Aluminum Flywheel Users... On the Street?
#65668
05/29/08 12:53 PM
05/29/08 12:53 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,204 Fort Worth, TX
Clair_Davis
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I'm considering an aluminum flywheel as part of my upcoming 5-speed swap, and I'm wondering how well those things live on the street. Like it or not, my Valiant doesn't see a ton of miles any more, but the miles it does see are primarily on the street. Occasionally, I plan to autoX the car, so some periodic abuse is in the plans. Total weight of the car is 3500-3600# soaking wet with me in the car, and the 340 is fairly mild, built for good vacuum and street manners. I'm looking at an AL FW because I have to go up to a 143-tooth unit, and I want to keep rotating weight down to at least what the existing 130-tooth setup has. The new 5-speed has a 3.3:1 first gear, so getting out of the hole will be a little easier than the 2.9:1 833 in the car now.
Any real world experience out there?
Thanks,
Clair
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Re: Aluminum Flywheel Users... On the Street?
[Re: Clair_Davis]
#65670
05/29/08 03:51 PM
05/29/08 03:51 PM
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 22,695 Bitopia
jcc
If you can't dazzle em with diamonds..
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If you can't dazzle em with diamonds..
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 22,695
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Did you mention your RA ratio and/or tire Dia?
I think you have worthy question, that has not covered much in past. I would like to do the same. I do have a strong 273 in a 3:23 3300lb with an 833 with the deep first gear. The 273 has a 10"?? or smaller FW, its not a 10.5", and on the street, it almost stumbles on first bite. Anything lighter would be a problem, but a beefier motor or another stronger variable and it would be doable. I like the idea of an Alum FW. Let us know.
Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.
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Re: Aluminum Flywheel Users... On the Street?
[Re: jcc]
#65671
05/29/08 04:19 PM
05/29/08 04:19 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,204 Fort Worth, TX
Clair_Davis
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Well, I should know something some time... The McLeod FW's AndyF mentioned were the ones I was thinking about, and I went ahead and got one. That solves the "problem" I had deciding which way to go with my 5-speed conversion, and gives me an SFI FW as well.
JCC, my car sounds a lot like yours. 3.23's out back, and 26" tall tires, FWIW. Do you have the 3.09 gears in your trans? The situation you're describing is the one I hope to avoid. Smaller engines need more inertia in the FW to get the car moving easily, and it seems like the 340 keeps getting lumped in to the "smaller" engine category. Even knowing what I know about my engine, I worry some about how it will behave, but it's not a weak engine at all. All my experience to date is with cast iron ~30# OEM flywheels, but I've always thought I could live with something lighter. I just wasn't sure if I'd want to cut that weight in half on a daily basis. Knowing that it's NOT on a daily basis made pulling the trigger a bit easier. Knowing that 1st gear is a good bit lower helped, too.
Having driven my car with a close-ratio 833 with a 2.45:1 first gear before, it's a booger to launch even with 3.23:1 cogs out back. I may ultimately end up with 3.55's in back depending on how the OD and autoX shift points play out, so I really don't think the light flywheel will be a big issue. At least I'm more comfortable than I was...
Would still be happy to hear about any other experience out there, though.
Clair
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Re: Aluminum Flywheel Users... On the Street?
[Re: jcc]
#65676
05/29/08 11:11 PM
05/29/08 11:11 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,204 Fort Worth, TX
Clair_Davis
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JCC, That would be a treat. I've been curious to see how nice the Passon trans/gear set must be. Interesting point on the torque curves. I would guess that the curves might be similar, but the extra displacement would push the whole curve higher. Can't say that I have any tech to back that up.
Gus, The bellhousing is from a 93 Dakota, and is a peculiar part required to bolt up a Toyota Supra 5-speed. The trans is a heavy-duty relative of the AX-15, with good gear ratios. The Dak uses a 143-tooth flywheel, but only a 10.5" clutch. I had been looking in to some Jeep Liberty parts, but that's going to take a custom flywheel, and I'm trying to keep away from custom parts to the extent I can. I can scab a funky clutch in there if I had to, but it's hard to scab in a funky flywheel...
Clair
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Re: Aluminum Flywheel Users... On the Street?
[Re: bacaruda]
#65682
06/03/08 10:01 PM
06/03/08 10:01 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,204 Fort Worth, TX
Clair_Davis
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Heh... my 5-speed swap has been "in the works" for about that long already. I'd blame my 2.5-yr-old, but it's really my lack of progress on my EFI project. No point putting 5 gears behind an engine that won't run down the road. Be sure to check out Buschi340's thread on the same trans swap I'm doing. Clair
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