I was at NAPA this morning for something unrelated to this post but after making my purchase I asked the counter guy to look up the price on a new flywheel and clutch kit for my upcoming swap and he asked me about the VIN of the car. After a brief exchange on the subject he showed me the pictures on his computer of the E code and the F code flywheels. There was a bit of difference in the two so my question is why is there such a difference? The E code flywheel was more expensive and seemed to have more mass/weight than the F code part. Can someone explain this difference?

 

Yeah sure...

The F flywheel is for cars with better gears (3.23 or 3.42) and more power. It's lighter, so it lets the engine rev easier. It's for drive trains that are set up for "performance".

The E flywheel is TBI cars, with terrible gears (3.08) and no power. It's heavier so the act of trying to start moving when the traffic light turns green on your way to the grocery store doesn't stall the motor.

Without knowing more about "swap" I can't say for sure which is better for the situation at hand.

 

Just get the F code one. They interchange but have weight difference. It's not that big a deal.

 

The swap is to a manual from an automatic. The car was originally a TBI car that I converted to TPI which lead me to ask this question. Thanks for your replies.

 

If it's a stock L03 car and you're putting the T-5 into it, then it has EVEN WORSE gears than what it would have come with if it had started out life with the T-5.

Instead of the 3.08s, it has 2.73s.

You'll probably want the heavier one, unless you don't mind feathering the clutch for about the first half-mile at every traffic light.

 

Right. Put the lighter one in, and if it doesn't inspire sofa to look under your username at your profile details to see 3.27 listed, it will inspire you to change those 2.73 gears you already swapped out for better-driving 3.45s.

 

jmd beat me too it as I was about to post about the rear swap also but it's out there now so I'll let it go. I keep my eyes open for a set of 3.45s or maybe swap to a 3.42 10 bolt somewhere down the line.