LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Rod Balancing Question

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Old Jun 24, 2008 | 01:08 AM
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Alright so i was making my bobweight card for the machine shop today, and i was doing it at buddies shop using his scale. When i went to weigh up the rods i asked if he had something to hold the rod so i could weight the big end and then the small end of the rod. He said that i didn't need to do that and all i needed to do was weigh the whole thing at once is this correct??
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Old Jun 24, 2008 | 06:02 PM
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I don't know 100%, but I'm pretty sure that's incorrect.
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Old Jun 24, 2008 | 08:05 PM
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Thats what i thought. Anybody else know for sure?
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Old Jun 24, 2008 | 08:14 PM
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Here's my rudimentry knowledge of balancing. You take the assembled rods, pistons, and rings; weight them all, and make them all weigh the same as the lightest one in the group

You could probably do it in steps (a better idea I assume), with rods, and then pistons.

I would think if you weighted one 1/2 then another 1/2 that you'd get incorrect numbers...
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Old Jun 24, 2008 | 10:57 PM
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You dont have to weigh each end when adding to get your bobweight but you should still weigh each end to make sure your rods are close to the same before you try to get your bobweight just in case you have to take material off to match the rods up.
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Old Jun 24, 2008 | 11:26 PM
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So i still need to weigh the ends though correct? I just cant weight the whole rod?
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Old Jun 25, 2008 | 02:01 PM
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I'll go a little further and hope I don't hang myself. To get the bobweight for balancing you have to make all the rods weight the same as the lightest on both ends. Then weight the pistons, rings, pin and an allowance for oil, I think my builder uses about 3 grams for oil. After that it's the big end multiplied by 2 plus the small end and the piston/ring/pin/oil weight. You could also do it by weighing the total rod and then just the small end and subtract the two to get the big end and multiply by 2.
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Old Jun 25, 2008 | 05:07 PM
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Why not just consult the machine shop on a matter like this where you can get a solid answer?
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