Technical Early hemi stepped flywheel?

I got a 146 tooth flywheel with a 330 desoto I bought over the weekend. The fly wheel is stepped sort of like a tractor flywheel. It has the 8 bolt pattern and fits the crank.

Is this some old school performance modification? I plan to machine it off and run it with a 10.5" clutch if I can.

 

Years ago I had a flywheel fly cut .080 where the pressure plate bolted to the flywheel. It gave me an extra 2 months use out of the clutch (about 2x the clutch life) before is started slipping. This was on a street car with too much cam, too little rear gear, and too much weight. You pretty much let the clutch out at an idle (1200 rpm) the stood on the gas, and power shifted 2nd gear. You didn't want to hold the clutch pedal down for a long traffic light though. I pretty much went from putting two $200 clutches in a summer to making it through the summer on one clutch. That last month wasn't much fun though. Gene

 

This is actually the opposite of that. Someone machined the clutch surface down, maybe for a thicker disc.

 

I am NOT a hemi guy, but to me it looks industrial or marine and not a traditional clutch. Does not look like a friction surface was ever used. Is it drilled for a common pressure plate pattern?

 

Agreed, most likely used in a non-clutch application such as Marine or Industrial. I have a couple odd-ball units with similar 'birth defects'.....

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Sometimes when resurfacing a flywheel the machinist only does the wear area; not right but time is money..

 

Call me silly here but I'd like to see the other side. I do believe the only photo I can see is actually of the Motor side of said Flywheel. The recessed bolt pattern is to index the flywheel on the O.D. of the Crankshaft. Show me the other side please.
The Wizzard

 

Nope standard looking on the flywheel side.
I have machined hundreds of flywheels (machinist for 20+ years) and I have never seen an automotive flywheel machined like this. It has been machined in the friction zone (poorly, the chatter marks are still evident)

 

Either it had a Bolt Support ring Around the Center Bolts or it was Against the Crank, The witness Marks are pretty clear, For the Damn life of me I don't see any Chatter Marks, But I do see were someone has put a Rust Converter on it.

 

I'd still like to see the other side. It don't look to me like that recess is deep enough to get the heads of the Factory Studs in far enough to clear the disc hub. Those flywheels indexed on the O.D. of the Crankshaft. Also, the 3/8" P.P. threaded holes should have the threads recessed about 1/4" to accept the centering shoulder of the correct Clutch bolts. It looks to me the threads come all the way to the surface your showing us.
The Wizzard

 

The witness marks around the crank bolt holes indicate the photo above is the clutch side. Also, on 50's Mopar, the flywheel has a ¼" deep counterbore that centers/registers the wheel to the crank flange OD.

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A lot of imports had stepped flywheels ... So it's not unusual.... On an early Hemi.... Would be unusual.

 

So are we going to get to see the other side?

I'd like to see an edge view as well, then we will save two thousand words.

 

Crank shaft side.

 

Edge view.

 

You are absolutely correct. These photos are of the Crankshaft side with the recess for the Crank flange. I have an industrial 392 with a flywheel on it. I'll try to get a photo of it tomorrow. I don't remember what it looked like, might answer your question. I know that the disc surface on this
motor is flat from the ring gear to the recess for the Disc center. Noting at all like your first photo.
The Wizzard

 

dumprat; I have no idea what your flywheel came off of. I have one of each Dodge, Desoto and Chrysler. None are recessed for the clutch. Also they all used studs for install with nuts on the pan side of Crank flange. The flywheels have a shoulder to keep the stud heads from turning as in this photo.

Here the recess for the correct shoulder bolts for the P.P.

Who knows what went on with yours. If your going to use it just make sure the disc center clears the bolt heads. Good luck.
The Wizzard

 

I almost think it may be a late flathead six 25" flywheel. They are six bolt which would adapt easily to the hemi. They are usually flat though. So maybe this is off a combine or some other strange application. It is different that my small flathead six flywheels.

I think I will machine it flat and see where the starter engages.

 

What combination are you trying to mount behind your Motor? I've done some factory Mix-n-Match a few times. You don't necessarly need a Hemi flywheel if your changing things around. That photo above is a 340/360 flywheel (was a 6 hole) on my Dodge motor.
The Wizzard

 

I have an 833OD trans and a dodge truck bell with an steel adapter. Bolted up to my mock up block.

I would like to try and use an original aluminum trans plate and starter.

 

Good choices. Sounds like you have it all worked out. If that flywheel you have can be used with the correct clutch disc your done. On my Dodge motor I run the same 833 only with a small block Bellhousing, flywheel and clutch.

This let me use the late small 12 Volt starter motor. I redrilled the flywheel to match the 8 bolt pattern as well as a spacer/adapter to mount it up.
The Wizzard

 

...a couple of random thoughts...
•The oem starter mounting plate (3 different thicknesses used by MaMopar) was only used with automatic transmisions. All of the early manual bells (in the same fashion as all late manual bells) had the starter mounted direct in the bell.
•The oem starter mounting plate will only mount the pre-62 starter.
•Your A-833 bell uses the late starter and you can use the small Dak starter.
•Pre-62 cranks, including L6, most L8, all Hemi, all Poly, all A engine and all B&RB use the same bolt circle and either 4, 6 or 8 bolts. Same pattern. Weight, diameter, and ring gear vary by year and application. Also keep in mind that the big L6 engines (called 25" engines) were use in industrial and agricultural applications well into the 70's.
•Cutting the face of the wheel will not affect to position of the ring gear to the crank/block.

By using an oem starter mounting plate (which thickness?), oem flywheel and early starter you could adapt a late bell but your transmission spline engagement will need to be verified.

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73RR, I believe your correct on all points. My choice of late starter was that I can use a factory or mini high torque starters they are 12 volt and I can get one in most any Parts house (so far). The early Barrel type starter will take 12 volts for a while if your motor always starts easy but once it's done, to replace it is always a several day wait to replace or have the one you have rebuilt. Then there's the issue of finding a rebuilder. Loosing the starter will only happen when your a long way from home. Thank God for the stick shift factor.
The Wizzar

 

I didn't mean machining the flywheel flat will effect the starter position.
The Dakota starters are ugly.
I have two different trans mount plates to fool with as well as a steel adaptor plate I can copy.
Not all L6 flywheels are the same. The depth they stick out from the crank is different.
And the 230 23" flywheel I have sitting here is a lot heavier, has a larger center hole and smaller bolts.
I suppose it might work behind a hemi but it would take some fiddling

 

I made my adapters some 20 years ago. I also made an adapter of sorts so I could run the 340/360 Flywheel. I turned a recessed shoulder so it would index over the 392 crank hub like a stock flywheel. Then turned a stub on the flywheel side to index the 340/360 flywheel and bored the Center out to accept a standard pilot bushing. I think the thickness of the adapter setback was 5/8" if I remember right. The bellhousing spacer was 1" thick to start with and Blanchard ground on both sides ending up at 7/8" thick. This set the ring gear and bendix exactly where they needed to be to each other. At that time I built 3 units for myself. If I were going to do it again I wouldn't. I'd just call Willcap.
The Wizzard

 

By the time I paid shipping,tax and exchange on our dollar the wilcap adapter is a pretty costly item.

 

It was even back then, that's why I built my own. After doing all the math and set up then buying raw product I understood why the Willcap unit cost so much. Even though I can very easily copy what I have and still do all my own machine work I just went ahead and bought the one in my 50 Merc project. Maybe it's just easier to spend a few Bucks today than it was back then.
The Wizzard

 

It is a good idea to consider the value of one's time, and cost of materials.
If you don't get a lot of enjoyment out of making something, and someone else makes a a pretty good one, maybe it's a good idea to buy it and support the vendor.

Especially if you can do some other work in that time that would get you further ahead on your project.

But I do agree that up here in the Frozen North store bought items are a fair bit more expensive.

 

If I can make it myself I will. It's about the building not the buying.

 

I felt the same way when I was 40. Today I just want to get things together before I take the big Dirt Dive.
The Wizzard