Lightened Flywheels

[BFDEIHL@aol.com (BFDEIHL@aol.com)]

This is getting good. Great topic, and the informed responses are a primary 
reason why I like to lurk THIS list. 

Recent lightened flywheel experience:

I bought a Velocity Sport Tuning lightened flywheel for my 16V-Rabbit Pickup 
conversion. Like everyone else has said, it allows quicker 
acceleration/deceleration of the engine. What I have NOT seen mentioned (so 
far) is any negative effects as far as heat dissipation stemming from the 
reduced thermal mass of the lightened flywheel.

I speak from experience here, so excuse my jumping on the soapbox:

In less than 700 miles- I had heat bluing spots on the friction face of the 
Velocity flywheel. I believe this is directly attributed to the practice of 
shaving off the factory "heatsink"- the raised,ribbed area on the back side 
of the flywheel. Actually, I can't take credit for noticing this effect- it 
was pointed out to me by Vince Lociciero (VL 6 speed guy). Vince was the 
first person I've ever talked to that noticed, and was knowledgeable enough 
to search for a solution. (Using factory VW parts).

This is what he found:  Certain model 83 GTIs came with a slightly different 
style of flywheel (Forget what the ETKA says- this is the real world). That 
particular flywheel is most easily machined to take the weight off at the rim 
(where it counts)- and still keep the ribbed factory back "pad" (heatsink). 
Using an 83 core, Vince managed to lighten and balance this setup at 7.5 
lbs...

To paraphrase George Foreman: "I didn't pay a lot for this flywheel".

Vince's health is a big concern. It is also the main reason why he got so 
much negative press on the Vortex for not delivering a few trannies on time 
to his paid customers. He wasn't the quickest getting my parts finished, but 
he was thorough, honest and correct-- and frankly, very reasonable for what 
he charged.

The Option-6 may have passed into history. Unfortuneately, I really don't see 
Vince having the energy to build many more of those cool 6 speed 020 
conversions. But he is trying to carry forward a business with other 
performance VW parts- if you are interested in getting a setup that will 
last-and in my opinion the best setup- check out his site at:

<http://www.qualityvwparts.com>

Lightening a flywheel ain't rocket science, any machine shop can do it. The 
trick is knowing which core to start with and having the experience to know 
the results.

Danny
81 82 80 85