what does it mean when you balance and blue print a engine? and what are the prices of doing this ? WORD

 

Balance & blueprinting is simply making ALL the rotating parts in an engine as identical in size and weight as possible based on what the specs should be. This allows for less/no vibration or out of balance in anything and will help ensure a long engine life.

 

Sounds as if Brent knows what the two terms represent, however, I'll answer the same question, using different wording in my answer.

Balancing refers to basically as Brent described. Each reciprocating component, ie, pistons, pins, pin retaining clips (used for floating pins), rings, rods (both big and small ends), rod bolts, and rod bearings are weighed, with weights of each component adjusted (lightened) and matched to the lightest of the group, with the resulting combined weights used in the balancing procedure of the crank itself. Final crank counterweighting will be influenced by the weight of the reciprocating components that are to be bolted to the rod journal during assembly.

As an example to above, each piston is weighed, with the target weight of each piston, detemined by the lightest piston in the set. When finished, each piston will weigh the same (within a set tolerance), with the only piston not having been lightened (milled), being the lightest piston to begin with, in the complete set.

Blueprinting is a term used to describe the process of setting clearances within the engine/head assembly to a desired figure/dimension, usually based on the (tolerance) range given on the oem engineer's engine BLUEPRINT specs. In cases where engine assembly involve custom or non oem components, clearances may 'drift' outside that oem tolerance range. Generally, the tolerance specs are identified, with the target dimension being in a specific area of that tolerance range, and held to it's own tighter tolerance. IOW, some target clearances will end up on the high side of the original tolerance range, and some may end up on the low end of the range, depending on the component, and it's specific use/duty in the engine. This usually involves also, maintaining 'tighter' tolerances during any machining and/or grinding operations, of the components themselves.

As an example, the tolerance range for a sample clearance may be from .0007" to .0031" on oem engineers blueprint. The desired target clearance to be achieved may be .0025", with this clearance held consistant to within it's own + or - .0002" tolerance. In effect we have tightened and moved the original tolerance from .0007-.0031", to .0023-.0027". HTH.

To add: Blueprinted engines will usually treated to the expense of balancing, however, blueprinting is still separate. So, it is also to be understood, any engine can be balanced, without any blueprinting being performed, or necessary.

 

and by the way- balancing is required. its not a "nice" thing to do