New Flywheel Cheaper than Machining Old?

Seriously? I went to have the flywheel in my CRX machined. The price was $52, and the price of a new flywheel was $51. Is this typical these days?

I don't think i've ever paid less than $40...

I usually pay $25 for machining.

In reply to turboswede:

I called around and the going rate, at least in this area, is $45-$55, so I guess this is right in the range. I'm going to see if I can figure out an accurate way to chuck it up in my lathe before I do anything.

Last time I did one was for the E30, but I got a custom built clutch as well.

Flywheel machined and lightened, clutch/PP/throwout bearing, alignment tool. All of it was $250.

I've heard that you want to grind the flywheels, not cut them on a lathe. Apparently the lathe can skip over the hard spots making it difficult to get a flat surface.

A cutting tool in a mill tends to work better, from what I've heard.

In reply to turboswede:

Thanks for that information. Is milling typically how they are done? I have one of those also.

Typicaly they are ground. Looks like a milling machine with rotorty table and a Cup or shell grinding wheel. I used to have one but not this fancy..

Like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on2prhDdzZo

The hard part is getting the set up right as the table is flat but most of the time you need a spacre to sit on the cranks flange side then the center bolt. goes down. This one looks like maybe his spacer is sitting on a burr. If you think its warped before you remove the flywheel from the crank run a dial indicator on the edge while turning the crank and write the run out on the flywheel then mount on the grinder and recheck you should have same numbers in same places.

O'Reilley's charges $25 to blanchard grind a flywheel.

^Exactly^

Blanchard grinding is how flywheels and motorcycle brake rotors (w/o "hats") get done.

I just had a truck flywheel done last week at O'reillys and they charged me $60. Standard was $45 and trucks are $60 I guess. A new one was over $100, so still worth it to get it turned.

In reply to Cotton:

Same with the Orielly's here. I picked up the new one at lunch - problem solved.

Dr. Hess wrote: O'Reilley's charges $25 to blanchard grind a flywheel.

I wouldn't trust my O'Reillys to carry my oil out to my truck.

Trucks are dished normally so its a pain in the ass. you have to cut same amount off both the bottom of the dish and then pull the locating pins and cut the top otherwise you loose some clamping forces. If they charge more just cause you told'em it was a truck i would have walked out and came back the next day with one from a car...

In reply to 44Dwarf:

I didn't say what it came off of.....guess they could just tell.

You're going to trust an old, turned-down, cast-iron flywheel to not blow your passenger's legs off on a missed shift?

Get a Fidanza. $220. The biggest improvement you can make to a car with a little engine is to drop 25 lbs off the flywheel.

chaparral wrote: You're going to trust an old, turned-down, cast-iron flywheel to not blow your passenger's legs off on a missed shift? Get a Fidanza. $220. The biggest improvement you can make to a car with a little engine is to drop 25 lbs off the flywheel.

You're going to trust an aftermarket, weight reduced, aluminum flywheel to not blow your passenger's legs off on a missed shift?

Not sure why the OEM flywheel with .020" machined from the face is sooooo much scarier than an aftermarket part that's purposefully manufactured to be just good enough (for reduced weight) and also is made from a material that doesn't have a fatigue limit. Both have their risks, but statistically speaking factory flywheels have a WAY better track record in typical usage.

Bryce

Oh yeah, and it is getting pretty cheap for common flywheels to buy brand new. Fair warning, the cheap ones are usually Chinese no-name/reboxed junk, just like you'd expect from cheap rotors. As said above, grinding a flywheel is the proper method, and my local machine shop does it quick, properly, and charges $20-30. I much prefer machining the flywheel that I know was already working fine (proper ring gear, balance, hole locations, offset, etc.) than starting over with a cheap aftermarket one and hoping it's right. Plus, there's a certain satisfaction that comes from fixing something (with a simple job that supports my local machine shop) instead of throwing it away and importing questionable quality stuff that some poor kid in China had to make, then got shipped overseas and pushed to my corner of the globe through 13 middle men.

Bryce

I tend to agree, and just for the record, the flywheel I got is a re-ground stock wheel, not aftermarket. I would also have preferred to use a local machine shop, but couldn't find one that would do it in the time frame I needed.

bravenrace wrote: I tend to agree, and just for the record, the flywheel I got is a re-ground stock wheel, not aftermarket. I would also have preferred to use a local machine shop, but couldn't find one that would do it in the time frame I needed.

Ok. I was going to abuse you for buying Chinese junk and thinking its better than fixing the original part.

bravenrace wrote: Is milling typically how they are done? I have one of those also.

this is good to know. i need to learn how to use one and procure my own

You may want to read the service manuals some flywheels are not supposed to be cut / ground per the manufacturer. It has to do with the depth of the hardening of the face If I remember. I use to do it all the time until I learned this. In particular 2500 series GM trucks of the early 90's was the one I ran into.

In reply to dean1484:

Not a problem with this car, but thanks.