The idea is that the balance shaft uses up a bunch of power on its own, and THEN it drives the oil pump as well. Removing the balance shaft, which has no real use in this engine other than the oil pump/vacuum pump, means that there is no way to drive the oil pump.
The balance shaft has journal bearings as well, which will have to have their oil galleys tapped and plugged.
So the benefits are:
- Less bearing drag
- Less accessory load
- Less rotating mass
- Less timing belt stress (major plus)
Also, the electric oil pump setup gives specific control over oil pressure by increasing pump speed, and plugging those galleys means additional volume for the other bearings, and the turbo (coming soon).
I do plan on deleting the alt and running 2-4 batteries @24vdc with a DC/DC converter running 13.6vdc output.
That's the plan so far, anyway.