Hello everyone. I have talked to a few old racers and have some mixed ideas.
I have a 1991 RS and was thinking about a light weight fly wheel and a puck clutch disk. I have found a 16 pound fly wheel for a very good price. Would it really be worth it in a TBI car?
Now I do have 1.6 rockers, headers, 3 inch Hooker exhaust, Bored TBI and larger injectors also the LT1 drive shaft and 3.73's with a real locker.
The car is way over built for that L03 engine and a nice 305 (trick flow heads and flat top pistons new cam ect..) is being built but wont be put in till fall.




Richard

 

Don't expect a HUGE difference with the lighter flywheel, but if it's cheap enough, it wouldn't hurt to use one. As far as a clutch goes, I'd recommend the Ram Powergrip. Not the HD Powergrip, just the standard one. The HD is too costly, and really isn't needed for your setup. I'm not crazy about the "puck" style clutches. The Powergrips use a dual friction material on the disc, and a diaphragm style pressure plate. I've used quite a few clutches over the years, and I've been happiest with the Ram unit.

 

I think you'll gain a tiny bit of horsepower but you will lose lot's of UHMPH when you stomp on the pedal. The weight of the flywheel is what gives you that uhmph and unless you got some real horsepower then you will be loosing that uhmph with a lighter flywheel. That uhmph is what helps get you low 0-60 times and off the line quickly. Personally i decided on a middle ground. I just got my Spec steel flywheel yesterday, it weighs 22lbs. 'because i asked them to'.

 

Yeah, he's right on that aspect. The heavier flywheel does give you more inertia on initial takeoff. The lightweight one spins up faster, but takeoff will suffer somewhat. On my 69 Camaro, I bought a Hays billet flywheel, and I went with the 30 pounder.

 

Stay away from the AL flywheel for your setup. Will only make it harder for launching. If the disk is puck on both sides, it's not gonna be very forgiving. Prolly be better with a full face disk setup. Centerforce, Spec, Ram... Good luck!

 

I couldn't agree more!!!
Been there done that with more clutch then my motor could handle. SOOO uncomfortable, hello chatter!

 

on that note every 1 pound you shave on rotating mass is the equivalant of 7 pounds on the car so if you shaved say 20 pounds off it is like the car is 140 pounds lighter and 140 pounds is worth a lil over .10

 

Yeah, the 1st Powergrip I bought about 20 yrs ago had contact pads on the flywheel side of the disc that were made of sintered iron, and while I didn't have much trouble with chatter, probably because it was organic on the pressure plate side, that sintered iron was eating a groove down into the surface of the flywheel, and that was with an aftermarket billet one! I had to buy a new clutch a few years ago because I installed a Tremec TKO in place of the Muncie, and needed a 26 spline disc instead of 10 spline. I guess Ram must've realized the problem with the sintered iron material over the years, becase I bought another Powergrip unit and it had full-face, more organic type material on both sides. Still grabs without any slipping and shouldn't eat up the flywheel anymore!

 

well I went with a 5 puck disk and a good plate.. I will be using the stock fly wheel. I have installed 5 pucks on all my military trucks (deuce and a halfs and 5 tons) and they work great. Might be over kill for a Camaro... but what the heck... got to have some fun.. and the price was very cheap for all i got.

 

Yeah, I guess that's fine as long as the puck disc doesn't have a crazy, grabbing material like that sintered iron! If it does, might want to have a look at your flywheel in a couple of years, especially being a stock one.