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Flywheels (Manual)
Pontiac V8 Flywheels (Manual)
Match the Balance, Then Pick the Material — Flywheels (Manual) for Pontiac V8s
A flywheel on a manual Pontiac does three jobs at once: it carries the starter ring gear, it gives the clutch a friction surface, and on a stock-balanced engine it carries the crankshaft's counterweight. That last job is why you cannot just buy the nicest looking one on the shelf.
Butler stocks SFI approved 166 tooth flywheels for 1964-76 Pontiac 326-455 with a 2.750" I.D. and both 10.5" and 11" clutch bolt patterns, in billet steel and billet aluminum, from Butler, RAM, American Powertrain, Centerforce and PRW.
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1. Neutral or stock balance, decided before anything else
Pontiac balanced its cranks externally from the factory, which required a counterweighted flywheel. Butler and most shops now balance crankshafts internally, which calls for a neutral flywheel with no added weight. Butler's flywheels must match the engine's balance, and there is no adjusting around it afterward.
| Neutral (internal) balance | the correct choice behind a modern balanced rotating assembly, including every Butler short block and long block unless you were told otherwise. |
| Stock (external) balance | the correct choice behind an untouched factory-balanced crank. Offered in billet steel and billet aluminum. |
| Convertible designs | PRW builds a 30 lb steel flywheel with a removable counterweight, so the same wheel can serve either way. Remove the counterweight for an internally balanced engine. |
| If you do not know | call the shop with your build sheet. Guessing here costs you a transmission removal. |
2. Steel or aluminum
| Billet steel | the default. Butler's own True Balance billet steel flywheel is made in the USA by RAM specifically for Butler, is SFI 1.1 rated, and is the flywheel used in Butler's own engines. Butler describes it as the closest to zero balance of any flywheel the shop has tested. |
| Cast or billet steel, stock weight | Centerforce builds a 30 lb steel wheel that matches closely to the original equipment flywheel weight, which keeps the car driving the way it used to. |
| Billet aluminum | American Powertrain Science Friction billet aluminum wheels in neutral and stock balance, made in the USA. A lighter wheel lets the engine rev faster but takes away the flywheel effect that makes a heavy car easy to launch on the street. |
3. Register bore, teeth and clutch pattern
| 166 teeth | the standard Pontiac ring gear count on these applications, and it has to agree with your starter. |
| 2.750" register bore | standard on the 1964-76 326-455 flywheels. PRW offers wheels with a removable pilot ring so the same wheel serves a 2.50" or a 2.75" register. |
| Early cranks | Butler's flywheel and flexplate spacer ring adapts a 2.5" crank hub to a 2.75" flywheel. It has to be tack welded in place. |
| Clutch bolt pattern | these flywheels carry both the 10.5" and 11" patterns, and Centerforce and PRW list theirs as accepting 10.4" or 11" clutches. |
4. The clutch disc warning nobody reads
This one comes straight out of the product data and it causes real damage. Using a stock-style clutch disc with a performance flywheel will often leave insufficient operating clearance between the disc hub and the flywheel bolts. Performance and SFI approved flywheels have to be matched with performance clutch discs only, and low head flywheel cap screws are required for high performance and racing applications. If you are stepping up to an SFI flywheel, step up the clutch at the same time rather than reusing what came out.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.