Red: Does this engine coupler look ok??

[CVZ18Fan]

Red, One of the local boat places traded me the correct coupler for the wrong one the guy sent me. This one doesn't have the grease fitting and seems a bit lighter, does this look ok to you?







What you see inside is grease not the little rubber balls you told me to look for. Don't see any evidence of it being spun.


Let me know what you think.

Rich

[OleRed]

looks good to me, just put a little grease on the splines when you install the drive, Mercruiser ran them for a lot of years before they come out with the sleeve

[CVZ18Fan]

Would you use this on one of your motors or would you have looked for a different one?

[CVZ18Fan]

Red, I would think once I add the washers and bolts, I will be right at 28 pounds for the flywheel and coupler. As long as you feel confident with that coupler, I would say we are pretty good with that weight for both pieces.



Rich

[OleRed]

Thats the style coupler I had on my stroker when Barb took it to Red Wing, there is no difference in the depth of the splines.  The sleeve make's it a bit easier to line it up, but there's no other issue I know of for you to worry about.  I'm no drive tech, but I think the only purpose of the sleeve is a way to get some grease to the splines to reduce wear on the splines, that could cause a vibration if the splines get worn.
The grease zerk does not actually squirt grease into the spline area, but it does find it's way through the splines when the motor is running.

The weight of the pair you have is good, the 5.7 flywheel weighs 32 pounds, if I remember right, I have run the late 80's 4.3 flywheel on some of my motors because it is a bit lighter than the 5.7 but the later models are the same.

[CVZ18Fan]

What length bolts do you use? I know you said stainless or the coated grade 8 with a stainless washer between the coupler and the flywheel. Do you as much of the threads as you can?

Rich

[OleRed]

there is a particular washer that fits the wedge shape of the coupler mount, your local shop will probably have some of them, if not, you should use a 1" grade 8 bolt with a stainless lock washer but a steel flat washer, I know, sounds like an odd combination, dis-similar metals and all that, but the ss lock washer is more apt to penetrate the steel flat washer and reduce the risk of it backing off some in the case of a mis-alignment or a slight vibration.

[CVZ18Fan]

Hey Red, what starter do you use with this smaller diameter flywheel? The starter on the original engine looks to be fairly new. Tell me what I need to use.

Rich

[OleRed]

I use the lite-weight gear reduction starter, it is 9 pounds lighter than original, more torque, and even come's in chrome for about $85 / 90 on ebay, it also comes with both bolt paterns for the 153 and 168 tooth flywheels. you don't need to worry about it being marine certified because the starter motor is completely sealed on both ends.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chrome-Starter-GM-race-car-1-4kw-Chevrolet-Small-Big-Block-/300674369936?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item460196c990&vxp=mtr#ht_907wt_811

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SBC-BBC-CHEVY-HIGH-TORQUE-MINI-STARTER-3HP-CHROME-JM-7001-C-/350783930097?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51ac59fef1&vxp=mtr#ht_6614wt_1108

[CVZ18Fan]

Thanks for the links.

Question, is it possible that the starter on the original motor would work??

Rich

[OleRed]

not if it's an oem for a 168 tooth flywheel, but there are a lot of after market starters that have both bolt paterns on them, one morte thing, be sure to see if your block has three bolt holes where the starter mounts, two will be strait across, and one will be off-set, if your block has three bolt holes you are good, but if it only has two off-set, then you must get a starter with the off-set holes for the 153 tooth flywheel.

[CVZ18Fan]

Just looked through my photos, do have one of the bottom of the block. I have to go to the machine shop this week anyway, I'll take a peek when I am there.

Rich