^^^ I see what your saying, but if you think about it, the metel is pretty thick right there, and its on the out side of the block, as long as you seal it up right, i dont think, the oil pressure will cause it to crack or leak, but thats IMO.

 

Not talking about oil pressure. Just defects in the castings and the stress from tapping and plugging it. Tapping the block puts great strain on the metal as well as inserting a plug. No threaded piece/plug is exactly the same diameter as the tap. They're usually +/- 0.5-1mm.

 

so all i gotta do is drill and plug, then cut the stock shafts? would i still need the levelzero caps that go into the block for this? my engines all apart and i'm looking to do this.

 

No wont need them . You can even knock the Balance shaft bearings out it u want to make it easier to drill

 

Now i was looking at my nbs shafts last night and noticed that i think with no shaft in place, just the sprockets and their mounting plates, there is resistance in rotation, due to them being pulled by the timing chain with no shaft to hold to straight on the other end. Dont you think this could be an issue??

 

Another idea...

What about leaving the shafts in place as is but simply shortening the chain so it just goes to the water pump and the crank? Something my buddy and i are thinking about but im sure someone has tried it before

Or would it be best to run an EWP and no chain lol

 

You should do ewp no chain. Gotta squeeze every pony

 

But is it possible to simply shorten the chain? Looks like it would still runa long the chain guide. I dont want an ewp due to being broke

 

They been running those deletes for a long time . Zevel Zero has had
their kit out for years

 

A kit that comes with a chain that simple goes from the pump to the crank?

 

i havent seen one like that riceburner, would be interesting to see/try. The balance shaft sprockets are bolted in place by the bracket on them, there isnt much if any tug on them, just spinning that tiny amount of mass freely.

Im not a fan of EWP because of possible failures, but all water pumps fail lol.

 

oh ok. i was worried about sideways pulling and potential bearing failure due to it. but i can see how the brackets may indeed hold them straight according to the chain tug.

well i may be drilling the holes tonight, we'll see. thanks for the how to mongo, and everyone for the help

 

Sub'd because i've never seen this thread or the level zero parts before.

Would anyone else be interested in just the insert sleeves that level zero sells for cheaper? I could possibly do a one-time group buy if I had a batch of people actually committed to buy.

 

I would have a few weeks ago lol

 

Sure I would be interested in a few sets. I was thinking about getting a local shop to make up some for me

 

I would have to buy a set as I don't have a block to measure at the moment, unless you have a spare bearing or something and can give me good dimensions to duplicate from. But then I was thinking of having a small batch replicated for me and any future cobalt builds, it would be cost effective to have at least 10 sets made or so and there's no way I need that many. Let me speak to my machine shop guy and i'll update here with results.

 

Balance Shaft Bearing Bearing Bore Diameter
42.000-42.016MM 1.6536-1.6542 in.

Balance Shaft Bushing bore diameter
40.763-40.776MM 1.6048-1.6054 In This is the what you would need the OD of what ever bushing you make to be. The other way to do it would be to have a solid bearing made of aluminum the same size as the stock bearing so it could be installed with the gm tool

 

Ok do you have a width spec? I was thinking something exactly like the level zero piece, just a sleeve with a small shoulder so it bottoms out and locks in place. Coat it with some green loctite and it's in there permanently.

 

Ill measure a bearing I have

 

If going though all of the process, make them removable so that people could remove them when they go back to stock

 

I don't think a mod like this is going to be removed, it would require major work to re-install the original bearings to hold the balance shafts again. It would be much easier to leave the balance shafts out/bypassed.