manual flywheel bolted over flex plate??

[ed]

i know its kinda been talked about before, but now im actually kinda planning on doing it, i just wanted to reconfirm or dismiss the idea once and for all...

i was thinking - the flex plate is large in dia, is thin, and light. there shouldnt be any dramas locating a cromo billet flywheel on top of the flex plate, sadwiching the flex plate to the crank?

that would obviously result in less mass at the far radius, leaving simply a moderately small flywheel to cater for the pressure plate and fricion surface.

yes? no?

cheers
ed

[roadsailing]

i've seen this done on a 4AGE, but they took a more radical approach.

auto flexplate was used, but they had a multiplate tiny clutch (6 inches in diameter or so)

I can't see a problm with your plan, especially if you are talking about lightening a standard flywheel, funnily enough i was looking at a spare flywheel today to check if it was gray cast iron or nodular cast iro (it was nodular, woot!) and thinking there wasn;t too mcuh you could do to lighten it without pissing off the ring-gear.

if you are thinking custom, i think you will get the results you want with a serious lightweight (low inertia) flywheel.

EDIT:

short version, YES

[slide86]

would you then have to modify the input shaft and make it shorter? it wouldnt fit through the flywheel and into the spigot properly unless you machined the centre hole bigger to accomodate the splines.

would the flywheel hit the inside of the bell housing because its been moved out further? maybe if you got one small enough it would clear....??

the smaller the flywheel, the less surface area for clutch disc, meaning a stronger pressure plate or twin plate setup needed for bigger power.

just some ideas i had, maybe i am wrong. interesting idea tho

[roadsailing]

it should only push the clutch plate out by a few mm, which is a good thing anyway. plus the only thing that could hit the bellhousing would be the ring gear, and that is where it would be on a standard auto setup.

if i read correctly, the friction surfaces in ed's plan would be exactly the same.

[ed]

i wouldnt have to modify any input shafts or anything like that. the flywheel bit will be custom made, so can allow for all these things. and yeah, friction surface in basically the same position.

as for clutch type - smaller super heavy pressure plate and disc is my idea - just dont know what yet. 240mm XF clutch is still a goer if all else fails though.

twin plate is out due to wear issues and drivability.

cheers
ed

[gemtoy]

I have done this on my 3SGE. I used a flex plate and made my own aluminium flywheel. I have a 7 1/2" twin plate AP clutch. The whole lot weighs about 7.5kg which is better than 12kg for the stock clutch assembly. Let me know if you wantsome pictures.

[ed]

Let me know if you wantsome pictures.

[email protected]

much obliged

cheers
ed

[joecoolmk2]

the only possible problem i can think of is might the flywheel plate(chromo billet part) shift under load over time and throw the assembly out of balance? although you could always tack-weld it in place.

i think it's a good idea, cheaper than buying a custom one, although maybe not as rigid.

[ed]

hows it going to shift? i cant picture it?

[roadsailing]

the dowel pin/s will stop it rotating, but you sould probably look at weather you can have some sort of spigot/bore fit to be on the safe side.

and the ring gear doesn't need to be stiff, as long ast he pressure plate is solid and well bolted to the flywheel there wont be any problems.

[ed]

thats what i thought. and theres still plenty of centering shoulder on the crank for the fltyheel to centrally locate despite the flex plate being there

[crowncustom]

Hi if you know someone that races speedway super sedans(dirt track)then try them cause some of those rigs run that type of set up on the V8's.My ex boss used to race these and im sure its just a matter of an auto flex plate and working out wat material to use for your friction surface and mounting everything on the plate.
BTW this was a long time ago.Brains gotten a bit old since then
Cheers Brett.

[kingmick]

easy to do ed but it will make for a car thats hard to drive in traffic, better of with a moly one or alloy! need a bit of weight on the street! flexplate is taking it to the extreem!
if you do any sort of traffic driving go a bit extra on the weight than a flex plate.

[SL666]

I'm really attached to my feet, so i won't be trying this..

why not get a flywheel and get it machined for a smaller cluch? (in which case you will probably need to go multiplate to get enough friction, and will have to go to a billet flywheel combo anyway...

why no just get the outer edge of your flywheel lightened to buggery and re-balanced?

[kingmick]

sl666 not recommended to do a stock one! a moly one or alloy is safer. ive only ever done stock ones if it had to be done for production racing rules. cast flywheels are not to fond of taking to much of them.