Fidanza Flywheel - What would you do?

[11Budlite]

I'll try not to go into all the sordid details, but I recently bought a Fidanza flywheel P/N 186991 for my 2.0L Zetec ZX1-powered Birkin. Upon trying to install it, I found that one of the bolt holes was drilled appr .060" further radially from the crank C/L. I contacted the tech dept at Fidanza with my findings and also supplied a photo showing the mis-drilled hole. I ended up having to return the flywheel for them to check out. Rec'd a call from Aaron Wilcox stating that they had checked it out and it was ok. I was a "little" surprised with his results and asked if he could take a simple dial caliper and measure from the crank center hole to each of the bolt holes and tell me his findings. Well, two days later he finally lets me know that it is indeed drilled incorrectly. He also tells me I have three options:

 

"1. We are going to make replacements for these and you can wait until they are finished and be sent one. It will take a couple of weeks for this though. 2. We can refund your money through the distributer you purchased the part from. 3. We can elongate the hole allowing the bolt to fit."

 

I really didn't feel that option 3 was viable due to the seating of the flywheel bolt to the flywheel. So I inquired to see how long it would take to get a replacement flywheel that was manufactured correctly. Here was his response:

 

"I would say the absolute earliest will be about a month. And that is just a rough estimate."

 

Later, he also said:

 

"If you need this flywheel asap I would highly recommend having it sent in to elongate the off crank bolt hole. I apologize for the inconvenience."

 

Right now it seems there is a batch of these flywheels out there that are manufactured incorrectly. I bought this flywheel exactly a month ago to the day and my patience is wearing thin.

 

My question is would anyone accept a critical part like a flywheel with a hole that's been elongated .060" with a flywheel bolt that wouldn't seat properly?

 

Here's a photo of the flywheel that I returned with what I thought was a pretty obvious defect. The hole with the arrow is the mis-drilled hole:

[11Budlite]

I also measured the OD of the ring gears with a Pi tape and came up with the following:

 

Fidanza flywheel: 11.309"

 

Ford flywheel: 11.256"

 

Ford flexplate: 11.245"

 

No wonder we have to elongate the starter mount holes to make it fit a Birkin!

[scannon]

Take the money and run. Have you ever seen a car where the flywheel exploded? I have and the driver lost both legs and wiped out a very nice '56 Chevy.

 

That appears to be a two piece (not counting the timing ring) flywheel with a replaceable friction surface. If so, find one that is a single piece design in chromoly, much safer. They cost about the same and are much safer.

[11Budlite]

Take the money and run. Have you ever seen a car where the flywheel exploded? I have and the driver lost both legs and wiped out a very nice '56 Chevy.

 

That appears to be a two piece (not counting the timing ring) flywheel with a replaceable friction surface. If so, find one that is a single piece design in chromoly, much safer. They cost about the same and are much safer.

 

Thanks Skip, that's what I was thinking. When he first suggested elongating the hole I thought "What, are you nuts???". I just wanted to get someone else's opinion...

 

Any idea where you can find a lightweight steel flywheel? I looked around and only saw a Raceline unit that could have some mounting issues with the starter because the ring gear is in a different position on the flywheel.

[scannon]

Thanks Skip, that's what I was thinking. When he first suggested elongating the hole I thought "What, are you nuts???". I just wanted to get someone else's opinion...

 

Any idea where you can find a lightweight steel flywheel? I looked around and only saw a Raceline unit that could have some mounting issues with the starter because the ring gear is in a different position on the flywheel.

Bruce,

 

I'm not that familiar with the Zetec world but with the popularity of that engine there should be alternatives out there.

[MHKflyer52]

Take the money and run. Have you ever seen a car where the flywheel exploded? I have and the driver lost both legs and wiped out a very nice '56 Chevy.

 

That appears to be a two piece (not counting the timing ring) flywheel with a replaceable friction surface. If so, find one that is a single piece design in chromoly, much safer. They cost about the same and are much safer.

 

Have to agree with scannon on this. Just not something that I would want to have fail due to an elongated bolt hole plus what would it due to the balance of the flywheel.

[Mike Rohaley]

I put this Fidanza flywheel on my car about 4 or 5 years ago. While I had no manufacturing quality issues (I thought it was made very well, contemplated putting it on the mantle) I did have to get a starter from a 1997 Ford Escort because of the ring gear location. Once switched over to the proper starter, all has been perfect.

[ottocycle]

Bruce,

 

I would "take the money and run" too. I dealt with Fidanza about 12 years ago when they were GT Jaguar and bought cams and an alloy flywheel for my Jag from them and had no problem. Since then they have entered the market making lightweight flywheels for a lot of engines and perhaps their rapid expansion has taken its toll on quality control. I definitely would not screw around with slotting holes and so on. I would look to the UK to see if you can find a supplier over there as Fidanza may be supplying flywheels to a number of American dealers who could put their own name on it. Tilton may make one, I would trust them. I know you know this but use new flywheel bolts an threadlock too.

 

I would consider a scattershield or balistic blanket if you plan on hammering it, (a lot cheaper than prostethics and physical therapy!!!!!).

 

I cannot believe that guy suggested hogging out the holes..............NUTS.

 

Good luck,

 

Dermot.

[Spaz]

http://m.jalopnik.com/site?t=K1jJ3yhUJkjxDl9.ZJnzJg&sid=jalopnikip

 

don't make this you

[S1Steve]

Hi Bruce, To much rotating mass , spinning to fast, to take a chance with.

Slotting the holes is the dumbest thing they could have said.

I would like to lose the heavy flywheel in my car, but I'll look at other companys after reading this.

Take your money and run like hell,Let us know what you get

as a replacement.

Hope to see you this summer, Steve

[scannon]

ACT, the high performance clutch company came out with one piece chromoly flywheels for the Miata a few years ago, I have one in my Caterham. 8.5 lb and I have no worry about it exploding on me.

 

It may be worth checking to see if they make one for the Zetec engine. I just checked their website for a Ford SVT engine and they don't have one at this time.

[Off Road SHO]

What I don't understand is: Are they really a fabricating company? Or do they just buy from someone and resell? Any fabricating company worth half their weight in salt would know the proper way to fix that, and it wouldn't be by enlarging the offending hole. You weld up your mistake and re-machine.

 

The problem is, if they're dumb enough to mis-drill it in the first place, even dumber to suggest wallowing the hole even bigger till it fits, are they going to be smart enough now to fix it correctly. I highly doubt it.

 

Like was mentioned earlier, I wonder what else they don't know about the flywheel manufacturing business.

 

Tom