Custom fit flywheel

[MerkXRTurbo]

Hey all,
I'm looking at my options for going a different route than standard for a clutch and flywheel on my twin turbo RWD 3.2. I want a clutch that is larger in diameter, and also cheaper to replace than a fancy SHO clutch, but still hold 500+hp. I'm thinking about using a 302 flywheel (since you can pretty much find fancy Mustang clutches anywhere - heck, Wal-Mart may even have them by the 10 pack; never looked) and bellhousing. The question is, what is this going to do to the engine balance? I'm going to have the complete rotating assembly balanced anyway, so I would assume that this will be no problem for my machine shop.

I'm going back and forth between custom drilling a flywheel, and throwing some metal on my buddy's lathe and building a flywheel adapter hub. A flywheel adapter hub would allow me to not only use an off the shelf flywheel, but also a more available pilot bearing. I realize that the bellhousing-to-block adapter ****** would need to be thicker, and I would have to figure out how to mount a starter, but I'm a fabricator so that would be no issue.

The only part I'm unsure about is the difficulty of balancing the engine afterward. Anybody have any insight?

 

[HotRodKid]

the reason that the flywheel is the size it is is because of the bellhousing bolt pattern, it gets in the way.

if there was more room then the larger sho flywheel wouldnt be only 1/4" bigger then the smaller one is

and just so you know, its possible to mix / match clutch parts to get much better grip using the stock flywheel. just depends on what tranny your using

and theres no room for an adapter hub, the stock bolts are to large and not enough space between them to PROPERLY install studs. the new stud would intrude into the countersunk holes you would need for the original bolts.

 

[MerkXRTurbo]

and theres no room for an adapter hub, the stock bolts are to large and not enough space between them to PROPERLY install studs. the new stud would intrude into the countersunk holes you would need for the original bolts.

That's what I was wondering, but thought I'd find out for sure before I got the parts to lay them over one another. The 5.0 bellhousing is what would allow me to run a larger flywheel, so I may go for a custom drilled one.

 

[SuperchargedSHOguy]

just run a stage 2 mustang II 2.8l clutch with the SHO flywheel and pressure plate. You will be fine for awhile.
What transmission will be using? This will dictate the clutch you can use and so forth...

 

[MerkXRTurbo]

T5, although I will abandon it if a T56 comes along for the right price.

 

[SuperchargedSHOguy]

Talk to HotRodKid about his adapter he will be making to adapt a SHO V6 to a T56 if you are looking to do a Chevrolet T56.

 

[MerkXRTurbo]

the reason that the flywheel is the size it is is because of the bellhousing bolt pattern, it gets in the way.

if there was more room then the larger sho flywheel wouldnt be only 1/4" bigger then the smaller one is

I thought about that, but hadn't lined everything up to see if I used counter sunk screws in the adapter would provide sufficient clearance between the block and flywheel. I could always machine a simple flywheel spacer to give myself room for an adapter thickness of my choosing.

Talk to HotRodKid about his adapter he will be making to adapt a SHO V6 to a T56 if you are looking to do a Chevrolet T56.

The more I think about a T56 the more I want one! I'm thinking I will just spend the coin on one, since buying one in the 1st place will be much less of a pain than blowing up a T5 down the road. I didn't know this had ever been seriously considered. Whatcha got HotRodKid?

 

[HotRodKid]

seriously considered ? haha

-i have 2 autotragig adapter plates about to be cut
-i have rudimentary prints for a SHO-to-T5 adapter bellhousing
-i have some rather nice SHO-to-T56 cad drawings (waiting for Alex to gimme his t56 for fab porposes)

 

[Off Road SHO]

I can't wait to see a T-56 bolted up to a SHO block, or an adaptor that is bolted to the block. Get to work HRK!!

There is room for a bigger flywheel (that is what determines whether you can run a larger diameter clutch or not), but the adaptor plate must have a big enough hole in the center to allow a custom flywheel's hub to reach down through the thickness of the adaptor plate (at least 1/2" 6061 aluminum with a hardness of T-6) and still bolt firmly to the crank.

Some creative design work could fit a dual or tripple disc clutch assembly in a T-5's bell housing and be able to withstand 600-700 lb*ft of torque.

Kennedy Engineered Products in Kauliflornia has been making adaptors, flywheels and clutch parts for 30 years and they could probably make you what you need as far as the flywheel is concerned. They made the flywheel for The Other Woman, as well as the pressure plate. I might just call them up in the morning and see if old man Kennedy would be interested in making an adaptor and flywheel for a T-56. It would probably be cheaper in the long run; his kits for LS-7 to Mendeola or Albin transaxles run about 600, and that include adaptor, flywheel, pressure plate and disc.

If the T-56's input shaft is not long enough to get into the crank hole, you will need to machine a stepped diameter extension bearing, to keep the input shaft centered and easy to roll when the clutch pedal is depressed.

I'm committed to the T-5 and if 300 lb*ft of torque somehow doesn't make it through the T-5, oh well, for 400 I can pick up another.

Tom

 

[gmorrell]

Isn't the T-56 bell pretty large? Will it fit the Merkur tunnel?

 

[Off Road SHO]

Isn't the T-56 bell pretty large? Will it fit the Merkur tunnel?

If he's going through all the trouble of adapting a SHO motor to anything, and turbos, I doubt if a little tin is going to bother him.

When I was contemplating that very same XR FrankenSHO, the XR's cross member was trying to occupy the same space as the SHO's oilpan. The T-5 fit nicely. The SHO's coolant manifold, coilpack and throttle body did not.

Tom

 

[MerkXRTurbo]

HotRodKid, do you have pics? I'd like to see that!

There is room for a bigger flywheel (that is what determines whether you can run a larger diameter clutch or not), but the adaptor plate must have a big enough hole in the center to allow a custom flywheel's hub to reach down through the thickness of the adaptor plate (at least 1/2" 6061 aluminum with a hardness of T-6) and still bolt firmly to the crank. If the T-56's input shaft is not long enough to get into the crank hole, you will need to machine a stepped diameter extension bearing, to keep the input shaft centered and easy to roll when the clutch pedal is depressed.

I'm thinking more along the lines of steel, for strength. I was thinking of making it an inch or so thick, which would be a simulated crankshaft, not just an adapter. I would definitely want more thread than 1/2" holding my flywheel.... especially in aluminum!!! A poorly anchored flywheel scares me!!!! It would have a protrusion on it to keep the LS1 flywheel hub centric, and would have a hole in the middle to accept the factory LS1 pilot bearing. The bellhousing adapter would just need to be the approximately the same thickness as the hub adapter.

Isn't the T-56 bell pretty large? Will it fit the Merkur tunnel?

Yes it is huge, and no it won't fit. I already cut the tunnel out so that I could put the engine back as far as I wanted and could have the entire Aerostar bell in there. I may have to do more hacking, but it's been done before. 1 or 2 guys have put a T56 behind a 2.3T in a Merkur, and another guy just recently got done putting an LS2 and T56 in his.

When I was contemplating that very same XR FrankenSHO, the XR's cross member was trying to occupy the same space as the SHO's oilpan. The T-5 fit nicely. The SHO's coolant manifold, coilpack and throttle body did not.

Yes sir, you're right, but it's nothing that a little creativity can't solve. I have to modify the oil pan, which will involve cutting off the front of the sump, and while I'm at it I will widen it to make up for lost volume.

As for coolant, I'm playing with the idea of closing the factory thermostat outlet, and T-ing into the cross over tube to allow a thermostat housing to be mounted in front, between the heads, above the water pump. There's also always the possibility of running the coolant around from the back, but I'd rather not.

As for coil pack, I can mount that wherever I want. I may have to make my own plug wires, I may not. Throttle body can be solved by either flipping the intake, or by modifying the intake to be a dual throttle body.

 

[Off Road SHO]

HotRodKid, do you have pics? I'd like to see that!

I'm thinking more along the lines of steel, for strength. I was thinking of making it an inch or so thick, which would be a simulated crankshaft, not just an adapter. I would definitely want more thread than 1/2" holding my flywheel.... especially in aluminum!!! A poorly anchored flywheel scares me!!!!

.

I was talking about the adaptor to be out of aluminum, not the flywheel.

Tom

 

[zblackbeast]

As for coil pack, I can mount that wherever I want. I may have to make my own plug wires, I may not. Throttle body can be solved by either flipping the intake, or by modifying the intake to be a dual throttle body.

Go to ebay and type in SHO intake... should be the first one. I came across it the other day! I remember seeing it on here once, but cant remember who made it.. :wave:

 

[LOUDSHO92]

Some creative design work could fit a dual or tripple disc clutch assembly in a T-5's bell housing and be able to withstand 600-700 lb*ft of torque.

Tom

Tripple clutch pack has already been done...

 

[Off Road SHO]

Tripple clutch pack has already been done...

Oh, Really?????

Pics or it didn't happen

Tom

 

[egroce11]

Tom, if I can I'll find the pics I have of it.

Ernie

 

[gmorrell]

Oh, Really?????

Pics or it didn't happen

Tom

John Wells did a Tilton 5.5" 3-disc clutch and Aluminum flywheel in his Pikes Peak hill climb car. This was simply a breathed-upon 3.2L SHO motor and an MTX-IV transaxle, all transplanted to the back of a tube frame chassis. The 3-disc was overkill, 2 discs would have been fine, and would have eliminated all the clearancing in the bell housing, but John wanted 3 discs. The flywheel was a simple billet 6061-T6 Aluminum disc that he roughed on the band saw and finished on his lathe. The whole assembly was stupid-light, the engine revved very freely and when the ignition was shut off, the engine stopped RIGHT NOW.

I helped him do that back in the late 90's, so the rest of you ain't so special. Sorry, no pics.