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Flywheel -- Damaged Teeth

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H

Hatman

Senior Member
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After pulling the transmission yesterday, inspecting the flywheel showed two areas where the teeth have been worn severely. This is a 59 TR3, #44408, with "shrink to fit" ring gear. I see I can purchase the ring gear for approx. $60, but have no idea of the labor involved to remove the old gear and install the new. Any insight? Alternatively, I can keep an eye out for a good used flywheel and go that direction.

Also, considering I'm also looking to rebuild or replace the starter, is their any advantage to updating to the newer flywheel with bolt-on ring gear and the newer-style starter?

Thanks.

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Mark-

One downside is what you are doing with your transmission - if you still have the original transmission, it likely can only accommodate the older bomb starter. I'm not sure if that is true if you buy one of those newer style starters out there though.

My guess is a machine shop might hit you another $50-$100 for installing a new ring. One shop removed a ring for me for free, and refacing/lightening a flywheel is about $100 so I'm only guessing at the install cost.

I've bought a few flywheels in decent shape for less than the cost of just the ring, so there certainly is the possibility of just swapping in any style you want.

I'd probably let the choice of starter dictate what to do with the flywheel.

Randy
 
R&R a new ring gear is fairly easy, cut the old one off either with a cutting torch or grinder Be careful if using a torch not to gouge the flywheel. once removed, heat the new ring gear with a torch evenly all the way around, NOT RED,
this will expand the ring gear enough to slip right into place. Place the heated ring gear on the flywheel { I usually give it a spin once it is in place just to ensure it is properly seated} if the ring gear will not easily fall right into place it is NOT hot enough! Do not worry about any sort of alignment as far as the teeth go, but ....if you are worried about it, mark the flywheel and old ring gear teeth before removal align the new ring gear teeth with your mark!

P.S. I have done hundreds of them while working for the wheeled mobile vehicle branch Dept of the Army.

were I near you I would change it for you for free!
Oh, BTW you will need some good heavy welding gloves when handling the hot ring gear!
 
Another way to heat the ring gear is the kitchen oven.

The early starter is actually better in most ways, IMO, as it supports the shaft at both ends and has a better gear ratio. It also doesn't have that big spring where it can fall off and exit through the bellhousing (which ruined my first overdrive gearbox). But it does have a weak spot, the bonded rubber drive sleeve (501217). If you have modified your engine with more displacement and compression, you may find that the rubber drive sleeves fail rapidly. BFE used to sell uprated replacements, but I think I got the last one.

Either version of the gear-drive starter will fit in the early bellhousing, so that is one way to go if you want to use the later flywheel with the early gearbox.

Since you are considering replacing the flywheel, I'll throw in a plug for using a lightened version. I have one of the aluminum alloy ones, and it really transforms the car, especially at low speeds. It's like having another 20hp, in first gear.
 
When I did my tranny conversion to the 5 speed I had some pretty chewed up teeth too and thought I'd get around to replacing it and bought a new ring gear.
At the same time my original starter failed so I replaced it with a new high torque modern unit and viola' no issues anymore.
The new modern units do not spin until they contact the ring gear and even with my chewed up gear it spins just fine with no noise.
My new ring gear is sitting on the shelf until I am forced to pull the tranny.
If yours is apart I'd recommend changing it out, follow the guys advice about expanding it and use C clamps to fit it. No problem really.
To keep it fresh get a modern starter.
 
If you decide to go the used route, keep in mind that it recently cost me $34.00, insurance included, to send a camshaft from PA to CA. I wouldn't want to guess the shipping costs of a flywheel.
But if interested, call Scott Harper at Team Triumph in Warren, OH.(330)392-7176. He's a great guy to deal with and fairly local as shipping goes.
 
Or, you could heat and remove the original FW, reverse it, and reinstall. Teeth are the same on both sides.
 
prb51 said:
At the same time my original starter failed so I replaced it with a new high torque modern unit and viola' no issues anymore.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. I might try that.

I replaced the starter in the racecar with a modern high torque starter and cello, but a viola has a higher pitch to it which might match the pitch of the teeth better.
 
DougF said:
If you decide to go the used route, keep in mind that it recently cost me $34.00, insurance included, to send a camshaft from PA to CA. I wouldn't want to guess the shipping costs of a flywheel.
Click to expand...

Just an FYI here, but in this case USPS is definitely your friend. They have a Priority Flat Rate box that works perfectly. Depending on what zone you are shipping to/from, figure around $10-$15. That trick I learned from Joe Alexander when I bought a lightened flywheel from him.
 
i've shipped a starter in a flat rate box via usps.
 
TS,
Much prefer the viola with the new starter as the old original was more basso profundo/cruncho mucho.
 
bgbassplyr said:
Or, you could heat and remove the original FW, reverse it, and reinstall. Teeth are the same on both sides.
Click to expand...
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I wouln`t recommend doing this, having said that, if you decide to go this route first mark the flywheel where the bad teeth are. You will notice there are two bad spots on the teeth opposite each other. When putting the ring gear back on, make sure that you DO NOT place the bad teeth back in the marked areas
One other thing, when removing the flywheel from your crankshaft be sure to mark it too! You will want to place it back on the crankshaft in the exact same place as it was removed. The reason for this is when you shut the engine down <span style="font-weight: bold">as a rule</span> {not every engine has this trait} it will stop in the same place or places every time.

This is the reason you see the two bad spots on the ring and not every tooth!
I hope this makes sense!
 
Also, the teeth aren't the same on both sides. The originals had the teeth beveled on one side, to improve engagement with the Bendix mechanism (which has the pinion gear already spinning when it contacts the ring gear).

Plus, it's the heat differential that makes the ring gear expand to be larger than the flywheel. Gonna be really, really tough to heat one without the other, once it's installed.

Viola Voila? Wasn't that an old Pogo skit? She kept saying "teaspot" because she couldn't say "teapot".
 
I don't have all of them by any means, but at least a dozen or so. The really old ones have fallen apart until they are just a collection of loose pages, but they are still funny.

Viola Voila was part of a crazy skit with Albert the alligator playing the part of a hard-boiled detective (in the tradition of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler). Don't recall all the details offhand, but somehow after interrogating Viola (who was a ladybug), he winds up dragging the chief of police (played by Beauregard the hound) across town in handcuffs, shoots a traffic light, and winds up in a cell himself.
 
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