PAUL MARRIOTT Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Having just missed the last 1400 flywhell ( ) I now have the choice of the ultra light r500 unit or turning my standard f/w down. £250 v £100. Plus AP clutch. I've measured the standard unit and believe that I can get about 2.6Kg of it just by turning (no milling) without being to aggresive and leaving a minimum of 10 - 12mm thickness. The sections being removed mimic the 1400 lightened flywheel. I've read previous posts and accept the dangers of to much and the extremes of bad workmanship but am looking for a balenced view and recommendations. I would also like some info on machine shops in the Beds / Bucks area to do the turning and somebody to do the balencing afterwards. Also will it be worth it 🤔 The engine as had a full head job, 285 cams, verniers, emerald ECU, 4-2-1 exhaust and jenveys and I do about 6 trackdays a year. the majority of milage goes on touring and weekend blatting. Paul M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wight Skipper Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Caterham recently fitted a lightened flywheel to my 1800 K. Engine feels much better and more responsive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Howe Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Don't do it... you only have one set of legs and an exploding cast iron flywheel will quickly tear through them. If you want a light weight f/wheel, it must be steel! The expenditure is not the national debt and is certainly worth the peace fo mind. You will noticethe difference in terms of pickup and engine braking - worth the investment, even though it will not give you anymore bhp JH Deliveries by Saffron, the yellow 222bhp Sausage delivery machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Paul - the R500 version is £250 plus theft - the 'standard' lightweight is £250 including theft. You don't want to have a go at lightening it yourself. Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAUL MARRIOTT Posted December 30, 2004 Author Share Posted December 30, 2004 Mmmm, I hear what you say chaps but lightening flywheels isn't a new science and I'm sure that in the hands of a decent motor engineer it could be accomplished with safety. I suppose the other part of my Q is will 2.5Kg make any real differance? The other thing you have to bear in mind is that an exploding flywheel might take my legs out, but if I over spend my budget SWMBO will definately take my legs out. PAUL M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Dinnim Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 I can't voice a technical opinion but buying a lighter flywheel sounds like a much better idea. Despite the jovial comment about leg loss I know which I would prefer especially as I still want to be walking about in a few years. The other thing is 2.5kg off say a 550kg car (excluding driver) is 0.45% of the weight. Not knowing your build it's difficult to say but I know I could lose a lot more than that without it costing £250. If the lightening work goes wrong you will end up having to pay for the work and then a new flywheel on top of that. From what everyone has said, don't take the chance and save the money if you really are that desparate to have your existing flywheel lightened. Edited by - DuncanP on 30 Dec 2004 14:33:39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 I don't think anyone puts a lightweight flywheel on a caterham just to save total vehicle-weight, Duncan - it's all about rotational inertia... Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Dinnim Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Fair point Myles, that's me posting and not thinking before writing. Consider me standing corrected. Either way I still wouldn't risk it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 I believe all Caterham flywheels are steel. Not sure what the standard ones are, but you dn't want to lighten an iron one. Given that the R500 flywheel is about as light as you can go, or would want to, why not spend the £300 on it and never have a worry about whether it's OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganMan Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 You might want to read the King K article and understand the effects of a poorly balanced flywheel. Just because you turn an equal volume of material off, its no guarantee that balance will be maintained. Some steel flywheels are very poor in this regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 Paul. I have a lightened std 1400 flywheel with the work carried out to the spec as given by the Rover/MG works dept. It was carried out by Baldyne Engineering (their name derived from their work; Balance and Dynomometer) and it does not have silly amounts removed. Just sensible engineering practice + balancing. Think about 1.25 Kg's was removed in total. Cost was better than getting a steel one etc. I have had this on the car for three years and about 11,000 miles with a redline of 8,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrypike Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 paul if you want a SLR flywheel (with all teeth) mines sitting in the garage, came off the car 3 years ago (different sensor for MoTec ecu) give me a call if you're interested 07733 328368 jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyR Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 After seeing a flywheel explode, it went through the bell housing and came out the bonnet I would only use a steel one. TonyR Edited by - TonyR on 31 Dec 2004 17:51:15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normalbloke.29 Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 I have an ali one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 You might want to read the King K article and understand the effects of a poorly balanced flywheel. Just because you turn an equal volume of material off, its no guarantee that balance will be maintained. Some steel flywheels are very poor in this regard. Indeed - here are my recent balancing results: Crankshaft: 300gmm (initial) 30gmm after balancing at 8krpm Add flywheel (R500): back up to 120gmm - balanced down to 20gmm Add clutch-cover (AP): back up to 400gmm(!) - after balancing - down to 20gmm Add pulley assembly: back up to 30gmm. Lazy barstewards couldn't be bothered to take it back down to 20... Finds out that I have the wrong pulley ( ) - glad they didn't spend any time on it after all The R500 flywheel is obviously pretty-well balanced anyway (and is sufficiently light to make the headline figures fairly low) - don't forget that horrid clutch-cover though! Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 don't forget that horrid clutch-cover though!Hey..!! I heard that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 strike 'horrid' - insert 'naughty' Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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