Lynn E. Hanover

Well now, if you were running a T-10 style trans, that flywheel can be used with several of the gear drive (offset) Tilton starters along the right side of the trans.

We cannot use the outer part of the flywheel. Mazda comp makes a spider style ring gear thing that bolts to tabs left after you machine off most of the spokes on the Tilton flywheel. I will cut off all of the flywheel part. I will bore out the center hole and cut down the locating spigot on the rear counter weight. I will bolt the modified flywheel on with an old style flexplate to get a starter ring. So my rear counter weights have both Mazda and Chevy bolt patterns. I use a top mounted starter (stock Mazda) because there is a problem with suspension and header space all around.



In my case we run a either a Richmond Gear trans synchronized 5 speed, or a Saenz dog ring 5 speed.



The Richmond is a big fat thing built up on a Ford size and spacing system. It is the old Doug Nash street 5 speed. The front face has a bolt pattern for many types of bell housings. This one has a large number of choices for each gear ratio. 5th is straight through (one to one). That uses a Chevy S-10 bell housing and a Long (brand name) shifter. The trans is more like what you used to find behind a big V-8 in a TransAm car. It is actually too heavy for what we need. But they are less than $2,000 bucks new. A dog ring version is available for around $6,000, but still too heavy.



We got a deal on the Saenz, but new they are about $6,000. It uses a RX3P bell housing and a slightly shorter drive shaft. It has its own built in shifter. The Saenz is out of action right now because of a learning curve problem. The faster you shift it, the longer it lasts. One slow shift and Houston you have a problem.



Lynn E. Hanover

Jeff20B

I have an old RX-2 top mounted starter. Is there a newer, smaller, lighter one available now? The RX-2 unit is a large weight on top of the engine.