Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance loose flywheel bolts?

well ipulled the tranny and found one bolt backed out nearly all the way and 1/2 of the remaining bolts loose and the 1/2 still relatively tight.
question is how to keep them tight? i had red loctite on them and never reved above 5k. they had star locking washers on them also.
has anyone tried putting a tack weld to hold? i know that sound drastic, but i only mean like a 1/4" bead per outer edge of bolt. i know it would ruin the bolts and the welds would have to be clipped to remove later. looking for your tried and tested methods. tom

Dear Tom;

Is this on your 65 292 engine?? Did you use the 'split washers' on them?? What bolts ??

john, oh ya, it's my turbo 292. i had added three extra 7/16 fine thread bolts. i am using grade 8 bolts throughout, star washers and locktight. i will admit it has serious torque but it never was revved above 5k. tips?

You can buy tabs that fold over the bolt head after they are torqued.
I had the same problems.
Mine keeped loosening up, so I installed new hardware fold over metal tabs, red thread lock, & then JB weld on top of the bolts including the fold over tabs.
I have not had them come loose yet.
I had this problem w/manual trans & autos.
Main problem w/mine was running a stock damper, when I switched over to a Chevy V-8 damper all the sudden it ran smoother & also higher RPM.
You are running a Fisher/Vector damper correct?
I guess they work OK?
Your crankshaft is the fully counter weighted one correct?
I would think it is even more critcal to zero balance the crankshaft having 4.120 inch of stroke compared to mine @ 3.53?

NEVER!!!!!! use the star washers The vibs will Pound them flat. And NEVER weld the flywheel a Good way to weaken IT AND The Head Bolt. BESIDE think about this Now Once you have torqued The Bolts What do think will happen to it Once You add that Kinda Heat IT's going to stretch NOW say good Bye to the torque you just had on the Bolt.

If you are running a Fisher dampener How Old is it? IT may have dried Out and It does need to be relubed now and then. If i let mine get dried out It would shake the flywheel lose every time.

larry the damper was new from fisher less than 1.5 year old. what do you suggest? i'm open to ideas. my assy is also balanced. tom

Dear Tom;

I think Hank has the answer with the locking tabs.

I had the same trouble with this on the 'early' engines when I tried lock washers instead of the tabs which came from the factory.

Definately DO NOT heat/weld them!!!

Another thought is that they might not have been tight enough to start off. You should use a 6 point socket and lock the crank somehow.

The V-8 dampner might be worth a try too as your 'turboed' version is much more than GM had in mind for this truck engine.

Good luck.

Hank, I had to scrounge around for locking tabs for my CI Powerglide.Where did you purchase yours?

It's been so long I forgot where I purchased them.
I think they were Moroso?

Does the engine feel like it is running smooth?
It should feel like there is power all the way to were your max RPM is.
Sometimes it's hard to tell an engine is out of balance.
They will seem to lose some steam in the upper RPM range (rev a little slower in the upper RPM range.
I do not know if your damper is designed to go to 5000 RPM on a 292 & do the required damping.
You have the V-grooved damper from Fisher.
Anyone else here run this Fisher V-groved damper in a 292 & take it to 5000 RPM or above? Probably ask Mike Kirby @ Sissells.
The V-8 damper I used was the big heavy 8" factory damper, it made a huge difference on my engine above 4500 & up.
But this was on a 250.
Not trying to scare you ,but some machine/balance shops have had there equipment go bad, or even operator error? That would be a last resort to pull the engine & check the balance.
Try all you can before you pull the engine, I hate going backwards. That's a lot of work!
Good luck!

hank, the engine runs very smooth. and smooth thru the power range. you think your locking tabs came from moroso? i'll either try again with no star washers or try to find a locking tab arrangement. tom

Mine was just over a year old the first time mine dried out. Call fisher To see what is used It has been to long for me. so i don't remember what i had used But it was what they told me to use.It will NOT be going back on this New motor.

I have had issues with both the balancer and flex coming loose on the 292 in my drag car. It seemed one end or the other would loosen up. Was able to solve the balancer issue with a lock kit from Stage 8.

I tried their flywheel kit when I ran a 4-speed on a previous motor with 1/2" bolts, but with the Hayes flywheel there was nothing for the tabs to lock against. The kit is listed under big block Mopar (Hemi):it may work for other flywheels. My current motor only has the 7/16" bolts and I just noticed they have a flexplate (and flywheel) kit for small blocks. I will probably try one the next time it comes loose.

I believe they were Moroso.
The locking tabs connect to two bolts.(In pairs)That way the folding tab does not need to be next to another object, like a header tube.You have seen that set-up correct?
The JB Weld (TM) I used was a little extra insurance, I was tired of the darn flex plate & flywheel bolts coming loose.

i also looked into the stage 8 locking bolts. ordered them today. the guy was very confident that these will fix the problem. tom

Bruce

"I tried their flywheel kit when I ran a 4-speed on a previous motor with 1/2" bolts, but with the Hayes flywheel there was nothing for the tabs to lock against."

So does that mean it did not fix the flywheel bolt problem, or you think it's kind of a bad design?
Thanks

You could also drill the bolt heads for lockwire, aircraft bolts all do that.

Hank,

The problem with the flywheel I had was there was a smooth radius from where the bolts mount to the crank to the flywheel surface. There was not a sharp 90 degree angle for the lock tab to butt up against. With the radius, the tabs rode up and did not hold. I took the flywheel and had it cut to remove the radius, but then the tabs where too short. This was with the 1/2" Hemi set. I did not persue it further with Stage 8 to see if they had longer tabs to use with the 1/2" bolts.

That was at the time I decided to build a fulltime drag car and put the 66 on the street with a 700R4. The race car has a glide and that is where I have the current issue.

Tom,

Try mixing red and green (stud and bearing mount) loctite together, also make sure that the bolts and crank holes are totally free of oil. I think loctite makes a primer for really tough jobs that you apply before the locking agent. Might check the loctite web site.

I used ARP 1/2" bolts on mine and put them in at 130ft/lbs. Haven't got the engine much over 3000 rpm yet so no problem here - yet.....

I have seen the tab set that Hank was referring to on one of the stock motors that I bought and I know it revved over 6000 RPM. They just went across between adjoining bolts and the tabs were bent up against the side of the bolt so that you had to flatten them out to put a socket on the bolts. Another item I have heard about from an "old time racer" was that instead of using loctite, he used good old IODINE from the medicine cabinet. Sounds funny I know but this guy raced Chevy sixes for at least 40 years and was always a front runner.....

Hes, that's the one to use.

This is like the factory used on the 37-62 series engines for cars & trucks.

The 'star' washers were okay the first time they were used on stock engines but should be replaced when changing things etc.

I think there is a (lock washer) 7/16"/ 1/2" in the aircraft industry somewhere too.

It with the ARP bolts & 130# should do it.

Happy trails.

Make sure you use a shoulder bolt. It helps center the flywheel. I have shook more flywheels off a 302 GMC than you can believe. It all stopped with with the addition of 3-3/8" tight fitting dowels. I also have used a Fluid dampner and a Fisher. I've now gone to a TCI Rattler.

Joe Fontana uses a double dampner with a clutch material in between and belvelle washers used as a spring sysem. It all mounts on a stud out of the crank. That flywheel never losened. The inline Mercedes of today uses that system. The draw back is no belts out front. Good Luck #35