Neutral balancing

Just a quick poll since I want to see what you guys think. Personally I've been looking into ways to extend the life of this old V8 and it seems like neutral balancing the crank in the same fashion as the AMC 6 is the way to go for expanding flexplate/flywheel->transmission options and extending the overall life and purpose of the engine. There's always a good chance I'm wrong about this since these engines are so unusual but I figure any highly desired transmission fitted to a TJ or XJ should be able to make its rounds all the way back to the AMC V8, even if some modification is needed to keep things under control.

Why? Factory external balance engines ran 100K. Having a good machine shop balance it the same way is better than factory. My shop balances to 1/4 gram. Factory stuff is usually within 3 to 4 grams.

XJ and TJ were all I-6 engines, the transmissions were only built for that HP/torque, they wouldn't live long behind a healthy V-8.

Short Jeep bellhousings will mate up to most Ford trans patterns, and QuickTime has a bellhousing to mate to GM patterns. That gives you a pretty wide selection. I'm currently putting a Legend SS700 in my Rambler.

Bob
tufcj

farna wrote: IIRC the late six flywheel will bolt to the V-8, and is the same diameter, so a neutral flywheel shouldn't be a problem... unless I'm wrong. Still, a good balance job will increase longevity if that's what you're after, doesn't matter if it's internal or external balance.

What would qualify as a "late" six?

You can internally balance an externally balanced engine,

Yep, 72 and later is the "late" six. 72-80 uses a heavier crank and flywheel than 81 and later (including the 4.0L). The actual change for the light weight 1980+ six is January 1980, so early 80 models have the heavy crank, late 80 models the light (entire engine, not just crank... plastic valve cover and aluminum intake also).