The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Are flywheels interchangeable?

I just bought a 58-62 235. I want to replace the 216 in my 46 1/2t. The 235 came with a workable clutch, pressure plate and flywheel but it would eliminate my foot starter due to the teeth pattern on the flywheel. The other concern is the clutch and pressure on the 235 are beefier.

I would like to keep the foot starter so that would mean keeping the 216 flywheel. Here is my question. Can I put the 216 flywheel on the 235 (I think this is a yes)but use the beefier 235 clutch and pressure plate assembly?

Thanks in advance,

Rick..........

I kept ALL the 216 clutch, press plate, flywheel behind my 261 and it all worked great. You can get into trouble if you begin mixing these two different era clutches. You can use either vintage but then you have to stay with which ever you go with.
And I love my old 6 volt foot starter, it loves 12 volts.

Hy elmer46, you could always use a 12 volt stomp starter and convert the truck to 12 volts.

I know this thread is a little dated, but it might help someone. 37-40 216 flywheels have a larger diameter opening for the crank than the other years. I have a 40 1/2t with this larger opening. I don't know if it is just truck of that era or cars also. If you are swaping to a 235 in these years, you will need to find a newer flywheel with the smaller opening.

3B,

Can you direct me to the source where you found or read of the 12v Foot Stomp? My truck is a 12v with a Starter/Selonoid, and I am attempting to make it a Foot Stomp once again. It's a 1955 1st series 235. Appreciate any and all help from fellow Bolters.

Thanks.

2nd Series 55-'59 hsve the 12 volt stomp start. IIRC, the flywheels have different tooth counts, so you would need the flywheel that goes with it. Best bet would be to get everything for the 6 volt stomper, and run it on 12. It won't hurt it.

Hy Kato, I admit that I have never actually come across a pristeen original 55 1st series, but I am under the opinion that it would have been a 6 volt vehicle, and that the change to 12 volt took place with the 55 2nd series. Does your truck have an automatic transmission by any chance [Hydra-matic]? At any rate as has been discussed previously in this thread, if your truck is in a good state of tune and starts quickly, you can run your 6 volt starter on 12 volts. If someone has converted your engine to a 12 volt one then aquiring a 12 volt "stomp" starter should be as easy as ordering a 12 volt starter for a 56 - 59 chev truck with a six cylinder engine and a standard transmission, from your local FLAPS, hope that helps.

3B,
What I have is a 55 1st series with a second series engine. Not sure why the engine was changed out. As I mentioned, it was converted to 12v and it has the starter that is key operated, which I dont care for! I purchased the Foot Stomp Mechanical Linkage from a fellow Bolter about a month ago, and now it seems that i will have to search for 6v starter and a matching Flywheel to boot. Would it be best to look for a 12v foot stomp starter since it is a 12v convert, or are they a needle in the haystack?
Thanks!

Hy Kato, if you're sure the flywheel is a 12 volt flywheel then as I said in my last post just order a starter for a 55 2nd series - 59 Chev with a 6 cylinder engine and standard transmission from your Friendly Local Auto Parts Store [FLAPS] hope that helps.

Not sure on flywheel. I will have to crawl under the truck and count how many teeth my flywheel has. For whatever reason I associated the Foot Stomp with the 6v only??

Thanks.

They made 12V foot stomps for two years I believe. I just went through this with my 261. First of all, you can run a 6V starter and run 12V to it. So if you simply want to do this because you want a 12V system, you don't have to do this. If you pick up a 12V foot stomp starter (rare) you need to ensure that you have the appropriate flywheel. There were two flywheels made. the 6V had 138 or so teeth, while the 12V had 162 or so teeth. I can't remember the exact numbers but I know there very close to this. If you put a 12V starter on a 6V flywheel, you can kiss it goodbye. Also, there were different diameters of flywheels, which means you have to get the corresponding clutch and pressure plate. Most 138t flywheels have 9 or 10 inch clutches, but there was a 10 inch 162t clutch and flywheel setup as well. I am running the 10inch 162 tooth 12V setup. Tom Langdon had a starter for me (thank goodness) for the 12V setup. I only did it because I had all the other bits ready to go. That's how I made the decision. Like you mentioned, the best start is to count your teeth on the flywheel

I am in the process of swapping a 216 out of my 40 Chev. pu for a 1955 235 out of a 1T. I didn't plan on becoming an "expert" on flywheels, but I have learned a few things that might help others.

The '40 216 flywheel has a 2 1/4 bore and the mounting bolt holes are 3/8 dia. I have a '53 flywheel has a 2 1/16 bore and the mounting bolt holes are 7/16 dia. The '55 engine needs the larger bolt hole flywheel. Both have the 139 tooth ring. I also have a '59 235 out of a car. It has a 2 1/16 bore and 7/16 bolt holes. It has 169 teeth. The '59 clutch/pressure plate is 10" dia where the other 2 have 9 1/4" dia. This means the bolt pattern for the pressure plate assembly,on the 59 flywheel is different than the other 2 so the pressure plate/clutch will not interchange. In order to go to a newer 169 tooth flywheel you would need to go to a pressure plate/clutch to match that year. I have a T5 behind mine, so if I use the '53 flywheel I need the pressure plate out of my '40 and a clutch from an 84-84 Astro van (9"). If I were to use the '59 flywheel, I would need a '59 era pressure plate and a 84-85 Firebird V6 clutch (9 11/16"). I don't mean this information to sound like I am an expert, I'm just telling everyone what I have run into, so it might help them along the way.