59 ab wheel ring

[jiw1]

this morning i had gone toa well known machine shop here in phoenix that rebuilds brakes and clutch and resurfaces flywheels.i had asked them to rebuild my clutch disk and pressure plate which they did well.also asked to have my ring gear changed and resurface the flywheel,when removing the old ring gear some of the flywheel metal was coming off with the gear (shown in pictures)they told me this was not normal and if they were to put the new ring gear on that it may not seat properly and may be loose.has anyone came across this before and is there a solution to this problem.in my eyes it looks like metal is being removed from the face or the flywheel not the diameter.any infor will help.thanks again for all the info received over the years.

[Mart]

My guess is that is a heavily lightened flywheel and some corrosion has got between the ring gear and the (now too thin) outer ring where it seats and has started to push the inner ring inwards, causing the damage.

I have one here that is similar.

Mart.

[jiw1]

mart,is it still ok to rering and resurface it ??

[Tinker]

They should have heated the ring before hammer. Or maybe they did?


Flywheels are fairly cheap though.


Personally unless you are racing or have a hot car, having a lighted/milled flywheel has very little advantage. Designed to ramp up rpms quick. If it's a cruiser/stockish a resurfaced stock flywheel is fine and maybe better.

[cas3]

as tinker said, fly wheels are cheap, just a hassle to find when you want it now. i will add this, i have one similar. on mine, only about 4" remain of the lip that "locks" the gear on. how much remains on yours? keep in mind flatheads have the starter gear sitting idle to the rear of the flywheel, and when you engage it, it pulls the gear in towards the front, opposite of most modern stuff. thats the reason for that lip, one more extra shoulder to hit so as not to rely on just the shrink fit to keep the gear in place. usually, the lip is broken off by some one too impatient to allow it to just fall off when heating and they grab a hammer to speed up the process. the lip is very thin, and very delicate, and at least most of it should still be there i think. i have a fly wheel here in the shop to compare, and i dont see that yours has been lightened as mart theorized, but thats not confirmed as he may see something i dont. so, how much is missing? heres the link to my similar post https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257065

[jiw1]

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cas3,i have 9" 6"and 4" in three places around the circumference.if the ring can be removed without damaging the lip can flywheel still be used.

[cas3]

i am not the expert, but i will say yours is better than mine, and if you cant find another i would use it. the last fly wheel i bought was 25 bucks. thats cheap compared to doing the job twice. when i was a dumb kid i drove the ring gear off with an air chisel, broke all of that lip off, and used it any way. but, that was on a model A, that never saw many miles, and its been gone a long time, so, success? who knows

[Mart]

Honestly I can't say what is best to do from here.

A question: is that the old ring or a new one?

When removing the old ring you are supposed to drill through it and bust it apart with a chisel. You're not supposed to press or drive or chisel it off.

Personally I would be looking for a new flywheel. By new I mean a good used one in serviceable condition.

It depends how easily available parts are in your location. there are normally enough engines being scrapped due to cracked blocks that things like flywheels are saved in case they may be useful.

You might not want a lightened one, a stock one might be more useful.

Mart.

[v8fordman]

I have changed many flywheel bands and what you picture is not uncommon if you hammer or chisel it off. The easiest way to remove one is to take a port-a-band or hacksaw and saw a slit through the old one. If you put a chisel in the kerf and hit it, the band will split and come off. Make sure to note which direction the band goes back on. Put the new one in an oven while the wife is gone and heat it. It will fall right on and tighten up as it cools. What you have pictured will not hurt anything if you install the new band correctly.

[jiw1]

got my 59ab flywheel back from having a new ring gear put on and there is a slight space where the lip used to be,is this going to be ok? also on a 8ba does the starter drive engage in the same direction as the 59 ab?

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by jiw1

got my 59ab flywheel back from having a new ring gear put on and there is a slight space where the lip used to be,is this going to be ok? also on a 8ba does the starter drive engage in the same direction as the 59 ab?

All flathead starters are the same configuration.

[cas3]

i dont think you are looking at an empty space, i think the edge of the ring gear is chamfered

[jiw1]

jseery,i had thought the same,i had my 8ba flywheel resurfaced and ring changed and it came back with the ring on backwords.my luck i guess.now another trip back to the shop to have it changed.thanks again to all of you for your input

[JSeery]

If it is a machine shop with no flathead experience they may think the Bendix comes in from the front side!

[19Fordy]

Is it a good idea to also pin the ring to the flywheel to prevent movement??

[big job]

Originally Posted by 19Fordy

Is it a good idea to also pin the ring to the flywheel to prevent movement??

My opinion is absolutely, pin or stake or put four mig tac welds. This is a
design failure. The flywheel should have had a shoulder toward the engine and
not on the rear or clutch side because the starter drive gets slammed into the
engine side where there is no shoulder. Here ya go, nice summer day time
for a beer run. Go to store (its running perfectly) shut her down. Come out
hit starter button = click click. wiggle bat cables nothing. role back pop
clutch in reverse and scawk the tires its locked up. Made short, got it back to
the shop up on lift, take starter out, sure enough ring gear jammed into block?
So my son with a punch banged it back and tac migged it. (four equal tacs)
So million dollar question : Car was at idle, E brake on at the store, I shut it off= so how in hell did it spit the ring gear off and jam it ??? occult thing
or ole man Murphys law.. And this is with a fresh no expense spared engine,
all standard EAB...blue printed and balanced too. So I say stake it whatever.
Don't worry we pulled the engine and replaced flywheel / ring gear. perfect now............sam