I had extremely high hopes of getting my engine in my car and running today, and as common as it always is, I had a problem. I have a 78 350 sbc with a 2 piece rear main. I bought an 11'' flywheel and a 10.5 inch clutch and unfortunently the flywheel will not fit into the bellhousing. What flywheel do I have to run to fit my bellhousing and clutch if possible? I own an 87 camaro which the clutch is designed for. The trans I believe was from an 85 firebird (not sure).

 

You need the flywheel for 83-85 Camaro/Firebird V8.

You'll find there are 2 of them; one about 16 lbs, one about 23 lbs. You want the lighter one.

 

Why do I need to get a flywheel from an 83-85 when I have an 87 camaro and am using a 78 old style 2 piece rms?

 

Any idea?

 

87+ SBC is 1 pc rear main.
86 and prior is 2 pc rear main.
You need an 86 and prior 10.5" flywheel

 

Raceparts on ebay sells a 16lb 153t billet steel flywheel for about $100 shipped. Or you can get a Dorman one from Advance or AutoZone for around $50, but its a crappy made in china cast iron one.
I got one of the ebay ones and the quality is nice, but I havent gotten around to see how it works yet.

Seth

 

Because it's the right one.

85-back blocks are 2-pc rear main seal, 86-up are 2-pc.

83-85 T-5 cars have a T-5 flywheel (duh), 12.8"/153 teeth, 2-pc RMS, just like you need.

The flywheel does not care what year sheet metal it's wrapped in. That has nothing whatsoever to do with the issue at hand. The flywheel hides the sheet metal from the flywheel completely.

 

I was just in the same boat. I have an 88, but the engine is an older 2 piece rms 350. I had to get a 153 tooth flywheel and a new starter (since the flywheel is now smaller than your original one). Oh, and I had to drill a hole in the block for the new starter.

I expected this would be the hardest part of my swap, but surprisingly, it only took about 2 hours and the engine started right up. Now if I could only get this tranny in.

 

Can you put a 10.5" clutch on that flywheel easily?

 

Pretty easy I'd say.... 6 bolts

 

you can keep the flywheel and go the expensive way like i did.. 2 words: lakewood bellhousing..

OR

buy a new flywheel like all these guys said previously..


one last thing, did you ask if you can put a 3rd gen specific clutch on a 3rd gen specific flywheel??? just wondering.. lol

 

Why do you ask?

 

no particular reason.. just yankin your chain.. i have my sarcastic days..

 

Because you did.

 

Ok seeing how everyone is going from one piece to two peice rear seal maybe someone can answear my question. swapping a 2 piece engine to a 1 piece engine. I have a four speed sagnaw that i plan on using, seeing how the flywheel from the 2 piece will not work on the 1 piece engine i need a new flywheel.

My question is. Will i need another starter? will the 1 piece flwheel and clutch fit under an older model bellhousing ie 70's? also will the input splines be the same for the clutch.

Thanks in advance

 

Yes a small flywheel and clutch will fit inside a larger BH.

No a 70s BH will not fit in one of these cars.

If the Saginaw stuff you have didn't come out of one of these cars, it almost certainly won't go into one.

Even if it IS a setup from some 82 F-body, it's still not a good idea. Just because a thing will "work" doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do. That trans is a piece of crap in every way; poor shifting, 6-cylinder type gear ratios (very very wide, such that the engine goes from "scream" to "lug" at every shift), and very weak. People who have those things go to a great deal of trouble to get rid of them; and it's not because they like them so much. You probably won't like it either.

The transmission does not care about the flywheel diameter or the year of the clutch. All it cares about is if the clutch has the right number of splines. If your Saggy has 26 splines, then the T-5 clutch as above will fit it and work.

 

Thank you for the help.

What i am doing is swapping a TPI into vintage iron ie 71 Nova. I have Saggy because it was cheap, my TH350 blew up, and i wanted a straight drive.

Anyways, i tried to put the motor and trans togeather to put it in the car and to my demise the flywheel was different. and what i gather s that the newer 1 piece flywheel will fit in a 70's BH, correct

 

Telling what you're doing will help get to the right answer a little quicker.

Either size flywheel will work, in that situation. They'll both fit.

You'll need the right starter to go with whichever flywheel you end up with; if you get a 12.8" one such as would be in a Camaro, then you'll need that type of starter, and if you get a 14" flywheel (which would have to be for 86-up truck) then the older style starter such as for a Turbo 350 vehicle will work.

There are 14" flywheels with the 11" clutch pattern drilled in them, or with the 10.4" clutch pattern, or with both. Obviously if you get that size wheel you'll need to pay attention to that, and get parts that match.

The 12.8" wheel will only accomodate the 10.4" clutch. So that one is simpler from a parts selection standpoint. It's the weenier clutch, but at least it's all a guaranteed bolt-up, sight unseen.

The splines on the clutch disc will need to match the ones on the transmission; they will be either 1-1/16" 10 spline, or 1-1/8" 26 spline. If the trans is out of the Nova, it will have to 10-spline setup. I have no clue what clutch application you can buy that will have that combo; your best bet is to go to Centerforce or Hays or Zoom's web site and download their catalog (CF is probably the best) and look through the listings for a 10.4" disc with the right hub diameter and splines. If you go with a Camaro/Firebird 12.8" flywheel, and the trans has the 26-spline clutch gear, then all you need to do is just buy the clutch for a 83-92 T-5 Camaro 305, and all the supporting parts for that. That would be the simplest outcome.

The throwout bearing will follow the clutch you pick. If you get a good quality high-perf clutch, it will need to be the short one. If you get a low-perf clutch such as would have come in a 71 Nova with a Saginaw 4-speed, which would have been probably a 6-cyl car, you'll need the tall TOB.

Don't forget to put a pilot bearing or bushing in the crank.

 

Thank you for the help. I believe that i will just go with the truck flywheel and use an 11" clutch from the Nova. I measured the flywheel and it was 14" and had 168 teeth. went to work and look through our parts catalog. I looked through the 86 and up trucks. there were a few selection but what struck me most was. One flywheel noted that the bolt holes were staggered and the other didn't??????? Did some cranks come with staggered bolt holes or were they all staggered??