Technical Ford 292 y-block Flywheel...worth replacing?

Hey guys,

I just pulled the flywheel off the 292 (bell housing is arriving today. hooray!) and I noticed that it's pretty nasty, scratched up (some shallow gauges) and weighs close to a million pounds. I've seen some aftermarket light-weight 'wheels available (they're not cheap!) and then I've heard that it's possible to get them re-surfaced and balanced. Has anyone an opinion on these options? Is it worth having this old one cleaned up or will I notice a significant performance gain by going to the lightweight? Any other options that I'm missing?
Thanks in advance for your wisdom!

 

Yes, most machine shops can resurface flywheels. Light flywheels are generally for lightweight vehicles; what's the engine in?

 

A heavy flywheel isn’t a bad thing, depending on the vehicle and the power the engine makes.
Yes, the flywheel can be resurfaced, but no idea how much can betaken off to be lighter and still safe.
I/e in a pickup you have plans to pull a trailer, you don’t want a 9lb flywheel. In a 2k lb roadster you most likely don’t want a 40lb flywheel.
Ever seen one behind a Cummins (real truck, not your Dodge PU). I used a flywheel from a D6 for the base of a tether ball for the kids, saved a wheel and tire and mixing cement.

 

Oh, I guess I should have mentioned. It's going in a 1964 f100. No plans to pull a heavy trailer, and we're not taking it to the track. We're looking at somewhere in the middle for performance/reliability.

 

Could you have gotten a flywheel from a bigger truck by chance? Pickup and car flywheels can’t weight much over, 25 lbs. probably less

 

I would just try to get it resurfaced. I bet it is fine.

 

I'll make some calls around to local machine shops and see what they can do for me. If it's not a big deal, I'll go that route. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't making a huge mistake and missing out on big gains by not replacing it.

Any suggestion on a clutch upgrade or should I just stick to the stock set?

 

I have never seen a flywheel that could not be re-surfaced. Some shops do them, some send them out.

For a clutch, get a made in the USA one if possible. For my old trucks I used to try to find ones made by Perfection American, they used to make Zoom clutches. I bought my last clutch from Summit, supposedly a Zoom but not painted purple and NO sticker .

Or.. Rock Auto...
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...8,1333820,transmission-manual,clutch+kit,1993

 

You would not be happy with an aluminum flywheel in your pick up with any engine in my opinion.

 

It has been a while since I bought a new clutch, but the last one I bought was a Centerforce and I was happy with it. It had good pedal pressure as compared to the holding force. It sure didn't slip even with a fairly high torque Pontiac motor. However, behind what I assume is a stock y-block, a stock replacement clutch would likely be fine but jimmy six makes a good point on something made in USA.

 

I second this, we just did a 65 Chevelle with an aluminum flywheel, and I will not repeat that. Killed the driveability under 2k, with the particular cam selection.

 

I’ve seen more flywheels that can’t be resurfaced than you might image. Flywheels do have a minimum thickness speciation. Often times a flywheel that has had three or four clutch jobs in its life will be too thin if it was resurfaced each time, and yes, we resurface flywheels at work. We have a Van Norman surface grinder, and it works beautifully.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the Flywheel situation, guys. If I can find someone local that can resurface it for me, I think I'll be able to save quite a bit of money! And no plans on going with a high-performance clutch (I'm fine with a stock / near stock replacement) I should be able to save a penny or two there as well.

 

Good news. I found a guy that's right on my way to work that re-surfaces flywheels. I'm going to drop it off tomorrow and see what he's going to charge. I'll keep you all posted.
Looks like Summit has some pretty good options for clutches. the Zoom clutches mentioned above are around $200 or so. Seems a lot more reasonable than the McCleod (which I'm sure are great, but a little out of my budget).

 

You’re going to want a stock-ish clutch for street driving. Something with low pedal effort will be more pleasant to drive on the street, and will be easier on your ankle, calf, and especially on your clutch linkage and pivots.

Been there with high pedal effort clutches a couple of times and won’t go back.

 

If you can a diaphragm is lighter on the foot but a “Long” is standard for a Ford. Lighter or less springs if your not looking for stop light performance.

 

yeah, I'm with you. It's going to be a "driver" for both myself and the wife (she's short, so a high effort clutch is out of the question). I can just measure my old plate and get a replacement size, right? I've seen that some models around my year range had 10.5" and some had 11" clutches. Is there an easy way to look it up while I'm at work today? LoL

 

Yep, I did one once, also won't repeat it. Upside, instant revs. Downside, much more vibration even with a balanced motor. Plus the much touchier clutch action when starting.

 

Resurfacing a flywheel should be done with a machine called a "Blanchard Grinder". It has a rotating table surface that the flywheel sets on to keep it flat and parallel. Above the flywheel there will be a grinding wheel that essentially looks like its mounted sideways. The "side" of the grinding wheel will be brought downward and surface the wheel while the table is rotating. Common automotive machine shops usually are not equipped to do this. There are other ways to do it but they may/may not maintain parallism and should not be used.



The Blanchard grinder in the picture is much larger than one at a clutch rebuilding shop.

Clean up of the surface usually requires a minimum of material removal unless more is desired. Since you already have a heavy flywheel there should be no cause for concern. My suggestion is to look for a clutch rebuilder in Florida. OR call Kentucky Clutch 502 955 9173

I know the people there personally and they have excellent stuff at really good prices. They can supply dual friction custom built clutches or whatever you desire. I'd simply go with a stock rebuilt clutch from them, but you can ask if they have something a little beefier if you want. They have a reputation in this area for good products and service and everyone who goes there goes back the next time they need a clutch. They usually surface the flywheels very cheaply if you purchase a clutch from them. They are also a good source for correct information. (Note: They also do a LOT of business shipping clutches Nationwide, not just a "hole in the wall" shop. They already have a thriving business, so give them a call before you decide. )

I don't have anything to gain here, just trying to give them a shout out because they are quality people.

 

Wow...thanks for the info and the referral. I'll check this local place out (they were also a referral from one of the local restoration guys) and if they don't seem legite, I'll give your guys in Kentucky a call. In fact, I may do that anyway just to see what they would charge me for a stock replacement clutch setup. This is my first time working with a manual, so I'm learning as I go. I don't want to have to pull / drop anything again for a while once I get it all back together.

 

Think about how long a stock clutch lasted in your truck with reasonable driving. You can but the "Name" stuff, but generally they use the same stuff in their clutches. By that I mean if you buy a Name Brand stock replacement clutch it will have the same material and components as the rebuilt clutch has.....but probably cost twice as much.

If you were building a high performance engine, it might use a "dual friction" disc. That simply means that one side of the clutch disc will have a different material than its other side. That allows smooth engagement but additional grip if needed. Then they step up to clutches with more than one disc ($$$) for even more grip. You don't need all that, but if you want it they can build those too. You just don't get the "Name", but the components are pretty much the same.

You will want to replace the pilot bearing in the crankshaft. You will need a new throw out bearing. I would also check the ring gear on your flywheel to see if any of the teeth are damaged. If they are, have the ring gear replaced while everything is apart. They simply heat the ring gear till it expands and slip it off. Then heat the replacement and slip it back on. If none of the teeth are chipped or broken its probably fine.

 

To me light flywheels are for road racing. Aluminum wheels were popular in the 50s and 60s because of low traction tires that would not stand extra shock of a heavy wheel at launch May be aluminum wheels are HAMB friendly after all.

 

I do love how a freshly reground flywheel looks. Thing of beauty. My local resource seems to have the right equipment. SBF example...

 

WOOOO! Shiny!

 

Looks like it’s drilled for more than 1 pressure plate pattern.

 

I agree that that ‘wheel is drilled for different sizes and styles of pressure plates but what’s up with the spaces marked with red? It appears that there are three missing holes.

 

Yep.....Thats how a properly resurfaced flywheel will look when it comes off a blanchard grinder. Almost no automotive machine shops have blanchard grinders. They simply lay the flywheel on the table and turn on a magnet to hold it in place. If its an aluminum wheel, they surround it with steel plates to keep it from moving. Then turn the table rotation on, turn the water on, and bring the grinding wheel down slowly. Takes maybe 10 minutes to grind one. Leaves a beautiful finish............and its parallel to the mounting surface.

 

I don’t think you want to just place the flywheel on the table, that will never insure that the clutch surface is parallel to the crank mounting surface.
The crank mounting surface of the ‘wheel must be set on a round spacer or blocks that have been ground parallel, that will ensure the surfaces are true to each other.

 

Auto Machine Specialty in Fresno seems to be doing things the right way. Steve Moody owns it and he has gotten busier and busier over the years and he is open to doing oddball stuff. When my out of town brother had some trouble at his local machine shop he had everything re-machined properly at AMS. Glad to have them here.

 

No need for anyone to go looking for a shop with.a Blanchard to get a flywheel surfaced. Most automotive machine shops have purpose built flywheel grinders. As Fordors said, simply laying the flywheel on the chuck and grinding it would result in a surface that wouldn't be true with the crank flange.

I've got a 42" Blanchard and it would be useless for flywheel grinding unless custom fixturing was added to the chuck. Even then, it couldn't grind a recessed face flywheel as used on heavy trucks. General purpose machine tools can't compete with specialized automotive machinery for time or accuracy (assuming the machines aren't worn out)