Looking for a flywheel for a GMC 270 Engine (Houston)

I am looking for a flywheel for my 1944 military GMC 270 engine. The starter bendix jambed and chewed up the ring gear. I don't have the old one out yet, so if there are different models, I will have to find out what I have.

 

Can't you replace just the ring gear?

 

From what I understand, the ring gear is applied with heat. That is an option if the whole assembly is too expensive. It is beyond my capabilities.

Neil

 

How bad are the teeth, on some cars you could take off the ring gear and turn it over.

 

The teeth that I have seen are pretty chewed up. I don't think this is a salvageable ring gear.

Neil

 

Put a ring gear on it,,any auto machine shop should be able to do it. If no local source for gear, try Streamline, 800-426-5911,,,,in Denver

 

My early 270 had a four bolt flywheel to crank mount and a very coarse tooth 6 volt starter ring gear. All my later 270/302 GMCs had a 6 bolt flywheel and a more normal ring gear. If yours is Mil Spec maybe it had a 24 volt system? There are Military scrap yards online that may have what you need.

 

Military 270's of that period were 6v. Although my truck was converted electrically to run at 12v, the starter and ring gear are the original 6v. She normally cranks over quite well.

Neil

 

1. Remove flywheel.

2. Hit the ring gear straight into the space between teeth with a cold chisel. Hit twice, it will come off.

3. Examine new ring, set flywheel down squarely on bench. Make sure new ring has inner chamfer 'down', so it will go into the 90 degree inner edge of the flywheel relief for the ring.

4. Warm kitchen oven to 500 degrees. Place ring inside, let it get warm, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, place squarely on top of flywheel, ring will slide down into position.
Tap sharply with hammer and 2X4 block in 4 places around ring, make sure it's seated. Let cool, while you walk back in kitchen to make doubly sure oven is turned off.

 

Where can I find just a ring gear?

Neil

 

Don't know if this will help, but I used a Chevy smallblock wheel on my 270, a buddy bored out the center, and I redrilled the six new holes using the old flywheel as a jig on top. One hole was a little iffy, but it worked fine using hardened washers. Used a wheel with the same tooth configuration, would guess the ring gears would interchange, but never tried it myself.

 

I know where a 65 GMC with a v 6 in it is, near Houston....its in a scrap metal place near Navasota...I'll check on a price next week if your interested in the motor..the guy sells to me pretty cheap..

 

Should be a 168 tooth SBC ring gear