I'd like a few opinions to either ease my mind or persuade me regarding the content below...

So I've slowly been building this motor over the past 9 months or so, as builds go when your married and work full-time. Can I get an amen. It's essentially ready to drop in, but with the time I have away from the garage, I've come to realize that I skipped what seems to be a very important step... BALANCING!!!

Not to give unneeded details about the build, it's a stock sleeve/bore B18A1 block, wiseco 9:1 pistons, eagle rods, and OEM honda crank. The crank was purchased locally from a gentleman who claimed it was recently machined... it was in a clear bag typically found at machine shops... stone-cold indication of machining right? lol

Anyhow, I assembled the bottom-end myself, keeping record of all bearing clearances. They were perfect, all within factory spec.

My question is... do I have legitimate reason to be doubtful of my bottom end considering it hasn't been fully balanced? I know they say even quality forged components and Honda components alike require balancing... but when does that thousandth of gram begin to effect reliability/performance? Would restricting my rpm range to 7000-7500 eliminate (or at least reduce) the risk of unbalanced internals causing issues?

I guess a little insight into my goals for this motor would be helpful. I am striving for 350-400whp. I'd like to believe those are modest numbers that could be achieved with a 7000-7500rpm limit. Also I'm using a B16 head w/ GSR cams..

Any input is much appreciated.

One teaser of my setup

 

i wouldn't worry about it. i had my crank balanced and he took such a small amount off i wouldn't bother doing it next time. it was like a gram total. my pistons and rods are within a gram of each other (thanks cp and manley!)

 

Very nice.. thanks for the input!

Any details/numbers on your setup? What are you revving too?

 

480/320. redline is 9000.

 

Holy crap... 9k huh. Was this with an LS bottom?

 

Can anyone else chime in on this?

 

forgot to mention that but yes it is an ls bottom end.

 

That's really impressive. I guess the LS bottom can handle that considering the forged parts...how long have you been running it? That's really my concern. I just dont want it failing prematurely.

 

ive consistently revved my stock ls bottom end to 8500 for 5 years and up to 8700 for 6 months, i wish i wouldve took it higher and this was with 2nd gen b16 cams or so i was told

i would recommend a fluidamper and a vtec oil pump, 10k all day

 

That's pretty nasty. Was it ever overhauled? Or straight up original everything.

 

On a side note, that turbo in the picture is a GT3000 Predator from Mac (Shodan)

I'm excited to see how it performs

 

You will be fine. Almost all aftermarket/forged internals almost all way the same, just a gram or 2 difference....

 

Honda cranks are balanced already. Every time I've went to balance rotating assembly they didn't have to touch it. Also remember once the oil gets on everything and is slinging around it will throw off the balance some and once the crankshaft starts twisting and flexing balance is off. The key is a good harmonic balancer. Oem works but an ati would be a great investment. They have a street unit to maintain all accessories.

I'm running a stock ls crank to 9200 rpm and runs flawlessly

 

my motor was never rebuilt but cr is low as motor saw nitrous, na, and turbo so im not surprised at all the rings are shot