fly wheel & clutch

[1949P17BC]

I was able to pick up a very nice and complete 217 (Dual carb & exhaust setup, will be adding a cam) from an old forum member who has decided to go the SBC route. Here is my question, when inspecting all of the parts and getting ready for a rebuild, the transmission, clutch and flywheel need some work. Would a flywheel off of a 250, 3/4 ton truck fit, it appears the outside dimensions are the same, though much heavier. My thought is use the heavier fly wheel and the bigger clutch, coupled with a fresh motor the sedan should move pretty nice.

[Merle Coggins]

A 3/4 ton truck should have a 218 engine. The one ton used a 230. I think you have to get up to the Ton and a half to have the big block engines.

[greg g]

The bigger / heavier the roatating mass, the slower the engine gains RPM. Back in the day one of the hop up procedures was to turn the flywheel to remove material to lighten it to help the engien speed up quicker. The 218 stock flywheel and clutch will be sufficient for your needs even with a refreshed and warmed over engine. If you are concerned about the condition of the flywheel, or ring gear, take it to a machine shop and have it checked, and trued, and if needed they can flip the ring gear to get the unused portion of the teeth to bear against the stater. I had that done to mine and the whole process was 25 or 30 bucks.

[Don Coatney]

I went the other way. I used my P-15 (short block) flywheel and coupled it to a Desoto (long block) engine. In doing so I had to mill off some metal on my bell housing to compensate for the different crankshaft flange. Not sure how it will work going the other way.

[Normspeed]

Most flywheels can be machined to a like new surface. I went with a 10" clutch and an early Dodge Hemi pressure plate with the stock flywheel on my 218. The stock flywheel has two sets of tapped holes, so you can use the oversize pressure plate without any problems.

[1949P17BC]

The 218 flywheel has some pretty nasty gouges in it, although it does have all of the threaded holes for the two sizes of clutches and pressure plates. I will probably have the 218 resurfaced and try and find the bigger clutch

[bob westphal]

Greg is correct about a lighter flwheel and clutch assy. The lighter they are the quicker you get the higher Rs. I used a Schafer light fly/clutch set back in the early '60s on a P-15 4dr. I was a real screamer! If I was doing it on your setup, I'd have the machine shop take off as much of the flywheel as would be safe while they're refacing it. The stock clutch assy. should hold all the torque you can force on it.

Bob

[Normspeed]

You might try Vintage Power Wagons or Hot Heads & Hemis, both have websites. The pressure plate I used was a rebuilt that came with a 54 Dodge 241 Red Ram hemi motor. It was a direct bolt-in and used the same release bearing as the 218/230. The 10" disk should be easy to find.

I have a 10" pressure plate from an early DeSoto, it is a real beast. It uses the same flywheel bolt pattern but has more/bigger springs and uses a larger diameter release bearing. I think it may have been from a fluid drive? If I ever build the early Dodge roadster I'm dreaming about, that big old pressure plate should give me lots of grab.