I need to replace my ring gear and thought I may as well go for an alley flywheel with a ring gear on it. I assume theyre all 13".
Does anyone know of any problem in doing this? 157 or 160 teeth doesnt seem to be a problem but whats the rules on balancing and does a standard clutch fit??
I have a 1965 302 and Im looking at buying http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMALL-BLOCK-F ... _42wt_1203
Alley Flywheel
Alley Flywheel
Hi Meadowhog,
Why do you not replace the ring gear on your present flywheel,this flywheel is presently balanced to your engine,or should be.
If you buy a new flywheel and ring gear it will not be balanced to the crankshaft and front dampener on the engine.
Changing the ring gear is not a hard job for a competent machine shop.
By changing to an alloy flywheel it will allow the engine to rev easier at the expense of some idle quality.
The clutch bolt patterns should be pre drilled the same.
Regards David
Why do you not replace the ring gear on your present flywheel,this flywheel is presently balanced to your engine,or should be.
If you buy a new flywheel and ring gear it will not be balanced to the crankshaft and front dampener on the engine.
Changing the ring gear is not a hard job for a competent machine shop.
By changing to an alloy flywheel it will allow the engine to rev easier at the expense of some idle quality.
The clutch bolt patterns should be pre drilled the same.
Regards David
Hi guys,
As Tony says. I too 1st did this with a Holbay which made a hell of a difference. More of the engines power is used to drive the back wheels instead of accelerating a big lump of spinning steel. Years ago I was talking to a Rolls engineer who had a calculation which explained that dropping X amount off the flywheel was the equivalent of X times Y weight off the weight of the car. On a 1725 it was very noticeable but on a 302 it may well be negligible
I think the loss of torque thing is more to do with less rotation mass to get the wheels spinning and so may seem like a loss of torque but actually there's simply more power available to the back wheels once the clutch is dropped and the wheels stop spinning.
I may just change the ring gear as you said D. have you got one?
As Tony says. I too 1st did this with a Holbay which made a hell of a difference. More of the engines power is used to drive the back wheels instead of accelerating a big lump of spinning steel. Years ago I was talking to a Rolls engineer who had a calculation which explained that dropping X amount off the flywheel was the equivalent of X times Y weight off the weight of the car. On a 1725 it was very noticeable but on a 302 it may well be negligible
I think the loss of torque thing is more to do with less rotation mass to get the wheels spinning and so may seem like a loss of torque but actually there's simply more power available to the back wheels once the clutch is dropped and the wheels stop spinning.
I may just change the ring gear as you said D. have you got one?
Agree with you Simon, I have to check with my specialist but I'm sure I have a lightened flywheel in the Tiger - I must have as it revs like a motorbike engine and the throttle response is pretty much instant. With modern components now available to us, a lighter and internally 'balanced' would produce results.meadowhog wrote:but on a 302 it may well be negligible
Interesting thoughts on 'balancing' there from the Baron.
Yep, steel insert. With only 570lbs of torque steel billet is pobably the best idea for daily driving!
Decided not to go alley for now. Ill check the motor over see what its got and go from there. £20 standard ring instead of £300 inc balancing is still good but i may spend that on something else. I might even sell the HiPO heads and get alley ones. They seem to be fetching monster money too now.
Decided not to go alley for now. Ill check the motor over see what its got and go from there. £20 standard ring instead of £300 inc balancing is still good but i may spend that on something else. I might even sell the HiPO heads and get alley ones. They seem to be fetching monster money too now.