The reason for this is I have come across a custom aluminum flywheel
for a 1296. I want to install it on my '76 1500 without custom parts $$$.
Have you by any chance actually taken the flywheel and offered it up to the end
of a Spitfire 1500 crank? It may be that the machining costs to get a flywheel
for a completely different crank mated to yours will far outweigh any expenses
incurred in getting a clutch to fit. Do you know if this flywheel is for the
1296 or the 1296? That is, an early, small journal 1296, or the later Mark 4
engine that is basically a destroked 1500?
Oddly enough, I've been meaning to deal with a Spit clutch issue myself. A
year or two ago, I got a Tilton flywheel for the Kiler Spit, ordered through
Dave Bean. From the info I had available, I thought I was getting a flywheel
that would bolt to the crank and use the stock Spit clutch cover. Well, the
bolting to the crank part was fine, but I had *no* idea what clutch the thing
actually accepted. I have one or two used Spit clutches (okay, maybe I have
about 200 pounds or so of Spit clutch stuff. I don't even want to add in all
the big TR clutch bits I have laying around. I wonder how many hundreds of
pounds of old flywheels I have on hand?
Rather than go through the exchange of faxes, phone calls, email and even a
personal visit to Bean's shop on a recent California trip, I'll just say that
Tilton does not make a friction insert for their flywheels of the appropriate
size for the 1500 clutch. The flywheel they sell for the 1500 actually is
drilled for an 8" English Ford clutch. RealSoonNow I'm heading over to a
local fellow's house to cart home even more worthless used clutch parts, to
see if some of his Lotus and Formula Ford parts will work with the flywheel,
standard Spit clutch disk, release bearing, etc. So then I will know what new
parts to order. Hmm, first race is in maybe 8 weeks, I better get hopping!
Haven't even touched the bonnet, flaring the fenders, checking the bearings, ..
Of course, this clutch/flywheel info will eventually find its way into the
Team Fat catalog which I will have available sometime soon. Honest, trust me,
etc. Actually, look for another message soon about why I wasn't working on
Team Fat stuff this weekend. Computers, ha!
mjb.
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