304 flywheel

[liliysdad]

does anyone have any leads on a 304 man. trans flywheel?? i will buy and ship, or i have a few parts to trde, including a good 360 flywheel..

[liliysdad]

to h**l with it , unless somebody close has one, i am going to run the 360 flywheel. i will let you all know how it goes.

[Lugnut]

Don't put the 360 flywheel on the 304. They are different and will possibly break your crankshaft. Find the right flywheel for your application.
Some of the gurus on this site can better explain the differences than I can. I just know that one engine is internally balanced and one is externally balanced and they use different flywheels.

[JeepFreak]

I just got done doing all the research I could on this and the difference seems to be with the balance. I am not sure if this is because the 304 is able to turn higher rpms or what. Some of the parts places on line list the same part number for both motors. Since I have been following Dustin's problem I have been getting more into this and it baffles me why some say don't and others say do. Someone please chime in with why not, and this is why.

[Lugnut]

I switched from a 304 to a 360 a couple of years ago and going by what I was told beforehand I bought a reconditioned 360 flywheel. I can't remember now which one did, but one had a hump near the mounting area on the engine side of the flywheel and the other one didn't which pretty much confirmed what I was told. I felt that was good enough reason for me to not use them interchangeably.

[Lugnut]

I just got a Four Wheel Drive Hdwe. catalog in the mail today. Checked the flywheels. Their part # for the 304 flywheel is #304F; for the 360 is # 360F. Both are priced the same at $250.
They also show what they refer to as the "factory style replacement flywheel assembly" (how that differs, I don't know) with different part #'s for the 304 and the 360. Both priced at $140.
I remember buying my resurfaced 360 flywheel from some outfit in Utah for $75. and they took my 304 flywheel as exchange. It cost me over $50. to get it shipped via UPS. I haven't been able to find the receipt for it and can't remember the name of the company.

[liliysdad]

i may sound stupid here,but i cant believe that amc balanced every motor they made, so i was wondering, instead of having the whole motor balanced, why could'nt a machine shop just make the counter weight on a 360 flywheel the same as the 304's?? this not going to be a high rpm motor. any ideas??

[phil a.]

The cranks are the same, rod and main journals,,,, the 360 has a bigger piston but the same rods as 304, thus the bore is bigger, we have done this swap before, with no vibration, the aftermarket flywheel was marked; 304/360
( from old timer )

[liliysdad]

phil, you have done this before with no problem??

[RustyJeep]

If you had a macine shop rebalance the 360 FW to the 304 it would work. AMC used extrenal balance one every motor, so that's why you need a 304 for a 304, 360 for a 360 and so on. If you have it rebalanced, it'd be fine. I think. ;)
Actually, if you use a 258 Flywheel on a 304, it'd work better, as they are the exact same, except the 304 version is balanced. This is because the 258 was neutrally balanced.

[ April 12, 2002: Message edited by: RustyJeep ]</p>

[liliysdad]

i think my problems may be solved. a guy over on the offroad.com short wheelbase forum has one he's going to sell me cheap. thanks guys for all the help.