[Si4WS]

I have a friend who has a Civic hatch w/ b16 etc. He had a friend at a machine shop lighten his stock flywheel by more then a few pounds and my friend has put around 5000 miles on it so for with no problems. Is this a bad move or could it be a money saving mod?

 

[MugenPoweredLude]

ahhh since you have the tranny apart anyway its a good idea just to get a lightweight flywheel anyway

 

[khilgers]

he's asking if it allright to machine it down to reduce weight, but I would feel a lot better about just getting one that is meant to be lightwight rather than maching down the stock one.

 

[BoYgUaN]

well ive heard that a stock flywheel is better if you can get it down because it is made of steel?
it wont warp as easily as a aluminum one.....thing is that it is hard to get it down to the same weight
if i could i woulda wanted mine stocky fly shaved to a lighter weight

 

[khilgers]

do you just turn it on a metal lather, similar to turning rotors

 

[MugenPoweredLude]

ahhh the way i see it if youre gonna have the tranny open might as well get a aftermarket one...

 

[Lucke]

this is what i was told about this when my clutch went out a few years ago.

lightening your stock flywheel only works for a short period of time, because you are taking the steel away from it, you are in turn weakening the overall structure of the FW. when the FW is designed for a certain car, it is fully blueprinted to be precision balenced and structurally perfect, anything less would be imperfect so to speak and not work properly after a certain time (break and shatter).

so if you want to lighten it, go for it, just make sure you get a scatter shield. or just save the money and get one that is warrentied by the manufacturer... aftermarket...

 

[MugenPoweredLude]

see^^^ i just couldnt get the words out to explain myself...lol

 

[concLude]

i also would be alittle scared....heres why

If the guy doing the lightening messes up somehow and its not perfectly in balance, it could fly off and cut right through your floor boards and kill the passenger. I would rather buy a lightened one. I had this conversation with my installer, and unless your getting (i forget whats its called ) shatter shield or something like that, (race cars have'em) why press your luck?!

 

[MugenPoweredLude]

i dont think its worth resurfacing a flywheel...just get an aftermarket one and be safe

 

[98TypeSH]

If you want a lighter flywheel get an aftermarket one. Lighten stock flywheels can easily come apart and chunks can fly into the passenger side of the car. If you decide to lighten you flywheel at least get a scatter shield to be on the safe side, but I still would recommend an after market one.

Edit: this is a video of a flywheel failure with out a scatter shield. This is a go-cart engine just think how it would be with a larger car engine. http://128.121.225.8/videos/explode.mov

 

[alphajesse]

That video should be FAQ'ed under 'Should I lighten my stock flywheel?'

 

[BoYgUaN]

that is freakin crazy

 

[Si4WS]

Thanks for the great info all. I'm going to hold off on that and save for an aluminum flywheel. The cost just sucks. It's not cool paying for a new clutch and flywheel. Looks like it's going to have to wait until after LFW.

 

[MugenPoweredLude]

i think the mods should FAQ this since it also has the video too..lol

 

[NoRice4U]

errr...nobody enjoys having a buzzsaw cutting up their interior...