Someone Educate Me On Stick Combo's Please

[Shabs]

Hey y'all, been thinking bout doing a stocker with a stick and three pedals. Few ideas I've had are a 70-73 400 Formula, C5 Vette, or late 80's LT1 Camaro. None the less I really don't know a thing about stick combo's after poking my head around stuff for 2-3 years now and just trying to soak up whatever I can learn about em. I want a second race car and have loved class racing and stick cars so here's a few questions. I literally don't even know how to install a clutch on a street car so... I'm pretty clueless lol.

Who builds a good clutch and what am I looking at price wise?

Jerico or Liberty?

What kind of pedal should I get for the clutch?

What should I know about a stick car that is different from any auto? Besides the third pedal and banging gears while having fun! Lol

Thanks y'all,
Mike Shabareck

[Rod Greene]

Rob Youngblood at Advanced Clutches builds the best clutches and gives great personal support. He can get you dialed in. I have had great luck with the Jerico.
I have only raced sticks except for 6 boring passes in a slush box. I can tell you there is no bigger thrill than launching wheels up and pulling second gear with the wheels still in the air.
You have to use stock linkage. The Burtons could probably tell you about the best Pontiac combos.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.

[james schaechter]

I am assuming stock and not superstock. If stock, your transmission choices are basically Gforce and Jerico . The jericos are great,but if I was starting out, I would give the g101 a close look. those combos are all very different types of cars, but they all could be good stick cars. I would think the poncho would be the heaviest and would need some real attention to drivetrain strength. Any stick car effort requires some care in choosing drivetrain components to reduce the chance of breakage. The clutch is a big part of that. I agree, Youngblood makes a clutch that works well. The soft locks and similar other types are good as well. The stickshift deal is way more fun! The stickshifts are much easier now than they used to be years ago, but many recall the old days and stay away. They require some more work, but the fun part makes it worthwhile. There is no reason that stick cars can't go rounds and win races. I would suggest going to races and looking over the stock xpcars racing and talk to the owners of these cars. It will help give you an idea about what is required to put one together or race one. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Shabs

Hey y'all, been thinking bout doing a stocker with a stick and three pedals. Few ideas I've had are a 70-73 400 Formula, C5 Vette, or late 80's LT1 Camaro. None the less I really don't know a thing about stick combo's after poking my head around stuff for 2-3 years now and just trying to soak up whatever I can learn about em. I want a second race car and have loved class racing and stick cars so here's a few questions. I literally don't even know how to install a clutch on a street car so... I'm pretty clueless lol.

Who builds a good clutch and what am I looking at price wise?

Jerico or Liberty?

What kind of pedal should I get for the clutch?

What should I know about a stick car that is different from any auto? Besides the third pedal and banging gears while having fun! Lol

Thanks y'all,
Mike Shabareck

[Dwight Southerland]

Racing a stick car successfully takes a different mindset than racing an automatic transmission car. It is more than pushing pedals and pulling levers. There is almost a zen-like understanding you need to attain with the car since you are in control of everything.
You say you know almost nothing about a stick car so my first solid recommendation is that you get one/build one and get your hands dirty. You need to know how the transmission works, how the clutch works, how the clutch linkage works, how the shifting linkage works, how the clutch engagement impacts the rear suspension, how the engine is affected by the clutch engagement and disengagement, etc. etc. etc. You will not know this stuff and have a "feel" for it unless you are involved with it. And, by the way, you need to know how to work on every aspect of the driveline because if you race a stick car, you will work on it.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland

Racing a stick car successfully takes a different mindset than racing an automatic transmission car. It is more than pushing pedals and pulling levers. There is almost a zen-like understanding you need to attain with the car since you are in control of everything.
You say you know almost nothing about a stick car so my first solid recommendation is that you get one/build one and get your hands dirty. You need to know how the transmission works, how the clutch works, how the clutch linkage works, how the shifting linkage works, how the clutch engagement impacts the rear suspension, how the engine is affected by the clutch engagement and disengagement, etc. etc. etc. You will not know this stuff and have a "feel" for it unless you are involved with it. And, by the way, you need to know how to work on every aspect of the driveline because if you race a stick car, you will work on it.

Oh yeah......you bet your arse you will.

[Mike Taylor 3601]

Like others mentioned,you are way better off if you can do all your on work on trans,clutch and rear,but in my opinion a person should be able to maintain every piece on their car to really have a understanding and feel of their car.
Stick trans is fairly simple and for most part pretty much will only go together pretty much one way.
Clutch setup will make or break a stick car,literally wrong(too aggressive) clutch setup will break every piece in the driveline,just the better the parts will take longer but eventually break also,right clutch,setup correctly virtually no breakage and not a lot of maintenance,one simple clue on a clutch is if on launch it rips tires is what I call it cause it sounds like tires go
RRRiiippppPP when clutch is turned loose or does that or chirps tires on gear changes,clutch is TOO AGGRESSIVE.
Rear don't use a rear you can't get pro gears for,must have 9310 pro gears.
make sure you get a stick shift tire,somebody may have them working,but as far as I know Radials still won't work, I think Jim and Joe Shcaechter one told me they got close or did get them to work?
Mike Taylor 3601

[dmir55]

Be careful what flywheel you use. Smaller engines don't like the light weight stuff so much. Their are treatments out there for gears to make them last.

[Sean Marconette]

Originally Posted by Shabs

Hey y'all, been thinking bout doing a stocker with a stick and three pedals. Few ideas I've had are a 70-73 400 Formula, C5 Vette, or late 80's LT1 Camaro. None the less I really don't know a thing about stick combo's after poking my head around stuff for 2-3 years now and just trying to soak up whatever I can learn about em. I want a second race car and have loved class racing and stick cars so here's a few questions. I literally don't even know how to install a clutch on a street car so... I'm pretty clueless lol.

Who builds a good clutch and what am I looking at price wise?

Jerico or Liberty?

What kind of pedal should I get for the clutch?

What should I know about a stick car that is different from any auto? Besides the third pedal and banging gears while having fun! Lol

Thanks y'all,
Mike Shabareck

The initial investment is rather high for the clutch, bellhousing and trans. Rear suspension and shocks are also critical on a stick car. Youngblood is the guy to talk to. Browell on the bellhousing with a window for clutch adjustments, and they are only $100 more than a quicktime, and it is a custom bellhousing. You can have the window placed where it works best for your application. The only downfall of a bellhousing with a window is recertification every 2 years. But clutch adjustments are really fast thru the window.
Another wise investment would be a means of data logging the clutch. This will show you how long it slides and what is going on during gear changes. As has been pointed out as well, a clutch can make weak parts live or good parts die in the driveline. Whatever you do, don't buy a clutch/flywheel assembly from a mail order house. Most stocker/SS clutches have low base pressures. Around mid 100 lbs and up is the norm. A clutch setup out of the box correctly is going to come from someone that understands the limitations of class racing. Low base and a means of counter weight will allow tuning the clutch to slide for launch and CW to lock the clutch in high gear.

Cost for a clutch/flywheel is $1900 to 2600 depending on a single disc no trick flywheel to small dual disc light flywheel. A bellhousing is $650 to 750, and the trans can range all over the place. G-Force has trade-in transmissions at a reduced price over a brand new one, completely refurbished and you pick your gear ratio's. You can also keep a lookout for used transmissions that come up for sale and get a decent deal.

At the end of the day, a clutch and trans can last many seasons without major maintenance. A clutch if not set correctly can destroy parts, or slide and glaze the disc too. You can get hundreds of passes on a clutch when setup correctly before needing rebuilt too.

Unless the car came with a hydraulic TOB it has to be a mechanical linkage for the clutch. The linkage is just as critical in setup as setting the clutch for everything to work correctly and consistently. A common misnomer with stick cars is that we are always under the car making adjustments to the clutch. When it is dialed in only small adjustments are needed as the disc wears. Or a different track or weather requires more or less clutch. Either way, it takes longer to get the car in the air than it does to make these adjustments.

Sean

[tj310]

http://www.libertysgears.com/LSC5000.htm

This is what we run in stock . Can be set up as 4 spd. ---Trevor

[Shabs]

Wow. I asked for an education, I feel like y'all have delivered! A lot of good information in here an I am very thankful for that. I'm a lot smarter now then I was a few days ago lol. I'm doing everything myself on this project. I'm fairly decent with engines and have a few ideas on that. See how many of those I can blow up lol. I imagine quite a few but that's ok. I like learning and trying stuff. An I have a great deal with Racepak (any of y'all that follow Bracket Racing Meme's on Facebook, I run that deal and y'all'd see the recent influx of Racepak sponsored posts) so I can collect A LOT of data. Y'all make me feel hopeful. If everyone woulda said it was a breeze an a piece of cake I might be a lil discouraged lol. Thank y'all so much again. Sounds like I need to call Youngblood! Lol

Thanks,
Mike Shabareck