Manual Trannys

[Jeff Lee]

I started with zero knowledge using a soft-lok 10.5" and then stepped up to a Magforce dual 8". Along the way all I got was "take more base out of it" from the race department. I didn't have any guidance. I learned the cause and effect of doing this and doing that. So for that, the experience was invaluable. But man, there was a lot of busted knuckles along the way!

I then went with a Sportsman single 10". As is not uncommon, but few will admit, I burned up two of those pricey clutches because I didn't follow the directions! I finally realized what the problem was. I was measuring throw-out bearing clearance the old way; moving the pedal and / or shift fork linkage, whatever, and convincing myself I had plenty of clearance between the levers and the TO bearing. The levers on the Sportsman unit move differently than the Soft-lok I was accustomed to. Bottom line was there was not the clearance I thought I had and when you take the base pressure down and there's not enough clearance, you slip the disk massively. And as many others do, but won't admit, I stayed on the throttle much to long. John Calvert asked me why. I stuttered and finally admitted, "because you think it's going to fix itself!" To that, he agreed and said he'd been there, done that also!
Now I know what to do and what not to do. I simply worked the clutch until I could make 1320 / MPH equaled the optimum ET. I still don't have a data logger but that would be an invaluable tool.
Now, I'm convinced I could help a newbie that was local and have a clutch pretty much dialed in within 2-3 days of track time. I plan on getting a data logger and that will be an entirely new learning curve for me but I'm up for the challenge.