engine and drivetrain Uprated Motor do I need to lighten flywheel

[Stimfig]

I am a newbie here  so hello to everyone, been looking for a 2002 since I sold my 3.0CS last year and have found one albeit in pieces. The car is a very straight original paint car that for some reason had been stripped and left sitting fo about 10 years. Engine was where the passenger seat should be. I have been carefully cleaning and putting things back together but  unfortunately after inspection  it seems the engine is toast, the bores were rusty and the pistons were  u.s.. I The head was actually in pretty good shape I had it rebuilt with a  reground hi lift 292 camshaft and pistons 40 over from Ireland engineering  I have a pair of 40DCOE Webers and manifold that came with the car I and  a TII exhaust Manifold, so I was thinking I should lighten the fly wheel engine builder thinks it unnecessary but I would appreciate any input I’ve reused most things from the engine except new upgraded springs have I missed anything ?? heres a couple of pics showning the car .

Steve

[AceAndrew]

Hi Steve, Welcome.  Looks like you have a neat car on your hands. 

 

Forgive me if this explanation is already something you are fully aware of.  Given that you are new, I have no groma from which to survey your existing experience (and subsequently augment my response).  In regards to your question, the purpose of a lightened flywheel is to reduce the mass of your rotating assembly (crank, flywheel, rods, pistons, etc.).  The result of lightening this assembly is a snappier engine response.  Take too much off for a street car and it'll be very easy to miss a shift while being frustrating to control during normal driving.  Keep too much weight on and it'll feel like your engine is lethargic.

 

Given your street hot-rod engine recipe, I would recommend lightening the flywheel a bit.   Assuming you have a 228mm flywheel, shaving some pounds off will ultimately enhance that zippy feeling the 02 is famous for (without going too far). 

[TobyB]

Pretty much what Andrew said:

you can, but you don't have to.  It does make spirited driving more fun,

but it makes red lights suck that much more, too.

 

t

 

[2002Scoob]

I would 100% recommend one, without going too light. Every car I've owned has been woken up by a lightweight flywheel, especially smaller, lightweight cars low on HP. It really makes driving that much better and enjoyable. I just did the clutch and flywheel over Christmas in my 02 WRX thats back in Texas. stocker is 22 lbs, new one is 12. Soooo much quicker to rev-match, you can feel how much it's woken up the engine.

 

And, honestly, all the talk you often hear about lightweight flywheels making driving more difficult... It's not that bad unless you're going seriously light... It's just different. Give yourself a few days to re-adjust and you'll be just fine and loving the benefits more than the differences (note, I said differences, vs negatives).

[2002Scoob]

Oh, and BTW. Clean looking car!!! She's lovely.

[Stimfig]

Thank you for the  good advice  I will proceed with judicous lightening , please stand by for further questions as I will be the taking the title of this website very literally.

regards

Steve