Sintered iron race clutch discussion (was: Pro Spyder intake?)

[ultraflo]

Originally posted by Dan McClain
How much slippage do you get launching your car before the clutch really clamps in with your current set-up?

Well... with the 28x10 Goodyears, once I got the clutch to actually work properly I just left it at 7, which was a solid lockup. I re-directed my attention to getting the nitrous tune-up dialed in. I was leaving with some minor tire spin with the Eagle slicks, and could've benefitted from a little slippage off the line to keep from shocking the tires loose. After swapping to a set of M/T ET drags, the car turned into a wheelie machine... which was a total shock to my system! I realized that I essentially had to start from scratch on the suspension settings and the two days that I ran on the Mickey's were spent trying different shock and strut settings to keep the nose down some. In hindsight, I could've taken some bite out of the clutch, though I'm not sure how that would've worked out. I still have a ways to go before really getting a feel for the correct clutch setup...

As for counterweights, I'm not sure how RAM does their kits, but the McLeod unit comes with a pack of steel allen bolts (1"=8g. ea., 3/4"=6g. ea, 1/2"=5g ea.), steel nuts (3.5g. ea.), aluminum hex bolts (1"=3g. ea., 3/4"=2.5g. ea., 1/2"=2g. ea.), aluminum nuts (1g. ea.), and steel barrel weights (3.5g. ea.). Included with this pack is a few pages of info explaining the function of a counterweighted type release lever. You can either add these weights to the inboard or outboard position of the pivot point of the lever, with the outboard position being the one that adds pressure to the clutch.

Will you be trying 3 grams on each lever (9g. total) or 9 grams on each lever? Reason I ask it that in the lit. I got with the unit I use there is a note: "C/W can make the car hard to shift at high RPMs due to the tremendous effect it has on weak clutch linkage and also increasing pedal effort. C/W can also make the car push thru the starting line causing a red light. This is because after staging, when you bring the RPMs up, the C/W comes in forcing engagement. For these reasons in manually shifted trans. apps., C/W is added very lightly, if at all. Therefore, to regain lock up during gear changes, slightly increase static pressure only. This will have no effect on staging of the car of during shifts."

Hope this helps some.... and no you can't have my Jerico, LOL! That's my favorite part of the car! ...plus, it would destroy the street manners you enjoy with your 'stang.