For the love of a tractor engine: The life and times of the 18R-G

[RAd28]

Hi guys, I'm looking to find a pair of guides/slippers (long ones for the top chain) for my RG. I did a group buy a while back to get some re-coated, but I'm sure I remember seeing somewhere since then that they were still available from a particular source? I've had a look around the obvious places, but I can't find anything. If anyone knows something please let me know, or I'll just get some more re-coated as well.

Cheers

[Steve M]

How did the re-coated ones turn out?
Were they usable and has anyone run them for a while yet?

[RAd28]

There were a few people who tried them out and ran with them for a while, atleast one pulled the engine down some time afterwards with no signs of negative effects... the original thread is HERE.

[o_man_ra23]

Gerrard, if you are going to do another lot of re-coats, then count me in for a set. Last place I saw new ones advertised was SW Motorsports, but when I enquired, he said he could no longer get them. Not sure if he removed them from the website...

[RAd28]

Owen, I won't be doing another lot as a group buy it was a massive nuisance last time. I've just placed an order with SW motor sports for some parts, but the guides I need aren't available from them.

Cheers

[SilverRA23]

I don't think the ones you are talking about are listed here, but there are a couple of variants here

http://toyheadauto.com/PerformancePages/18RG_Parts.html

[mark corona II]

hello again. thanks for all the help, and If I'm posting too much, let me know. regarding lightened flywheels. I believe I can use my 22re flywheel, and lighten it. (vs. having to buy this. it's quite expensive). do you guys run lightened flywheels on these motors? is there an optimum weight? does a motor that makes 150 horsepower need a lightened flywheel and after market clutch? what are you guys using? I've done the searches, just looking for tidbits.

[o_man_ra23]

Flywheel weight will depend on what you want from the motor. A lighter flywheel will make the motor more responsive to the pedal, as there will be less rotating inertia. So effectively you should take off a bit quicker, and your car should slow down a bit quicker when you let go of the right pedal. On the other hand, if you try to drive up a hill, you will require more throttle to keep you from slowing down. For most hills, an 18R-G in a light car should be able to propel it upwards fairly easily.

If you do get your 22R flywheel lightened, make sure somebody who knows what they are doing does it. You can easily weaken a flywheel to a very dangerous point if you cut it too thin.

[MnToyGuy]

Be careful. The 20R/22R use an 11mm flywheel bolt while the 18RX uses a 10mm. You'll need to get your crank drilled and tapped for the larger bolts. The other option is to go with 4AG ARP flywheel bolts and use them on a stock flywheel (you get 2 extras). If you do that, LMK and I'll buy the 2 extras from you.

[JustenGT8]

I originally ran a lightened stock flywheel but having seen all the cracks in it when the engine/box came out...never again!!

Just get a billet steel one made up...mine came in at around 5kg and was under $400AUD to have made. A very worthwhile mod but must be done properly to be safe.

[roadkill]

Hi,

i've got a stupidly light one floating around here. Definately not a machined flywheel, looks either custom or aftermarket. will take photos for comparison when i trip over it next.

bEn

[river]

Hi,

I don't run a lightened fly wheel because (1) my car is too rare to modify and (2) I don't do track work and the car is for street driving and cruising.

If I had a track car where I needed faster acceleration at the expense of drive-ability, then I'd go with a lightened fly wheel. But, for normal street driving, the lightened fly wheel (to me) incurs more disadvantages than advantages.

It all comes down to what you want from your car.

seeyuzz
river

[RAd28]

We run lightened, or billet light flywheels in most of our engines and I've never had a problem to report. Alot of people complain about drivability but we've had nothing but good things to say about them, starting and switching off the engine is easier, there's been no unnecessary vibrations at idle (even when combined with lumpy cams), shifting gears is noticably quicker too as engine speed changes alot faster. Any negative effects of drivability you'll get used to after a week of driving so I wouldn't be too worried about that.

[Norbie]

I originally ran a lightened stock flywheel but having seen all the cracks in it when the engine/box came out...never again!!

You're lucky you still have your feet attached to your legs!

Light aftermarket flywheels = good. Lightened stock flywheels = bad.

From memory the stock flywheel is stupidly heavy, so you can lose quite a lot of mass before drivability becomes a problem.

[JustenGT8]

You're lucky you still have your feet attached to your legs!

Light aftermarket flywheels = good. Lightened stock flywheels = bad.

From memory the stock flywheel is stupidly heavy, so you can lose quite a lot of mass before drivability becomes a problem.

Indeed, lesson learnt....this was some 25 years ago when i was just working some of this stuff out

On running a lightened flywheel. Like 99% of mods, a mild upgrade (ie lightening) will be a good thing over stock and result in no driveability issues at all. The stock lump of iron was designed for a heavy truck for starters so is massively oversized for a little Celica. Even my 5kg (stock is 12kg from memory ) has no decernable downside and plenty of upside.

To go to the extreme, my UZ flywheel weighs 2.5kg and even with this there are no issues you would find annoying on a day to day basis.

For any RG i'd highly recommend a billet flwheel of around 5kg. It'll rev cleaner than stock, shifts will be quicker, engine braking better, rwhp up slightly and no degrading of daily comfort.....plus it'll be easier on your drivetrain at high revs.

Not to mention it's now a nice piece of billet, not a horrible chunk of crack prone cast iron... BTW every stock flywheel i have examined has also had small cracks, scary but true.