For the
following season I decided to increase the capacity of the
engine to 1.9 and retained the investment in the balanced
components, Steve matched the new pistons to the rest of
the engine.
The
result was another ultra smooth engine that again broke
the record for a 1.9K series installation at the Emerald
rolling road and is still making the same power as when
first mapped, again a testament to the balancing work.
I was
able to retain the Hillclimb Championship in 2005 and hope
to do so in 2006. I wouldn't get my balancing work
done anywhere else, many thanks to Steve for his work.
cheers
 Steve
Butts
|
