Cutting off Crank counterweights

Looks like they did it in a manner that is some what balanced yet, still ran.

The 4 cylinder VW performance built aircooled engines would do just the opposite.

They would weld weights on to an existing crankshaft to make what is called a counter weighted crankshaft for the higher rpm and horse power engines other than stock being built by the performance crowd.

The thing with the VW engines is that the cases are made of magnesium and the main bearing areas in the case would get pounded out, needing a line bore and oversize main bearings to get things back into specs on the next rebuild.

To help the engine cases last longer many people went to using the counter weighted crankshafts to reduce the bearing stresses on the case, getting more life and reliability out out of their high performance high rpm engines.

Just the opposite of the experiment in the above video.

Yes their experiment ran, but they say crankshafts can start to flex over 4500 rpm. The weights they removed greatly reduce the life of the main bearings. The weights help to offset the stress on the main bearings so they last longer.