pinto lightened flywheel benefits and limitations?

[5tox]

ive seen many standard pinto flywheels lightened by shaving down the big circular weight on the back right down to the ring gear,

i liked the idea because i would like the engine to rev up quicker, i know that the car would idle a little worse and would drop off the revs quicker with my foot off the accelerator but im willing to accept this, i read a piece saying that for every 1kg shaved off the flywheel it effectively makes the car appear a certain amount of kgs lighter for the engine (if that makes sense)

i have seen standard flywheels shaved down as light as 4.5kg

i was pretty sure this was the route to take but have recently read a few shocking things on other forums about 'weakening' and flywheels 'shattering'
scary stuff!!

is this pub talk or should i be a little cautious when deciding to have mine lightened

does anyone have any experience of a lightened flywheel or any guidance


(im not after an everday driver or top end speed, just pure acceleration and sideways action)

[anguz]

i have one thats just come out of my car
cant remember how much lighter i made it, but was a dustbin full of swaft!! and it was rebalanced afterwards
mine never exploded with regular trips to 6800rpm. it was in a kit, and thrashed quite hard
think there is still a clutch bolted to it
its available, as i have now gone duratec
local to you too
pm me if you are interested...

[Fridgeman]

buy a nice steel one,there not a expensive item as far as it goes, if one does shater your in deep do do.

[Graham]

removing the big lump off the back off the flywheel is a good move, there are no downsides, infact the reduced mass means the centre of the flywheel is under LESS stress, i will remove the big lump but nothing else, cutting into other parts of the flywheel can weaken it

[5tox]

cheers anguz, im just weighhing up the price of having one of mine machined down against the price of just buying one.

thanks for the advice fellas, if anything id only have that part machined down, im no expert but some that have big holes cut out dont really look safe to me.

[Graham]

normally its only steel flywheels which have big holes cut in them

[fatboycharlie]

standard one machined down will be fine as long as its not machined to death lol im having one lightend for my engine wich should be around the 200bhp mark its onley going in a road car so its not going to sit a 9k all day i would double dowl it tho

[Roadsport]

I'm overly cautious with the flywheels. After seeing one shatter I will never risk using a lightened std fly. No point risking it. Like Fridgeman said the steel ones are cheap, lighter and can be used with lighter clutches so I'm a steel man myself.

[5tox]

whats the current goinng rate for having a machine shop take the weight off the back on standard flywheel?

[anguz]

mine has most of the lump off the back, just a bit of a rim there.....

[freddy686868]

whats the current goinng rate for having a machine shop take the weight off the back on standard flywheel?

Pm me we could sort something out ;-P

[anguz]

bet the postage will be as much as i want for mine

[5tox]

how much are you after and where are you mate?

[anguz]

pm sent

[RWD fords rule]

Skim the back of a pinto flywheel level with the back of the ring gear, this is what we do for rallying and it is 100% reliable, although I reject flywheels that have any large cracks in them, I have seen lightened cast pinto flywheels that have been turned under the ring gear in the middle where the heat is which is stupid, skim it to the ring gear and go no further, then it is still very strong, around 11 to 11.5mm thickness still left, I have seen them skimmed down as low as 8mm! which is just asking for trouble

Skim it level with the back of the ring gear and if you want to go any further buy a steel flywheel

Remember to double dowel it while you are at it, over 160bhp or so is not a good idea without dowels, the bolts will shear clean off at a certain hp/torque level

[5tox]

Cheers for that info mate, very useful

how do you go about doweling the flywheel, is it something you can do yourself or do you get it done while at the shop getting it skimmed down?

[escortinadriver]

how do you go about doweling the flywheel, is it something you can do yourself or do you get it done while at the shop getting it skimmed down?

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthre...dowel+flywheel

Shaun

[RS2KSX]

I have a turbo sport one 2.8kg and i love it, well made, balances & doweled.

[caprimentle]

I have a turbo sport one, well made

dont be too sure on that, the rest of their stuff isn't so i dont see why their flywheels would be any different, i hope for your sake they make the flywheels well.