Technical Balancing the flywheel on the 41 pickup at home.

Hello! Welcome to Mart's garage. I have been struggling with a big vibration on my 41 pickup. I couldn't drive it above about 45mph it was just too harsh. It dawned on me that the Old 59 flatty in the truck had a modified flywheel. I decided to pull the motor and see if I could improve on the balance of the flywheel. In this video I show that job. I skim through the removal and refitting because I have shown that before. The setup I used was a little crude, but did yield a positive result. Although I am pleased to have made an improvement, I am not 100% happy and have yet to decide if the motor will stay.
So sit back and relax and watch me tackle a job I have not tried before. Just like normal then.
Mart.

 

Just a thought could this be done with a bubble wheel balancer?

 

Mart, just a little more to add to your 20/20 hindsight...
Next time...and we KNOW there will be a next time because pulling engines for you like changing socks for me.... see what happens with the clutch and pressure plate installed. That's obviously not the entire rotating m***, but might indicate further imbalance. Great job on the balance job!!

 

For a home made static balance, two model T transmission input shafts bolt directly on ford flywheels allowing for it to be rolled on two knife edges that are level

 

Did some flywheels like you did although on a special balance stand with almost no friction and they worked fine. Most times we put them in the crank balancer and did them that way. One suggestion would be after you finished the flywheel, bolt on the pressure plate and recheck the balance I have found many pressure plates I had to add metal to get them to balance.

 

In the interest of watchable video length, I edited a lot out. I did try to balance the pressure plate. With the extra weight off to one side it made for too much friction in the bearing. So in essence the setup wasn't up to balancing the pressure plate. If I do the job again I will try and make a mandrel and set up two knife edges. It was just an experiment into what could be done with a relatively simple setup.
Thanks for following along and commenting.
Mart.

 

No need for knife edges, cold rolled shaft gave me 1g resolution on a 5" radius...



I used small magnets to get an idea of how much imbalance there was. Flywheel was balanced by drilling holes, pressure plate was balanced by adding a weight to a stud...



Results have been tested to 9k, very satisfied with the outcome.

Here's a link with details about my flywheel/clutch static balance fixture...
https://grannys.tripod.com/shopmulebalancefixture.html

Grant

 

Mart this is similar to what I use when not using the electronic balancing machine.

 

I got lucky and got one of those ^^^ too at an auction last year. not used yet, just another thing hogging floor space...but some day it will all make sence

 

Then, you need two model T trans input shafts to make it work for ford flywheels

 

I have been contemplating building one similar to Weedburners'. Two smooth dowels would give similar contact surface area and rolling resistance as knife edges, I think. Ottomans' setup is also a good one. Has anyone built something similar that would work with a crankshaft/clutch ***embly? Instead of fabricating a dowel and flywheel mount it would roll on the front and rear main journals. Same thing only bigger and would eliminate a couple of parts?

 

Great video.

 

^^^^ what he said. Enjoyed your video Mart, thanks.

 

Interesting!
Thank you!

 

Thanks for all the interesting input, guys.