A Few Good Words

Seems I am always hurring on here.

Yes the 231 i have does not have a flywheel the only one I have found which is only 30 pounds and new is 300.00

I also have a vortec and I can get a flywheel for 50 bucks.

Just pointing out that most donor 231's are out of automatic's and a manule flywheel is getting hard to find.

The vortec has more power 4.3 verse 3.8 and use's sbc part's

On top of that the chevy has TBI.

I wanted the buick for nastalgia reasons but it doesnt make much sence anymore unless you already have parts.

 

The 4.3 does not use SBC flywheel. It is an externally balanced motor and has a 4.3 only flywheel. A few years ago I had a small heart attack when I found this out because at the time I thought I had a 4.3 liter motor... turns out I have a 3.8L 90* V-6 so it is internally ballanced.

 

What are the differences in the 4.3 flywheel and a sbc 400 flywheel? Its externaly balanced also.

 

Hey your the one who told me they were different. After I got your flywheel I stopped doing research.

 

ohh Its been so long since I messed with the 4.3. Guess if I said they were diff. than they are different. I do remember the guy at the clutch shop who ordered the flywheel for me did abunch of cross refrencing and called a couple people to figure out which one exactly I needed.

 

It's alot of work and parts to make the swap. I did it with mine, and it was a winter project. The best thing to do is what I did find a complete donor rig.

 

I miss spoke, sort of about the 4.3 flywheel but they are not hard to find.
Tons of chevys had this motor. A full size van or truck would have a large clutch I would guess. Probably 50.00. I have seen a new one for 100.00.
Interesting thought about the 400 flywheel I just happen to have 2 of them a friend gave me.
i am not sure but i think I read the 1 piece seal is the difference though. that crank has different bolt pattern. The tooth count might be wrong to cant remeber right off.
my crank and 400 flywheel are next to each outher in shop I'll take a look see.

What I was trying to say is the vortec is alot easer to find parts for being it does use lots of SBC parts. pistons, rods bearings, waterpumps ect.

My point is only that I have both motors and it seems nostalgia aside alot cheaper and smarter to use a vortec.

IMO

 

Heck I think I am supposed to have your flywheel. I never did pick it up from Jason.

 

You should have come down then that weekend I was up there

 

Nah it was a few years ago Jason picked it up at tellico. I just never picked it up from him. No biggie. I wished I had known you were coming up I would have tried to make it down. The offer is still on the table if you are in Richmond to go out and grab a or two.

 

That's exactly what I'm talking about. There were several times where the engine in my CJ-6 actually fired one cylinder every couple of seconds. I went ahead and said "idle" because it held its inertia while doing this for far longer than any other engine I've ever wheeled off road. When an engine can fire one cylinder every few seconds for about half a minute and then come back to life without turning the key or popping the clutch, that's a 50rpm idle in my book. There were even a few times on the Rubicon where I though it stalled, then half way between my reaching for the key to restart the damn thing would spring back to life and scare the hell out of me (mufflers were knocked off at that point and the sucker was pretty loud).

Other high torque engines can lug way down with resistance to stalling, but the 225 is unique in that the 50lb flywheel is able to impart much more inertia on the rotating assembly because it's lighter and there's plain less of it than a comparable V8 torque motor like a Caddy, Olds, Buick, etc.

 

Great thread. Although I'd have to disagree with a previous post that claimed the Vortec puts out twice the HP. Stock? Not even close.

 

trickpatrick-
I've got a 225 flywheel you can have for $50 plus shipping.

I don't have a Buick engine anymore so I don't need it.

For anyone who is confused about the parts interchangeability between small block V8's and the 90 degree V6, gmpartsdirect.com and gmpartsdepot.com have excellent reading material on the subject of flywheels. From 1987-1995, and possibly later, the V6 and V8 engines use the same flywheel. I have a flywheel from a 350 on my 4.3L.

 

I have to agree about the v6 being a torque monster for its size. I have had mine down to the point I thought it was or should have died lots of times, only to have it rumble back to life. To be truthfully honest Buick should have marketed and sold these engines to the tractor companies. When idling thru the woods they sound like a tractor motor anyway. I really need to take my mp3 recorder out and make a sound bite and post it for some of the guys that haven't heard them. Mine rumbles pretty good and actually exagerates the oddfire noise because of the Thrush mufflers.