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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Buick flywheel

I'm new here but have a question that maybe someone can answer.

I have a Olds 215 engine and am wondering what I can use for a flywheel in front of a t5 tranny. Will a later Buick or Rover work? And what does a original flywheel look like? Does it have a sprung disc in the center?

Thanks for any help you folks can give.

Bill
Bill Wheal

Bill,
My original flywheel is a heavy mother with bolt holes for mounting a variety of pressure plates. I can't give you the exact dimensions cause it's buttoned up just now. It also has a raised ridge around the edge; evidently, some originals didn't have this. Some McLeod pressure plates won't fit because of the ridge; the guy there tried to tell me the originals didn't have it. Anyway, if you so desire, you can get an aluminum flywheel to fit your engine from Glen Towery, V8 parts supplier.
Joe
Joe Ullman

Bill, There's a good photo of the original Buick 215 flywheel at this site: http://pages.prodigy.net/larryhoy/BuickFlyWheel.htm . I believe that all the predrilled holes around the perimeter allowed for the balancing of the flywheel by driving in a dowel pin. There are really only one set of tapped holes in the flywheel. These are becoming somewhat rare.
Chris Jones

Bill, I believe that you can NOT use a Buick/Rover flywheel behind your Olds. The Buick/Rover flywheel is neutrally balanced where as the olds is balanced with crank.
Joaquin

Joe Ullman, your flywheel sounds like it came out of a Range Rover.If this is the case,you should of had at least 3/8" shaved off the face of it. Barrie E
Barrie Egerton

My Buick came from a car with an automatic transmission so I had to buy a flywheel. I got it from D&D Fabrications and it looked very different from the one in the link above. I see it’s not stock Buick so I have no idea what it’s from or if it was fabricated for this purpose, nor do I remember if there was a different one for Oldsmobiles.

When it was time to buy a clutch and pressure plate I just took it to the auto parts store and had them try some until one fit and it has work well all this time. There are multiple holes for different pressure plates. Any of the places that sell parts for these motors should be able to supply a flywheel for your application.
George Champion

<<I believe that you can NOT use a Buick/Rover flywheel behind your Olds. The Buick/Rover flywheel is neutrally balanced where as the olds is balanced with crank.>>

First I've heard of this.

The 1961 Hot Rod Magazine article on the Buick/Olds 215 state that the Buick and Olds crankshafts share the same GM part number.

My flywheel also came from Dan Lagrou at D&D. It was manufactured by McCleod. The D&D calatog does not show a separate part number for the Olds. I believe the McCleod flywheel will work for either engine.
Carl

Chris, mine looks pretty much like the one in your picture, and it very definitely has tapped holes in several patterns for different pressure plates. And no, Barrie, it's not off a Rover. I got my flywheel from Phil Baker in Seattle, the man featured in the 1985 Hot Rod Magazine article on 215s. He told me it was Buick, it would fit my Olds block using a Buick crank, and it does.

Regards, Joe
Joe Ullman

Joe, FWIW, I looked at my original Buick flywheel and find the following: OA dia: 13"; pressure plate bolt dia: 11" with 6 threaded bores on 3" centers tapped 5/16x18, 24 evenly spaced SMOOTH bores, 5/16 dia.(two of which contain driven steel pins presumably for balancing). The flywheel weighs about 32lbs. I notice that the crankshaft bolt holes are drilled asymetricly to prevent out of balance installation on the crankshaft. A virgin flywheel is drilled for only one pressure plate and the clutch disc diameter was 9-1/2"
Chris Jones

Yes, I had to have a 9-1/2" disk made with 26 tooth spline to fit the input shaft on the T5. Should've had two made while I was at it. I had the stock pressure plate rebuilt for not much and change, and it all went together real good. I think there were some factory variations on the flywheel, but I could be mistaken on the extra pp holes. It just seems like I remember trying to line up my plate on the wrong holes and trying to figure out what's wrong? I'll check that next time I have the tranny off. I'm sure there'll be some opportunity to look in there again soon as I continue my project
Just got my engine solidly mounted on my new custom motor mounts last weekend. It came out a treat, as our British cousins say. The only foo-bah was underestimating how much the rubber parts would collapse with the weight on them. Fortunately, I foresaw this possibility and built in some adjustment. I found enough in the mounts where they bolt to the engine to give me an extra 1/2 degree tilt back, so I can come down if need be. Also, more height adjustment can for gained by slotting the holes where they bolt to the vertical surface of the block, but this may not even be necessary. Now I get to take it all back apart and paint everything, but I do feel like I've reached a definate milestone here in my project. I've also come to appreciate the really close clearances involved in a chrome bumper v8 conversion. The closest parts are the head of the motor-mount thru bolt, and the set-screw on the upper steering joint to the exhaust header. I was optimistic in the clearances I thought that I had, and which were noted in a previous naive posting by me, and this is with a lot of tranny tunnel work. I didn't, however, have to do anything with the rack or crossmember positions. When I have it all settled, I'll post the actual distances for the sake of the archives. That lower header bolt on the rearmost portside cylinder promises to offer a challenge; may have to make some kind of offset combination wrench, like a crow's foot. Anybody have any good ideas for exhaust headers?

Joe
Joe Ullman

For clarity, since my initial proof-reading is lousy, that tight clearance point should be motor-mount through-bolt to the rubber part of the steering vibration dampener.
Joe Ullman

This thread was discussed between 29/10/2001 and 31/10/2001

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