Something missing from my clutch assembly?

Mine looks exactly the same.... great question.

Mike in Kuwait

 

No plate.
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Two feet though

 

PAP!!! Don't forget your key is on the air cleaner!!!!

Alzheimer's can be a dangerous thing....


Mike in Kuwait

 

That photo is 2 years old.

 

I was alot more freaked out when I realized that there are holes in the rear-end cover and you can SEE the flywheel spinning inside!!
Makes me wonder if anyone has ever had something fly up into there, like a rock or something and WAM, $5K in damage!!

 

How do you think that your external starter motor turns your flywheel?!

Anyway, the bizarre thing about flywheels, starters, and alternators is that car makers add weight and complexity to accomplish what a single device could do.

Your external starter doesn't have to have a little pinion wheel in order to engage the ring gear to rotate the flywheel...that could be done with magnets on the flywheel and electromagnets off.

Ditto for the alternator. Instead of having a belt (that is driven by the crankshaft) turn an external alternator, the sheer fact that your engine is rotating a flywheel that has magnets in it could be used to provide current via the same electromagnets and wiring used above to start a car without a starter motor.


In other words, you don't have to have dead weight on a flywheel. You don't have to have an external starter motor, and you don't have to lose 2 HP of engine power turning a belt that drives an alternator.

You could do all of that with a semi-magnetic flywheel and a little external wiring.

 

Wow! that was very insightful ND, as always! And you're right, a starter motor power is nothing if matched against electromagnetic force!
But I was referring to the rear cover.. its round, hangs just below the rear skirt, says ''Ferrari'' on it....
It has holes in it! The holes are out in the open and exposed, and damn close to the road for things to fly up into!
I wasnt referring to the the starter side of the housing.

 

That was an experiment that went well.
Have XOST on car now.

I am sure it would have happenend before to some poor bugger!

 

funny you saw that too.I think you are referring to that little square hole on top?if you are I had that same question for my private mechanic who has worked on lots of 348s and he assured me that,no,nothing should be there.

 

You are obviously way too smart for your own good. LOL

Aircraft (and a few motorcycles) have used starter/generators for quite a while. Not quite your idea but at least a single accessory to do 2 jobs.

I think you're on to something but I wouldn't hold my breath till the "we've always done it this way" bunch makes a change.

 

All I seen where like yours nothing their!

maybe Ferrari attaches instruments their while building or its their for some other reason to help assembly or testing.????

 

Mine is the same! It was the only picture I had of the clutch
Yeah I know, I just felt like showing off my engine lol
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Good post; there was actually a push to go this way when the automakers were working on 48V electrical systems. Not sure why not now...I'd bet they can't get the cranking torque out of it using a 12V system.

 

Torque is no trouble at all. For one thing, the flywheel diameter is so much larger than the diameter of the little mechanical starter wheel that the electromtive-style starting trick is dead easy.

Much more leverage with a larger diameter than with a small!


The real trick is on front-engine, rear (or 4wd) drive cars with the engine/clutch/flywheel/tranny seal area.


In contrast, on a mid-engine Ferrari with the flywheel half-exposed in the back of the car, it's no trouble at all.

Which is to say, this obvious innovation is possible for Ferraris, but not for most mass-produced cars...and Ferrari doesn't like to introduce much new technology (F1 trannies being a pleasant exception).

 

Elliott, your engine is WAY too clean...!!!

By the way, it looks fantastic....

Mike in Kuwait