Lightining The Flywheel

[914 Kowal]

Lotsa questions, I have my drivetrain out for a new clutch.Is there any major engine balance problems if the flywheel is reduced in weight, The car is a 74 Bumble Bee Ltd Edt
2.0 stock F.I.

Thanks EK

[Joe Bob]

Balance problems no...but the car will have a tendency to have idle problems. If it is a stock engine, I would not do it...

[TFI]

how would you lighten the flywheel? where would you take the metal from? i hvae too much unbalanced rotational mass in the form of a flywheel and am looking for improvements.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Check Mike "914 Lite" Nugent's homepage. There's a link to in in his "Big Fours" article in the 914 Tech Articles section of this very website. He shows how his flywheel was lightened.

--DD

[Ian_G]

Y'all,

I ust did a rebuild on my 2L and lightened the flywheel ~30%. It's also got the WebCam mild FI cam in it. Idle problems? Not in the least, and my car idles around 4-600rpm.

Now you will notice that the engine revs quicker and that you can easily stall it. This depends on your driving style. If you just blip the throttle and engage 1st you will stall. However if you engage and then rev to ~2500rpm then the car pulls away smoothly. If you are experienced with driving really tiny engines this is nothing new (like 700cc - 1300cc). But, if the 1.7/2L 914 is the smallest you've ever driven then you will need to relearn this.

The majority of the mass is removed on from the "step" behind the starter ring and the crankshaft meeting point. The machinist just dishes this out. Now as for balance it depends. If this is a stock motor then the flywheel and crankshaft and everything else was seperately balanced at teh factory and stuck together. In this case you can pull your flywheel, lighten it and have it rebalanced. However of you've had the entire engine "blueprinted" or "balanced" then the crank was mated with the flywheel and they were balanced together. This is not done by the factory and requires taking all the movig mass down to the machinist. Chances are y'all's engines have not had this done unless you or a PO have done it. Most PO's brag if they have

So would I do this? Yes it's a great and inexpensive mod. Does it effect drivability? I don't think so as lugging/dragging these engines kill them anyway, so anything that MAKES someone keep the revs up when pulling away in 1st is great.

Ian

BTW find a good shop that works on and provides blueprinting and balancing. NAPA can do this but it's better paying someone that does it as a matter of trade. I paid $175 for lightening to give y'all an idea of what it cost.