manual trans and clutch quaetion

[Rory McNeil]

I agree with Sean, I wouldn`t mess around with trying to make a non adjustable street clutch work on a drag car. In addition to my old stickshift Stocker Mustang, I have been racing my 78 Fairmont for over 35 years, the past 24 years with a stick. I ran Jerico DR4s most of that time, and have had a G Force G101A for the past 5 years. I have been using McLeod Soft Lok sintered iron clutches since 1998, and typically can go at least 2 full seasons (typically 75 to 100 low 10-high 9 second 1/4 mile passes per year). In those 24 years, I broke my Jerico 3 times,( 2 were about $300. for parts each time, once was much uglier), and I have yet to hurt the G101A. I do not have a data logger, and I have not had much need to play with counterweight, as my launch and shift RPMs are very close together, My Fairmonts Soft Lok is a 10" sintered iron disc with an aluminum flywheel, and I normally start with about 450 pounds of base pressure when new, and I am hardly "always messing with spring or counterweight adjustments ". I don`t run my clutch on the ragged edge, so I MAY adjust the spring tension 2 or 3 times a year (a 5 minute job), by 1/4 to 1/2 turn on each spring, and keep an eye on the freeplay. Other than that, it`s add some gas every 4 or 5 passes, check the tire pressures now and then, and if hot lapping, maybe charge the battery once or twice . Pretty low maintenance deal. Also, in the 24 years with the stick, I have never hurt the rearend yet,

[Woodfin]

Rory and others, thank you for the good report and encouragement..

[Jim Hawkins]

I do not think you could go wrong with a G Force G101A and a McLeod soft loc. I ran a jerico in my SS car. I broke a shift finger, reverse lever and finally all the teeth off of 3rd gear. The shift finger breakage I think they cured with a brace between 1-2 and 3-4. I added that. The reverse shift lever was alum. had one made from steel. 3rd. gear I was told because of 3rd. gear burnouts.
I had about 4 different clutches thru my car and the soft loc was very repeatable. The super lightweight stuff was a couple ticks faster but not as easy to work with when you are first learning as I was.
Get a bellhousing with a window for counterweight access, some type of floor removal for base adjust, a easy to adjust pedal stop, hole in bellhousing for air gap checking and a adjustable 2 step switch. Spend the time getting all that done nice and you will be good to go.
I switched to a auto. 2 years ago and hate it. Thought it would be "easier", far from it. Car lost 5 tenths and is no fun anymore.
Going back to a stick with a G101A with a soft loc and also have a black magic single 10".

[weedburner]

One of the points of my post about using the 'tamer was that even an organic street clutch can last a full season and win a championship while using it. There's no problem with using a sintered iron disc which lasts quite a bit longer, but iron needs less static clamp pressure than what you would find in the typical aftermarket diaphragm pressure plate. For an iron disc, it's better to use a Long style PP with an appropriate range of adjustable static.

Quite a bit less expensive, easier to tune, with more performance potential vs a SoftLok.

Like I said before, if you like people taking pictures of your car in action, screaming wheels-up launches are the way to go. Sponsors like the attention as well. The more exciting the cars are to watch, the easier it will be to put paying customers in the grandstand seats. Much better path to improving payouts vs increasing your entry fees.

[cyclonebfx]

I'm still fairly new to the stick world (at least with drag racing) but as others have said Rob Youngblood is the guy to go to for your clutch and you can't go wrong with a G-Force.

[kansas stocker]

Is the Clutch Tamer legal in NHRA stock eliminator?

[weedburner]

Originally Posted by kansas stocker

Is the Clutch Tamer legal in NHRA stock eliminator?

I can only say it has been thru the barn and won class @ Indy without getting flagged. I don't think the rule book addresses it specifically, but the clutch pedal is still released by your foot to launch and there are no electronics involved.

I know NHRA's national event prep guys like it, Ralph says- "all clutch cars should have a 'tamer because they don’t rip the **** out of the track!"

[joespanova]

[IMG]clutch[/IMG]

[Jim Caughlin]

Originally Posted by joespanova

[IMG]clutch[/IMG]

Really hard to argue with a basic Softlock and alum flywheel. It's more about properly tuning these type of generally available components than spending money on snake oil.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Jim Caughlin

Really hard to argue with a basic Softlock and alum flywheel. It's more about properly tuning these type of generally available components than spending money on snake oil.

I 60ft between a 1.26- 1.30 most of the time @ 3000 lbs. I also beat it up pretty good. This was my first rebuild in years.