Damaged flywheel

[David H.]

I have discovered that the flywheel on my brothers 1962 must have gotten very hot at one time or another. If you examine the attached picture closely you will see that the entire surface is covered with some large cracks and many small cracks.
Can anyone explain the damage and is the flywheel repairable?

[Edward J.]

Re: Damaged flywheel

Dave, the cracks look pretty bad.I would say the clutch was slipping pretty bad for awhile and caused the cracks,if it were my car I would be looking to replace the flywheel, Im sure that it has a clutch job or two in its life which means the flywheel has been machined once or twice, that could also be why the cracks are so large. this is the type of job you only what to do once,correctly done it will last for years to come.

[Tom P.]

Re: Damaged flywheel

It MAY, read that carefully, it MAY be possible to have it surfaced and remove the cracks. If this is a normally driven car, it would be OK to use if surfacing will remove the cracks. Otherwise, a new, or good serviceable used flywheel is in order.
If it is the original flywheel to the car, and it is important to retain it, I would certainly try to have it surfaced. If that doesn't turn out to be acceptable, and it has to be replaced, it really won't matter because it is something that can never be seen when everything is assembled.

[Dick W.]

Re: Damaged flywheel

I think that it would look quite a bit different if .050 or less was machined off the surface.

[Dan T.]

Re: Damaged flywheel

If this was my car I would replace the flywheel. If looks like it really got hot too. If so, it is warped as well. To spend money now, or turn around and do the whole job over is a no question for me. Best wishes.

[Dick W.]

Re: Damaged flywheel

Almost every flywheel is warped. It is very good insurance to surface them when you replace the clutch. I believe that his flywheel will clean up without major surfacing