I have an aftermarket lightened flywheel on my engine. Kevin Landers looked at it when he was rebuilding it and gave its current quality a 7 out of 10, and said it doesn't specifically need to be refinished but it would be justified if I wanted to do so. However, he cautioned me that aftermarket flywheels often have lower tolerance for machining.

I have a very nice, new ACT street/strip clutch which I want to give a good flywheel surface to, in order to prolong its life relative to my "sporty" driving.

With that in mind, I ask the following questions:

1. If I want to simply gently resurface this flywheel with "emory paper" as the FSM says, what the hell is emory paper and how do I ensure that its perfectly smooth? There are some bluish scorch marks on the flywheel metal which IIRC means they are harder than the surrounding metal, making it difficult to perfectly resurface and keeping it smooth, am I correct? How would one of you guys do this?

2. Were I to take the flywheel off and have it resurfaced, what is the size of the nut and do I have to worry about the eccentric shaft and the front needle bearing coming loose like I do when I take the main pulley off?

3. How can I tell if I need to replace the pilot bearing, and short of buying the insanely expensive tool to do so, does anybody have any other ideas for getting it out and the new one in?

Thanks!

 

1. Take it down to your local machine shop and let them clean it up. Otherwise you could get clutch chatter.

2. 54 mm at 300-350 ft. lb torque. No removing the flywheel has no impact on the bearings, unless you pry up on the flywheel. Make sure to keep the engine from rotating when r/r the fly wheel nut. Also blue locktite the nut back on.

3. I always replace the pilot bearing, cause I have the tool. Rx-7.com used to rent the tool Might give them a call.

John

 

1. Hm. Ok. I looked all over the flywheel and couldn't find the specs for its minimums though. Hence the hesitation to r/r it.

2. I've got the flywheel stopper tool, so if I just use that and a breaker bar on the nut, I should be ok, right? Can I use air tools on the nut?

3. They are out of tools, and only rent if you buy a clutch from them.

 

Anybody have any more ideas on the pilot bearing issue? How do most of you pull that bearing?

 

I did my clutch once this summer. The flywheel was at least a 9.9/10.. it looked perfect. No burns, no damage, no anything. The clutch lasted a week.

I dunno wtf happened, but it pissed me off. I got it resurfaced because the clutch disk that failed scored the flywheel good...

 

If you have an AutoZone nearby, they also rent the tool. It has also been said that that tool does not fit specifically for our cars. To make it work all you need is an angle grinder and a vice. You remove a small amount of material off the top of the two ears so the tool can fit behind the pilot bearing. Next, you remove a very small amounts of material on both inside areas of the legs. You do the second step because the tool might not be "skinny" enough to actually fit inside the bearing. Hope this helps.

 

Okay I found a perfect puller from Pep Boys. It actually fits with no modification as far as I can tell. Its a 4-point unit, which is nice, and its got four different-sized tips. And they loan it!! No charge, for 10 days.

So I get home to pull the pilot bearing, and lo and behold I can't pull it off without removing the flywheel.

Now where can I find a 54mm six-point socket? I've looked the local world over for one of these things!! Anybody have any ideas? Where did you all get yours? Autozone - nada. Pep Boys - nada. Home Depot - forget it. Grainger - 12 point only. Harbor Freight - forget individual sockets, they only sell kits, and I've never seen a kit with a 54mm socket in it.

Oh, one more Q: when you get the pilot bearing OUT, how far do you put the new one back in? And do I need to watch out for counterweight alignment or is it keyed?

Also, how do you guys brace the engine to put the flywheel back on? My engine is OUT of the car currently and I want to put the flywheel back on it before it goes back in. How can I brace it to put 350 ft-lbs of torque on it?

Help!

 

As for the the 54 mm socket you can run up to Sears and grab a 2 and 1/8" socket and it will work just as well.
Mazdatrix sells a flywheel stopper or just get some measurements and have a local machine shop cook you up one. It should not be that hard. Of course I live in an area where just about every machine shop likes to do voodoo.
For how far to drive in the pilot bearing, I really have no idea. I have not been able to locate an exact specification of how far to drive it in. My thought is that since the shaft is tapered it will only go in so far using moderate force. Make sure to grease the outside of the bearing lightly with lithium grease (white?). Bottom the pilot bearing seal against the bearing and you should be set.

 

Yep, got mine at Sears.
Really, not bad tool selection there.

I got my flywheel resurfaced, and then the clutch wouldn't grab worth a crap untill I got a new flywheel.
They probably took off too much.
Anyways, emory paper is available anywhere they have auto body repair stuff, any auto store.
It's sandpaper made of cloth, basically.
Ya, just scuff it up fairly well with the emory paper, you don't acutally need to take any metal off, you just need to remove any deposits and provide a slightly rough surface for the clutch to wear into slightly, giving the best contact area.
Make sure it's oil free and everthing too!

 

Here's a pic of it as it stands now. I will be removing it to get at the pilot bearing very shortly. I don't have $$ for a new flywheel right now, so I don't know exactly what to do: risk a shop milling it too much or risk screwing up a brand new $400 clutch.

My Flywheel (BIG PIC!!)

 

Just my personal opinion, but I think you should ask around and find a shop that does good work. Then, just take it to them and tell them to remove as little material as possible to get the scorring off.

 

My opinion is that your flywheel must be resurfaced with that much damage. Get the shop to remove the minimum as Acid. suggests.
I dont know that EMERY paper can help here, as you have overheated, hard spots on the surface.
I made a tool to remove my flywheel out of a 4 foot length of angle-iron (about 4"x 4", but anything you can get, used for lintels to hold brickwork above openings, from a building store will do). I drilled holes to match those in the flywheel (or flex plate for auto), at one end, so you have a long moment arm, or lever, that you set on the floor to torque against.
Note that the required 6-point 2-1/8" socket from Sears is a 3/4" drive, so you will have to buy or borrow a 3/4" breaker bar.
Have fun! Dave

 

Resurface it....