Flywheel weight and lightening

[xyz500]

Hi

Doing an engine rebuild and checking a few things.

For a Stag with a manual box, does anyone know what the original factory weight of the flywheel was?

Has anyone lightened (even by a few lbs) the flywheel and what was the experience from doing this?

Thanks

[flying farmer]

Closest I have come to lightening a flywheel was when I had 80 thou skimmed off due to surface cracking causing clutch judder.

I did ask to have the flywheel lightened when I had my crank balanced on my last engine rebuild. It hadn't happened when I picked it up, they said it was light enough already (I reckon they forgot), but if you compare the thickness of an RV8 flywheel with the TV8 one, there is not much metal that could be easily removed.

Neil

[jakesmig]

I run a 1.8K series in my Midget using a flywheel out of the 1.4K series because the bellhousing rubs the clutch plate. It is a lighter flywheel and the engine runs as sweet as a nut. No idea how it affects the relative performance because I didn't run it with the 1.8 flywheel.

john

[jpyke]

Closest I have come to lightening a flywheel was when I had 80 thou skimmed off due to surface cracking causing clutch judder.

I did ask to have the flywheel lightened when I had my crank balanced on my last engine rebuild. It hadn't happened when I picked it up, they said it was light enough already (I reckon they forgot), but if you compare the thickness of an RV8 flywheel with the TV8 one, there is not much metal that could be easily removed.

Neil

Was that Oselli? I had my balancing done there and they took a good deep cut off the back of the flywheel. I'm not at home this weekend so can't post a pic unfortunately.

[flying farmer]

Yes it was Oselli

[stag8manod]

I lightened the flywheel on my 1500 Spitfire. I machined holes around the area between the clutch area and leaving enough to support the ring gear. It was all done on a vertical mill with a dividing head to keep its balance. Idle isn't as smooth and starting off is a little harder. The revs pick up quicker, which is what I wanted.
Cheers Ian A

[xyz500]

Thanks, I'm still weighing up the options. At least with the v8 it may not be over sensitive to idle & start off, provided we don't go too overboard!

[jpyke]

Thanks, I'm still weighing up the options. At least with the v8 it may not be over sensitive to idle & start off, provided we don't go too overboard!

Well my spare engine I've got set up on a jig starts and idles well enough just on an auto flex plate so I reckon you won't have a problem - especially with the added weight of the clutch cover