RV8 Flywheel help!

primer · Post by **primer** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:45 pm

Hi guys, new member here. Im usually on CapriPower. Im building a Rover V8 to go in a MkIII Capri. Its a P5B lump with 10 bolt heads and a few small mods.

I bought a flywheel on ebay recently to use with an SD1 'box and bellhouisng. I bought a RangeRover one first, then realised it wouldnt take the correct size clutch cover to go in the 2WD bellhousing.

Anyway, below is the post copied directly from CP:

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Hi guys,

picked this one up on the 'bay a few days ago. It'd only just been listed, and the rundown was pretty obscure! What interested me is that its drilled all round the edge, so I thought it might be for different size clutch covers or something. Definately not OEM! The billet steel item from V8 Tuner retails for about £260 or something, so it was worth the £50 to take the chance!

Anyhoo, heres a few pics. I honestly didnt expect it to be, but it seems (to my untrained & optimistic eye!) to be a one-piece billet item. (theres no 'join' between the centre & face).

The drilling round the edge work out to just one clutch cover. Theres 3 dowel holes (1 dowel missing but i've got spares), and 6 threaded bolt holes. (again, I've got spares). All the other holes are straight through, with no threads. I can inly assume its been lightened?? -Thier around the outer edge, which is the best place to lose weight from, so maybe??

The downside is im concerened about these tiny 'cracks'. Thiers quite a few of what look like stress cracks on the clutch face. No more than 5mm long each, but there must 20 ~ 80 of them. is this common? -Would a bit of attention with a lathe help? Im wondering if its been on a high-output motor, with a strong spring plate and had some abuse?

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r2d2hp · Post by **r2d2hp** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:11 am

Hi Primer,

It looks quite bad to me but others here are much more knowledgeable that I.

Maybe a light skim would be ok, not sure what all the additional holes are unless its an attempt to lighten it

ian.stewart · Post by **ian.stewart** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:27 am

Ohh that looks like the state of my old flywheel, its been that hot its melted the surface, those feathered edges are a giveaway, , whatever you do with it it will need a skim, the cracks do look pretty bad, especially as its a "steel" flywheel, can you show a pic of the back side of it,
can you get a fine flatfile and gently file a bit, and see what the filings look like, they need to be silver and hard, not black and dusty.

unstable load · Post by **unstable load** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:06 pm

Yep, that's been cooked.
A skim could do it, but remember that there is a minimum thickness after skimming so be sure to point that out to the machinist before he takes your cash to overskim it and render it useless.

primer · Post by **primer** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:36 pm

Thanks for the replys guys!

After a quick wipe with some WD40, I gave the innermost edge a few gentle runs with a fine metal file, and found it left very bright silver filings. Does this mean its definately steel, or is it easy to mistake for an iron one?

Im going to take it to the machine shop next time im over and see what they can do.

Is there more of a chance it can be saved if its steel rather than iron? -Also, does steel mean theres more possibility for lightening?? I've had lightened flywheels in other engines, and it always made them really lively!

Does anyone know what the minimum thickess would be for a steel fly?