[SCOTT ESTERLE]

Good luck Larry. I smoked the Hays street/strip clutch i had. Switched to a Ram 6 disc poly coil & the only thing that i broke after that was the rear & tranny.

[Bud Lyons]

I have cooked a CF-DF laying in my garage. Clutch was 2 years old. As soon as I put BFG Drag Radials on the car I fried the clutch. 2nd clutch to go out in 3 years. I'm going Auto.



My Rig's a little old, but that don't mean she's slow.

[Will]

Timely topic as I just acquired a 4-speed 'bird and will be hopping it up soon. Evenutally it will end up with a 550+ HP 440 with nitrous so want to buy the right parts now rather than spend money twice.

Don't have much experience with manual trans cars though. Is "scattershield" a fancy name for a reinforced bellhousing, or is it something you add on to the bellhousing to prevent stuff from blowing through the floor? How much does one cost?

What's an "engine plate?" Haven't heard of that before.

Also, I can't decide whether I should get an aluminum flywheel or not. The car will have 3.73s out back and a very torquey 400 in it for now, and will eventually get a TKO tranny with a steeper 1st gear. Will be setup for roadracing type performance but plenty of driving on the street too. Will I be disappointed trying to drive an aluminum flywheel on the street?

I don't know what clutch is in the 'bird now, but it's definitely not stock. Lots of pedal effort.

Thanks!


----------------------------
'72 Formula 400
12.77 @ 108 / 234/244 cam / Q-jet / 3840# / 3.23s / street tires (not DRs)
'73 Firebird 400/4-speed

[b-man]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Will:
Is "scattershield" a fancy name for a reinforced bellhousing, or is it something you add on to the bellhousing to prevent stuff from blowing through the floor? How much does one cost?

What's an "engine plate?" Haven't heard of that before.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Will, a scattershield is a reinforced steel bellhousing, usually stamped or hydroformed from material about 5/16" thick. The engine or block plate is about 3/16" thick and it goes between the block and the housing to keep debris from damaging the rear of the block. The whole shebang goes for $300.

[Will]

Thanks b-man!

So here's another question then. Given that the engine in this car will be a relatively mild 425 HP 400 that won't rev beyond 5500 - 6000, if you had to choose, would it make more sense to buy the scattershield and engine plate or a good billet or alumninum flywheel and clutch assembly for now? (Preventing vs. containing the explosion)


----------------------------
'72 Formula 400
12.77 @ 108 / 234/244 cam / Q-jet / 3840# / 3.23s / street tires (not DRs)
'73 Firebird 400/4-speed

[455-4+1]

Will

Do both. It will be cheaper and safer in the long run

Like you say, no point in buying a cheap clutch and trying to contain it and I wouldnt beat up on a clutch (ie race it hard) without the scattersheild and engine plate. You may get away with it on the street but it will come back and get you on the track eventually.We run a 2 peice scattersheild which allows easy access to the clutch which may be a good idea if you intend racing it

The better pressure plates have ductile iron or aluminuim with friction insert pressure rings instead of normal cast iron, reinforced covers, and windows, full spring cups (long style) and silicon springs.

Cast iron flywheels should stay on stock engines (only just). Get an aftermarket steel one for spirited street or track driving

We run a 30lb steel flywheel with a Hays 12 post (MKXII) 11" pressure plate with ductuile iron pressure ring (soon to be swapped for aluminium with bronze insert) with adjustable static and centrufugal assist, 10.5" sintered iron disk (soild hub) with around 1200lb static and 10gms on 3 levers. The setup is really for race only but we drive it on the street from time to time and will last when others wont. Pedal effort is less than my Toyota

A true dual purpose clutch is a hard thing to find
as it will comprimise something somewhere

Working on going faster!!!

[larry davis]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Esterle:
Good luck Larry. I smoked the Hays street/strip clutch i had. Switched to a Ram 6 disc poly coil & the only thing that i broke after that was the rear & tranny.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's great! So, what kinda power were you runnin' when ya' smoked the Hays?
What's a similar set up that will stand up to 550+ ft lbs. gonna cost me @ Summit?



SECOND AMENDMENT: AMERICA'S ORIGINAL HOMELAND SECURITY.
I Misus Rash'!

[SCOTT ESTERLE]

That's great! So, what kinda power were you runnin' when ya' smoked the Hays?
What's a similar set up that will stand up to 550+ ft lbs. gonna cost me @ Summit?

Larry, I was only running 12.80's. I would call Mike at Ram & give him all your specs & tell him i sent you. He is a straight shooter he will tell you exactly what you need. 803-788-6034

[larry davis]

Roger that, I'll be calling soon.
Thanks.



SECOND AMENDMENT: AMERICA'S ORIGINAL HOMELAND SECURITY.
I Misus Rash'!

[harry k]

while i was doing a search here on clutch prefrence,this topic came up ,so here i am interested to find if anyone here used LUK brand clutch set?,for street use not racing .

[77TA]

Centerforce DF here.
probably 60 passes at the strip 20 times last weekend hotlapping the car pretty hard 60 fts in the 1.64 to 1.73 Range 3950 lbs of 77TA and it pulled the front wheels a couple times on launches and all is well so far. I also run a aluminum Flywheel and its fine on ths street.

I liek the CF DF so far.

["Guy]

Anyone using the Borg Warner clutch set-up Paul Spotts offer? I have heard that using 10.4 reduces the rotating mass also vs. the 11" set-up. Paul says the Borg Warner is good to almost 600hp....might try this in 10.4"???

[6567GTO]

guy, I just bought an 11" from Paul and will be giving it a try. They're called 'Brute Power" clutches. They claim to be good up to 580 hp.

http://www.spottsperformance.com/Clutchkits

["Guy]

65 67 GTOOOS, Brute force by Borg Warner. What kind of hp are you puttin in front of it? Could you let me know what you think? Great price...maybe great preformance too! I see nobody mentioned Zoom clutches??? Centerforce seem to be overkill from all the problems I heard from car guys around these parts. McCloud and Hayes work well I've heard...

[6567GTO]

Just over 500 so It'll be getting a good workout. I'll be mounting it on a Hays flywheel.

[ChrisTransAm78]

Lookin fer some advice here as well...So after I get mine up and running (maybe trying to start it this weekend)...I got a stock shield bolted to a Tremec 5spd, Weber clutch and disc for time being....

What is the PN for a Lakewood shield and will it change any dimensions or is it just a bolt on replacement? Heard nothing about Weber's here...guess they must be crapola?

Details: 400 .60 over, Eagle stroker, EHeads etc...9" rear

Thanks for the advice!!!