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MG MGF Technical - Lightweight Flywheel - Do I Dont I?

Hi Guys,

I will be replacing my clutch in a couple of weeks. Whilst there Ill have access to the flywheel.

Is it worth me replacing it with a lightweight one from Mike Satur??

I was going for a OEM clutch as I dont think an uprated one will really do that much for me (please tell me if im wrong!!)

As the engine goes I have a vader kit/fully ported/piper 623 cams and I will be upgrading my MEMS and Exhaust manifold at somepoint.

Will I be introducing a nice stall factor to my car??? I do use it as an everyday runaround after all. Id rather put the money from the flywheel to a new 4-2-1 manifold/emerald unit if that would be a better overall bet???

Cheers for your advice

Chris
Chris Glen

>Will I be introducing a nice stall factor to my car

yes

the lightened flywheel will not make the car accelerate or go round corners any faster, but it has some potential to speed up gearchanges (with added stress to the rest of the engine and cambelt).

A 4-2-1 manifold will make the car more torquey so the money is much better spent there.
Will Munns

Will actually a lightened flywheel will make the car accelerate faster, the difference is most noteable in 1st and 2nd as more improvement is seen when the overall gear ratio is greatest.
David Billington

Ok, but In a car weighing twice as much as it oughta* the torque is more useful


* It oughta be a midget ;-)
Will Munns

I have a lightened flywheel in my F - and frankly, the car is no easier to stall than it was with the lump of anchor iron that was there before ;o)

No idea how light Mike's 'wheel is - mine's an AP item, which is a useful few kilos lighter than standard.

One thing to look out for with a replacement flywheel is balance - particularly rotational balance. I am sure that Mike's flywheels are very good - but it is good practice to balance the flywheel when it's attached to the crank and do the whole thing together.

Not that I did this on my car ;o) But I shall on the engine I am going to build!
Rob Bell

How do you balance the flywheel to the crank??????

I was hoping that a lightend flywheel when I am slowing down.

To explain. Since going for hotter cams etc if I go to slow down e.g. turning at a junction, I would normally put my foot on the clutch and knock it out of gear as I coast up. Since changing the cams on my car (although timed correctly) sometimes it does stall. The revs go down but do not come up quick enough I have adjusted my idle and that does help but it still happens.

I was hoping a lighter flywheel would help, although im sure a ecu upgrade to a emerald or something with the correct mapping for my piper 623's will help as well.

Where did u get ure flywheel from rob???

If I did go for a lighter flywheel would it be a good Idea to change the pully at the same time????

Chris Glen

Rob,

Does your lightened flywheel worsen the "kangarooing" (uncontrolable back and forth motion) tendencies of the car in first gear at very low speeds?

Per
Per

Chris, the problem with stalling you describe sounds more like a problem with the IACV. They can stick which can either be recovered by a good clean in petrol (AndyP recommends Greycoat polish as an alternative) or replaced.

Balancing the fly on the crank is easy - IF the engine is in pieces! I didn't bother - and it hasn't been a decision that's come back to haunt me. :o)

My flywheel is an AP item - purchased from another MGF owner - but I am sure that they are readily available from a number of sources. PTP, AP and their re-sellers.

I guess you could change the crank pulley at the same time - not sure whether the benefit in doing so is worth the expense?

Per, no, I've not had any problem with 'kangarooing' with the lighter flywheel. In fact, my impression is that I could go lighter on the rotational mass without loosing tractibility. I guess the standard item is designed for use with cars with weights of 1500+kg - so with the MGF weighing in at under 1075 or TF at little over 1100kg, we can afford to shed some of that mass!
Rob Bell

Per, the ECU idles at 900, if there is _any_ throttle at all the ECU lifts the revs to 1100, so if you are trying to wander along at 1k rpm you will fail. Just accept that the engine does this and you'll be OK, a lightened flywheel would make this more noticable, but it's alredy very noticeable !
Will Munns

OK, thanks guys!
Per
Per

How do you actually clean the IACV Valve out exacttly???

Chris Glen

This thread was discussed between 16/07/2006 and 28/07/2006

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