King Country man balances anything

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 294, 11 July 1989, Page 7 (Supplement)

King Country man balances anything

After setting up his own general automotive workshop in February this year Taumarunui-born 33-year old Peter Hastelow of Auto Technix is now able to offer motorists a very specialised service unique to the central King Country and beyond.

He can balance anything that moves . . . well almost anything and certainly everything in a motor vehicle that rotates or reciprocates. This includes driveshafts, crank-shafts, con-rods, clutches, flywheels, pistons, gud-geon-pins and rings, turbines, electric armatures, pulleys and, for those who prefer to travel by river rather than by road, jet-boat impellers. The piece of equipment which enables Peter to provide this service is a Christchurch manufactured balancing machine which he has just installed in the workshop premises at the southern end of Taumarunui's Hakiaha Street, next to the Taumarunui Primary School. The Mace (pictured) has been described by the electrical technician who checked the installation of the balancing machine as "a prime example of Kiwi ingenuity and simplicity . . . most imported models with their digi-

tal and electronic displays are too sophisticated for their own good." The 3-speed Mace does have a strobe light and sensors which pick up the exact spot on the circumference of a spinning drive-shaft or flywheel (while it rotates at speeds of up to 3,000 revolutions per minute) which is either too heavy or too light. Correction is then made by drilling out or grinding off surplus metal to reduce weight or welding on metal weights to make it heavier. Peter says that while this is particularly important for high-per-formance machines such as racing and rally cars, all motor vehicles would benefit from having a precision balanced engine and moving parts. "In order to achieve consistent performance, optimum power output, greater fuel economy, longer component life and smoother opera-

tion, all rotating and reciprocating parts of an engine and transmission should be precision balanced". "Engine parts are balanced in the factory before being put into new cars but to mass production standards which are only within the tolerance considered adequate for every-day motor vehicles. But the benefits of precision balancing would become obvious to every car owner with smoother running, less wear and tear and better fuel economy. But Peter doesn't think that every car owner should, as a matter of urgency, have the balancing treatment carried out immediately unless there is a serious and obvious problem. "It is better to have it done when the engine s being reconditioned or rebuilt . . . then it only adds a modest extra cost to the work already being done", he said. For a 4-cyclinder car he estimates the extra cost of balancing all the moving parts of an engine would be about $100 added to the $1000 engine reconditioning fee while a V-6 or V-8 engine - which requires more computing with bob-weights having to be attached to the crankshaft to stimulate connected parts such as pistons and con-rods - \yould cost $300. Peter, who spent last year studying precision balancing and visiting other specialists in the North Island to observe techniques, is presently looking at the implications of providing a similar service for mo-tor-cycles and singlecyclinder engines such as those used in gokarts. He is also able to offer, in addition to the normal services associated with an automotive workshop - from lubes, tune-ups, warrants of fitness to major overhauls - a complete

drive-shaft service. On his 10ft (3m) engineering lathe he can modify, shorten, straighten, repair or even build a new driveshaft . . . "including repairs to a staked-joint drive-shaft which most vehicle repair shops are not properly equipped to do. In time he hopes to be able to offer a driveshaft exchange service. After spending 15 years working in the automotive industry - during which time he has serviced and repaired almost every make of production vehicle - and being interested in vintage and classic cars (he has restored his own 1931 Talbot) Peter has had plenty of e^perience making and modifying and adapting engine and transmission parts which are either too difficult to obtain or no longer available, For the moment Auto Technix is a one-man operation while Peter completes the setting up of his workshop but now, with the prospect of getting into full swing and business picking up, he expects to be employing staff.