Hey guys, my neighbor is replacing his cracked flywheel, but since it disintegrated while taking it off, he has no clue if the counterwights on th flywheel face the engine or the tranny. Can someone please answer this question for us? Were in the process of having his car back on the road for the first time in a long time and this is the only thing holding us back.

 

I'm going to assume this is a flex plate, not a flywheel, and that he has an auto trans...

The pads that the torque converter bolts to, face the converter.

 

i have 2 questions, whats the difference bettween a flywheel and a flex plate? and i just finished droping my rebuilt engine in and bolting it to the bell houseing of the tranny. but i cant get the torque converter to bolt on to the flex plate. my counter weight is faceing towards the engine. i have a baaaaad feeling that i might have screwed myself big time here because i just took back the engine hoist that i rented. i have a 5.7L 89 t/a wich i am converting to carb (from tpi) the part wich the torque converter is suppost to bolt into are bumped out a bit farter than the rest of the flex plate and make a ridge that the torque converter bolt holes cant get over. this is a major problem because i have spent all day screwing with it with no progress. i think this is almost the same problem " bzznczzn" is haveing exept i stupidly bolted on what i "thought" was the right side. if anyone cou ld help i would really appreciate it. im gona post this in the tech/general engine fourm too just in case

 

psyte,

i think you have a whole different problem, it sounds to me like your torque convertor is not fully engaged, to the tranny, spin it back and forth, and mess with i bet it will slip in to the trans further,

flywheel vs. flexplate,

flexplate = auto tranny, thin metal plate, flexs a little bit under reving conditions

flywheel = manual tranny, think steel plate, heavy to help keep engine rpm up when shifting, and has the clutch bolted to it

 

is it at all possible that i have it on backwards though? this is really bugging me and it took me over 5 hours to get the damn thing aligned properly and on the mounts, i realllly dont wana take the engine out again and put it back, thats a guarenteed whole day of work. and i doubt my friends are gona wana help a 2nd time with that pain in the A$$. is the counterweight suppost to face the engine?

 

i will check tomorrow, and post back here

 

the flexplate from my 84 doesn't seem to have any counter weights attached to it at all.

i can tell though that mine was on the motor, with the little bumped out pads for the torque convertor, towards the trans

 

Up through 1985, SBC's used a two-piece rear main seal (just like in 1955). The flexplates for that type of rear main seal do not have a counterweight on them. That's because the crank itself has that counterweight on it (take another look at it if you still can, you'll see it).

Since you can't slide a one-piece rear main seal over a counterweight, they moved it to the flexplate in 1986.

 

duh , i shoulda known that was why there was no weights, go t myself all worried over nothin

 

The flexplates can be bolted on backwards so be careful. Like mentioned the raised mount pads face toward the torque converter. If you put in on wrong you will have the pull the torque converter over 1/4" forward to get it to bolt up (Not good)