I was told and I also read that I should not run a alum. flywheel on a ford flathead mild hop up on the street.. WHY??? Any imfo on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Joe
My guess is that because an aluminum flywheel is intended for competition and is lighter, it might result in some undesirable side-effects on the street. The heavy flywheel helps a car's clutch to work smoothly ....something racers don't worry about. I think it would work just fine, but you might like the stock heavier flywheel better. When shifting, especially going uphill, the heavy flywheel helps the engine keep spinning with some inertia. The light flywheel is going to allow the engine's RPM to drop off quickly as soon as the clutch is depressed. If the shift mechanism is sloppy and takes a few seconds to actually change gears, the engine speed will have dropped enough that clutching will not be as smoothe as with a stock flywheel.
A light flywheel allows fast changes in RPM,but at a price.You lose"stored inertia"that helps propel the car from a standing position.The heavy flywheel also makes low speed driving smoother,as the engine "maintains"RPM.Light flywheel=bad drivability.
All of faster reving makes shifting a bitch. At least thats what I learned from a light flywheel during my VW days.
Thanks guys I will take it all under consideration and will probably run my steel flywheel..... Thanks Joe
Hamb is the place to go for fast imfo... Thanks Guys... You are alright... I am glad to be a member... Again thank you.... Joe
All of the above needs to be qualified, Is it a Billet flywheel with a steel or cast Iron insert? Also how heavy a car will you be running it with. I f your car is fairley light you can run an Alum. flywheel, it should have an insert for wear, and if you plan on jumping on it, use a billet one. I have run several on the street with light cars with no problems. What the others said is true in a lot of cars, but not all.--TV
You can run an aluminum flywheel w/o an insert if you use an organic clutch. If you have a really light car and you HAPPEN to have an aluminum flywheel then just use it, but if not....don't worry about it. Just put the stock one in and have fun!!!
I have an ALBRO Aluminum with a Bronze insert. What kind of clutch material should I be using. I am running it in a Model A, with a 5 speed behind it.
I'll echo the more sensical responses - light car (roadster, modified, early coupe) shouldn't be too much of an issue. I'd also go with an insert rather than raw aluminum simply due to wear issues - even the organics wear the aluminum - although it will last quite a while. Heavier car, full-bodied coupe, later models - stick with your cast iron flywheel. If you're interested in revving quicker, consider having your cast iron flywheel trimmed to reduce weight - you can get an iron flywheel in the 25-28lb range pretty easily & it seems a good compromise unless you're really pulling a heavy car. Most of the aluminum ones I've seen are 12-18lbs, but I'm sure there are plenty of variations.
Don't forget that steel flywheels can be chopped aka lightened, and balanced. This allows more latitude for removing the amount of weight.
I can see the point of not running an aluminum flywheel on a flathead. On the other hand if you've got plenty of torque, why not? I've been running an 11# steel faced Weber aluminum flywheel on my 3200# early hemi powered coupe. No real problems. And now that I've taken the stromberg 97's off and switched to a pair of old AFB's on a 6/71 she raps up FAST!!! This is a street car that I'm not afraid to drive anywhere. The clutch is a 10.95" McLeod three finger Borg&Beck. The pressure plate is organic on the flywheel side and kevlar on the pressure plate side.
hi i have used aluminum flywheels on big bolck chevy jeeps off road ,and rock climing,,,,,,,,,,,, every day street uses in a 1977 390 f150,,a 1930 ford coupe 383 chevy 5 speed.. the only down fall was in a 1965 mustang at 1/8 mile it was 2/10s slower with the aluminum flywheel.......... other than 1/8 mile drag i am all for a light weight flywheel Bob
I have a bucket with early motor and would only want an aluminum flywheel. Need low first gear to prevent stalling. I believe a heavy flywheel muffles a cam and an aluminum wheel enhances the bumpity-bump
No. Maybe for a few hundred miles of ordinary driving at most. Bare aluminum flywheels are available for boats, but those boat engines don't have a disc/pressure plate. Schiefer made aluminum flywheels without an insert, but they had a metal sprayed wear surface where the clutch disc rubbed. The wear coating was easily damaged by excessive heat and rapid temp changes, so they weren't very good for a street car, a fact Schiefer would even tell you if you asked. Although race cars don't cover a lot of miles, for the reasons stated it was necessary to periodically replace them even on race cars.
hi all . i am working on a 1957 392 hemi. i have a bellhousing to adapt a gm 4 speed to my hemi. i have a aluminum flywheel that will bolt up. but defore i buy a starter from speedway i am not sure if i have a 426 flywheel or the 392 flywheel can any one help ? thanks 2momisaford
In most cases the mounting flange for the 426 flywheels will be flat while the early hemi's are recessed a bit. If you want I could take some pictures tomorrow.
I've been running an aluminum flywheel with a bronze insert in my 39 with a 276 cu in flathead for about 18 years and 50,000 miles. No driveability problems whatsoever.
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