well, since JNJ, and Hybrid both posted, if you both think you would like to quote me on cost to throw a bottom end together feel free to post or PM, im looking for a place to get it done for a good price.
i disagree and ur stupid. iam just beign a dick
i hope you know what your talking about…my car is a 2001 and the 2.3 duratec didnt come out until 2003.5, meaning NOT AVAILABLE for my car. and to swap it in would cost more than it would to fully build my motor for 400+hp. i can get a ZETEC 2.3(stroked) shortblock ALREADY DONE just needs a head bolted up for $4k
For the slow bunch who has built 1 motor in their entire life.
Balancing a rotating assemble has to do with piston weight, and the big end & small end rod weight. A crankshaft is balanced at the factory for factory rods and pistons, not heavier aftermarket ones. Maybe you got lucky on your build but don’t give people bad advice just to be an asshole. If you don’t like me fine, then go fuck yourself and open your trap in person next time. I wouldn’t tell you you were wrong about the shit you sell at Circuit City so please don’t feed me a line of bullshit you know NOTHING ABOUT
What you call a contradictory point I call FACTS so this poor guy isn’t wasting thousands of dollars in good parts because a “professional” like yourself told him the wrong info. I seriously can’t believe the bad advice in this thread.
a.) your crank is balanced from the factory, just throw heavier rods and pistons on there - WRONG
b.) if there is still cross hatch visible just slap a new set of rings in there - WRONG
Also go tell a professional engine builder you use plastigauge to measure bearing tolerances. He will laugh at you just like myself. Can you measure and tell me the difference between .002, .0021, .0022, .0023, etc. with plastigauge. Professionals use bore micrometers and outside micrometers to measure critical bearing tolerances, not a piece of plastic you crush in between a journal and bearing.
The mass of the crankshaft is determined by the rest of the weight of the reciprocating assembly. Optimaly you would want mass either added or subtracted to match that of the rods and pistons. I think some of you are confusing the rotating balance of the CS with it being mass balanced to the reciprocating assembly.
Gee someone understands. That is why there is a thing called bob weight, and mass must either be drilled out, or added (with heavy metal tungsten, mallory) to the crankshaft counterweights
but some cosworth heads too…what about knife-edging the crank…is there a time when to do it an not…is it even relavant in this case…i dunno just trying to help the Focus man out…and from what i understand about phyics…thae crank is counter weighted and funny looking for a reason…i am sure by changing waeight of pistions and rods its effecting the counter weight on the crank
FYI i disagreed with the cross hatch post…
:edited: 
dont feel like starting drama. Just have a professional machine shop build it for you, unless you really wanna learn.
a fresh cross hatch pattern is needed to seat the new rings
just because you can still SEE a crosshatch pattern doesnt mean its enough to seat new rings
anytime you throw in new rings, you are supposed to … at the very least … use a ball hone to rough up the cylinder walls
otherwise your probably just gonna burn a fuckload of oil till you get tired of it and do it right
theres no reason to rely on the old crosshatch , borrowing a hone is quite cheap, weather its a ball hone or a 3 stone style tool
yawn, honing is not always necessary. Honda recommends that you dont rehone the cylinder walls, instead clean them with wd-40 and scrape any carbon build-up at the ridges. However TOO MANY people think you can just run to auto zone and rent a hone when atleast a 600grit is recommended and the closest thing auto zone is gunna have is a 250grit which is great if your rebuilding a small block chevy but not a honda engine.
I am refurring to honda becasue almost all late 4cyl technology is pretty similar to each other and built more tight for higher revs/hp. Anyway if you want your motor to burn 1quart of oil go rent a hone and see what happens unless you go and find yourself a proper hone. Hones were only recommended if there are visible scratches/blemishes that need to be removed in the cylinder wall. However this is only for rebuilds and i admit I would probably rehone also for aftermarket chromoly rings, however a finished hone is HIGHLY recommended (plateau hone) then just an autozone rental.
My 1.8liter with 186whp untuned (cam, ignition timing) that also leaked less then 3% ran consistant 8.10’s at lancaster with a shitty 1.9 60ft and a cheap ebay crushed header was rebuilt 3times without a hone and didnt burn oil.
Just imagine if i had my race header on and a good tune. 7’s all day long.
I have read that you don’t want to knife edge a focus crank. It was by a shop that got around 400 hp out of a FI setup and supposedly they talked to engineers at Ford.
One thing that you have to remember about honing the cylinders, as turbociv said, it is not always necessary on many of the new import 4 bangers. On my 2ZZ celica motor built by Yamaha, they specifically said to NOT hone the cylinder because of the coating they used in the cylinder walls. If you honed the cylinder, you would destroy the coatings.
Basically, it really depends on the motors now-a-days, and who the manufacturer is. Your old cast iron Chevy blocks require different techniques than you newer 4 bangers. To say ALL engines need to be bore honed before assembly really isn’t correct anymore due to differences in engine blocks from manufacturers.
It may be quite possible that JNJ and Viper are both correct, it just depends on the motor, not your opinions. If you tried to hone my 2ZZ Celica motor, you would make a very costly mistake. If you tried to hone my 396 I used to have, you would be building it correctly.
First thing you two need to do before you just randomly insult eachother, is find out about the Ford Four Banger, and see if it required honing or not. Any more random bitching and all you are doing is wasting your own time.
Like the old GIJoe Slogan “Knowing is half the battle…”
Nicisil & other exotic cylinder liner coatings are hardly the norm unless we are talking about Yamaha or other manufactures power sport engines (snowmobile, watercraft, outboard boat, etc.) or a very select few car engines which this Ford engine doesn’t fall into ANY of those fields, and YES I am positive. Everyone on here likes to talk in general terms and very few if ANY speak from real, first hand experience. Seems like a lot of internet mechanics and internet race engine builders that neither have the tools or the correct know how to do something. I mean you are the one who told him not to worry about the balance because the crankshaft is balanced from the factory. Seems like you should take your own advice, because “knowing is half the battle…”
Jay you really need to stop being a dick, whether or not you have good information you are making yourself look like an asshole. Its not what you say its how you say it
Seriously I am just sick of all the WRONG information, and then the attempts to say well that doesn’t hold true for his engine or that engine. The thread was about a Ford Zetec engine, not a Yamaha, or Honda, or Toyota.
so is it safe to say o dont have any of these coatings or anything and need to hone and balance? cause i couldnt find that info anywhere
im sure that if u ask the manufacturer of the parts, or check a shop manual, u may be able to find the awnser to ur question. I dont know much about this at all, but my common sense would tell me that u should probably just do then hone. The old term, “better safe then sorry”, certainly holds tru here. I would say that u def need to find out the correct grit for honing tho. im sure theres someone out there who can help u figure that out. good luck
It really depends on the style piston/ring combo and what the manufacturer says.
Who makes the pistons & rods that you have? Rings? I have a very accurate scale to weigh engine parts so I could tell you how much they differ from stock if you have a stock piston & rod handy. That will determine if you need to balance the crankshaft & rotating assembly. Yes a hone is necessary when using new rings and the type of finish you want will depend on the ring you choice or have.