Stick car, too much clutch?

[Notch1320]

Rory, do you need that CW? Have you ran without it?

[Mike Taylor 3601]

I made a mistake one time I thought mine was flaring up on 3-4 shift so raised base 1 turn and it got worse, put a new set of tires on because car had became inconsistent also,tires fixed it, I would have swore it was slipping clutch on 3-4 shift when it was actaully spinning the tires and this is only 7.8 1/8 car.
I'm not saying that's what is happening just a suggestion,sometimes what you think you feel is different than you think.
As someone suggested I would try to get set w/out counterweight ,personally I'm not a big fan of counterweight when shifting w/clutch
Mike Taylor 3601

[69Cobra]

I also would look at the CW's but you really need some way of seeing some data. I used an Autometer 2 channel tach for the last 10 years and it worked great. Some times to good as it shows you just how bad of a driver you really are lol. Are you shifting with the pedal?

[Dinsdale]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGTtrnq31So"]FE Fairmont - YouTube[/ame]

[69Cobra]

It looks like you already have a 2 channel tach. That should tell you right there. But in my opinion you do have way to much clutch for my liking on both the starting line and at the gear changes. Its bogging the motor down on the starting line and the one pass I heard it bark 4th LOL. But if its consistent and its not breaking anything yet run it. I know that if I was running that much clutch in my car it would be breaking stuff.

[Rory McNeil]

Well, it is pretty consistent, and in 12 years, the only real breakage has been knocking a few teeth off 3rd gear a few years ago. I need to pull the trans to fix an oil leak, so I guess I will remove the counterweight at that time. I never really used any counterweight before this clutch freshen up. My tach is a playback model, but it has no provisions for driveshaft RPM. I`d really be suprised if I have "way too much" clutch static though, as when I do encounter flare up on the 3-4, or noticable slippage in 4th, I can normally cure the slippage with 1/2 turn increase of static. And as I mentioned in the first post, rolling on the throttle on the return road at 2500-3000RPM will result in noticable slipping. I do normally shift it clutchless. One other thing I should add, don`t know if its really relevent or not, but Hyatt did the last clutch rebuild, and instead of the normal .280" disc McLeod supplies, Tim uses a .380" thick disc, and I have the pressure plate shimmed up .100" to compensate for the added thickness. And lastly Kris, since you also run a FE, have you had any issues with the pilot bearing "falling out" of the crankshaft? I use the ball bearing pilot, and it kinda sticks out of the crank a ways, and is not a very tight press fit, and has been found just sitting on the input shaft a couple of times . I last installed the pilot bearing with red Loctite, I`ll take a look when I pull the trans out in the near future.

From what I just read, if you remove the counter and don't add a few turns of base you will drive through the clutch in high gear.

One affects the other. You can mostlikely, take some more base adjustment out and it will soften the clutch durring the shifts. The CW no CW debate is very split. When you run counter, the base adjustment should be run on the soft side. When running enough counter, you will have a hard time driving through the clutch. When set up like this, you should lower the starting line RPM to soften the launch. Leaving where you shift at will produce the " Sledge Hammer Effect " because of the counter producing more clamp pressure on the disc. In the end you have to figure out what clutch management theory you subscribe to and go out and test.
Be sure you take a lot of notes durring testing. When you get some data from your results , you will be able to tailor your clutch to your needs and desires. That is the fun of this game.

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil

Well, it is pretty consistent, and in 12 years, the only real breakage has been knocking a few teeth off 3rd gear a few years ago. I need to pull the trans to fix an oil leak, so I guess I will remove the counterweight at that time. I never really used any counterweight before this clutch freshen up. My tach is a playback model, but it has no provisions for driveshaft RPM. I`d really be suprised if I have "way too much" clutch static though, as when I do encounter flare up on the 3-4, or noticable slippage in 4th, I can normally cure the slippage with 1/2 turn increase of static. And as I mentioned in the first post, rolling on the throttle on the return road at 2500-3000RPM will result in noticable slipping. I do normally shift it clutchless. One other thing I should add, don`t know if its really relevent or not, but Hyatt did the last clutch rebuild, and instead of the normal .280" disc McLeod supplies, Tim uses a .380" thick disc, and I have the pressure plate shimmed up .100" to compensate for the added thickness. And lastly Kris, since you also run a FE, have you had any issues with the pilot bearing "falling out" of the crankshaft? I use the ball bearing pilot, and it kinda sticks out of the crank a ways, and is not a very tight press fit, and has been found just sitting on the input shaft a couple of times . I last installed the pilot bearing with red Loctite, I`ll take a look when I pull the trans out in the near future.

[69Cobra]

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil

Well, it is pretty consistent, and in 12 years, the only real breakage has been knocking a few teeth off 3rd gear a few years ago. I need to pull the trans to fix an oil leak, so I guess I will remove the counterweight at that time. I never really used any counterweight before this clutch freshen up. My tach is a playback model, but it has no provisions for driveshaft RPM. I`d really be suprised if I have "way too much" clutch static though, as when I do encounter flare up on the 3-4, or noticable slippage in 4th, I can normally cure the slippage with 1/2 turn increase of static. And as I mentioned in the first post, rolling on the throttle on the return road at 2500-3000RPM will result in noticable slipping. I do normally shift it clutchless. One other thing I should add, don`t know if its really relevent or not, but Hyatt did the last clutch rebuild, and instead of the normal .280" disc McLeod supplies, Tim uses a .380" thick disc, and I have the pressure plate shimmed up .100" to compensate for the added thickness. And lastly Kris, since you also run a FE, have you had any issues with the pilot bearing "falling out" of the crankshaft? I use the ball bearing pilot, and it kinda sticks out of the crank a ways, and is not a very tight press fit, and has been found just sitting on the input shaft a couple of times . I last installed the pilot bearing with red Loctite, I`ll take a look when I pull the trans out in the near future.

Yes for some reason I've had the same issues with pilot bearings. Matter of fact the only "breakage" I've had on my jerico was from the pilot bearing coming out of the crank which let the input do whatever it wanted. It ended up breaking the back of the input where the snap ring goes and swelled the front bearing retainer to the point that I couldn't remove the tranny because it wouldn't slide out of the T.O. bearing. I was thinking about using some hi temp silicone to help hold it in their the next time. Let me know how the loc tite did for ya.