Flywheel surfaced - is there a thickness concern?

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jcmeyer5

jcmeyer5

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I just had the stock flywheel resurfaced. It wasnt in bad shape, but it had surface rusted where the clutch disk was. So now it is all new and pretty (both side).

The question I have, and I havent been able to to find the answer... do I need to worry about the thickness of the flywheel? So they probably took off 0.010" or 0.020" (I forgot to ask). I dont know if it had been surfaced previously. Is there a minimum thickness? Do I need to try to compensate for the loss in thickness somehow?
 
I don't understand why you would surface both sides. But unless they took a BUNCH.........I would not worry
 
Sounded like he may have done both sides, I don't understand why either. If material is removed from the reverse side, I would be concerned about starter engagement.
 
jcmeyer5 said:
I just had the stock flywheel resurfaced. It wasnt in bad shape, but it had surface rusted where the clutch disk was. So now it is all new and pretty (both side).

The question I have, and I havent been able to to find the answer... do I need to worry about the thickness of the flywheel? So they probably took off 0.010" or 0.020" (I forgot to ask). I dont know if it had been surfaced previously. Is there a minimum thickness? Do I need to try to compensate for the loss in thickness somehow?
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One would think the shop would know not to do more than would affect the motor negatively, but you never know these days.
To answer your question though, no worries.
 
I had a customer that surfaced flywheels daily. They used a Scotchbrite pad on the hub surface and ground the clutch surface. There are minimum specs.
 
mcodecuda said:
I had a flywheel ground years ago and I had to lengthen the rod going to the clutch fork by a little bit.
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What ever the amount they removed you would have to adjust for. What you did is adjust the clutch after grinding the flywheel (and probably replacing the clutch) Of course you will have to readjust.
 
at napa, when i was working, we had a machine shop that would send a shim in whatever thickness they took off. or as close as they could get to what they took off. i would find out if mine.
 
rbkt65 said:
at napa, when i was working, we had a machine shop that would send a shim in whatever thickness they took off. or as close as they could get to what they took off. i would find out if mine.
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That would fix the starter ring gear misalignment problem. A few thousands should make a big difference.
 
No, only ground the business side. The more I think about it, the more it appears that it would just be a clutch adjustment issue.
 
jcmeyer5 said:
No, only ground the business side. The more I think about it, the more it appears that it would just be a clutch adjustment issue.
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I ruined a new clutch by a bad adjustment. the free play in the pedal isn't the way to adjust I have found. Drop the inspection cover down below and adjust the gap between the throw out bearing face and the pressure plate fingers. As long as there is clearance (like 1/8-3/16") all is good. Cycle the pedal ad check it again.
 
Should be a min thickness dimension cast on the flywheel somewhere. No different than brake rotors and drums, go to thin and stuff can come apart.
 
With 50 year old flywheels, unless you bought the car new, no telling how many times it has been resurfaced and how much. If it is severely heat checked, it may be relegated to boat anchor duty. It should only be resurfaced the minimum required to ttue it up. Preferably by grinding, not turning.
The working surface of the flywheel is actually raised above the rest of the casting. There is a height difference you can see. A quick visual check would be to see how much the working surface is above the casting. I think I'd like to see about 1/16". If the 2 surfaces are on the same plane, game over.
 
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