Bad Investment or good investment I have the extra money but just curious what people think.

 

i say if you are building the motor than yes, but just to do as a bolt-on, prolly put that cash towards other parts, such as pistons

also allecotec and OTTP also sell the balance shafts

 

I'd do valve springs before balance shafts.

 

Don't do balance shafts unless you are going to be upgrading your valvetrain. The biggest benefit of those is so that you can spin the motor higher (which requires valvesprings at the least). There are a lot of compromises with those when it comes to OEM drive-ability. I'm not necessarily saying you shouldn't get them, just that you more than likely are not at the point to need them if you have to ask...

 

agreed. balance shafts are a good idea but are so hard to get to it's easier to do valvesprings. balance shafts should be one of the last things to do to the motor

 

can you elaborate on the loss of driveability?

 

From my understanding the harmonics at idle and near idle are changed, essentially killing any chance of a stock-feeling idle.

 

Never had experience with them but from what I hear, the vibs are insane.

 

is it true its easier to do these with the head off? or does the motor have to be dropped.

 

i believe the head has to come off as the timing chain is removed to get to the water pump/balance shaft chain. and to get the timing chain off, you have to remove chain guides and cam gears...

i believe it can be done with the motor in the car, albeit with some finagling

 

The NBS will cause vibrations that the weighted stock shafts cancel out. It's just like vibrations caused by solid or poly mounts. Some don't care, some do. I'm simply stating that the car will certainly not fall within OEM specs w/ those shafts installed. The NBS are definitely a better option than the delete kit, and I plan to install them myself, but there are compromises...

 

I removed the balance shafts and the vibration isn't that bad. And I have an Atom where the engine is bolted to the frame and the frame is bolted to a racing seat.

The first 500 miles or so I saw a vibration at 3200 rpm that would make the mirrors vibrate enough to make it hard to see (like a deep bass from a stereo). Now for some reason, it seems less

plus my girlfriend really likes to ride along now.

 

They can be done without removing the head, the vibes at 3200 are what i have heard before, not the insane craziness people think

I have the GM ones(pretty damn heavy) goin in my build

 

those are the neutrals correct?

 

i stand corrected. don't have to remove the head, but you do have to remove valve cover and cam gears/chain guides... ?

 

I respect you, so don't take this the wrong way, but there's no real way to compare an Atom to a Cobalt in any category. LoL

I know your comment isn't necessarily directed towards me, but I do want to throw my 2 cents in here.

Everyone has different tolerance levels. The more you modify an engine, the more OEM drive-ability and street manners you are likely to compromise. I had a straight through 3" exhaust (no muff, lol), poly trans bushings and TTR upper mount for quite some time. Really wasn't THAT bad to me. It was usually the typical "A/C and idle is where it's noticeable" kinda thing.

Then I switched to the Powell rotated mounts/stock upper and threw a muffler out back and mother of god did it get much, much more comfortable. Threw a turbo on there and it got even a little more tolerable. I noticed and heard things that I completely forgot about, lol.

I guess my point here is that as car fanatics, we tend to adapt quite well. After your build, you probably won't think it's THAT bad. Do me a favor after a few months; though, and go ride in a bone stock 06 LSJ. I'm sure you get my point...

 

my own personal experience is october of 08 i got laid off. to help with some bills i stripped the car back to stock and sold everything i had ( car is now back to what it was plus more ) and i went from solid mounts, catless 3" etc to full stock and it was kinda nice for a bit. you could talk to the person next to you you didnt have to yell. nothing vibed. i could hear the blower again. now im built again and im happy with where it is. your correct tho as modders we do get comfortable with our builds and forget what it was

 

I borrowed my brother's 08 LNF for a week a couple of months back and just had to laugh for the first 5 minutes every time I got behind the wheel. I definitely love what I have and wouldn't go back, but situations like that remind me how much I need a dedicated daily driver. What idiot goes and heavily modifies their daily driver? LoL

 

im trying to tell a kid at work he needs to sell me his 02 cavalier 2.4 so i can have it for a daily. with of course a full suspension and maybe a couple other things of course..... ah who the hell am i kidding ill mod that too

 

definatly not directing anything to you...the kid i bought those shafts from was scared to install them cuz the thought the vibes may destroy the engine...LOL\

The comment towards bolus and the comment regarding drivability is totally understood. i did the same thing and went from having polys to OTTP mounts, louad ass ZZP exhaust to smooth Hahn...etc. certainly the DD aspect and creature comforts take a hit for performance.

But i have ridden in a stock Atom (Quicksilver, driven by Aaron Silver) and other than the wind in your face and the organ shifting tight suspension...it sounded like a bone stock LSJ(whining blower and all) so i believe there is a slight comparision

Now certainly bolus wont have dash rattles...

 

http://www.zzperformance.com/cobalt_...1143&catid=143

ZZP shafts are much better designed than the other 2 choices and will produce gains on the dyno and the track over the other offerings.

 

Ding Ding Ding!

 

It is stated that the gm shafts free up 10 hp, Which is surprising given there weight being greater than stock

what is the weight on your balance blanks?

 

Not calling out your product, but it would actually be interesting to see a dyno comparison on all three choices.

Man, that Saturday would suck...

 

zooomer, how do the neutral shafts compare to a balance shaft delete?