clutch insight

[soCalTA]

hey guys ... been a long time that I have posted here. I was hoping to get your input/advise. My clutch fork split in two so yesterday I dropped the tranny out. I have already installed an new slave and have the factory fork and TO bearing. My question here is given that I have the tranny out perhaps now might be a good time to replace the clutch, PP, FW the pilot bearing. She will be getting some mods over the next few years. I would like to get my heads worked on and perhaps a supercharger. She will be street and road racing not strip. Would anyone by chance have any recommendations on parts/pieces?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[FTA1995]

I know someone is going to flame me for it, but I've had great success with my XTD 6 puck copper ceramic I got off of eBay, given I did make a lot of phone calls with a means of finding the original manufacturers of all the parts. I felt ok buying it because unlike all of the import clutch kits XTD sells, this entire kit was manufactured in the us (pressure plate was Vallejo). The thing grabs extremely firm, has near stock pedal pressure, and won't cook like an organic will if you slip it too much, given you pay the price of added flywheel scarring. You will alao get a noticable amount of clutch chatter with a puck type clutch like this on the street. The trade offs for performance are inevitable.

Do you have a stock differential? I have a 3.42 with my 6 speed, I am not a fan of the distance I have to try and slip to start from a dead stop, which is one reason I'm going to be moving to a different rear end o my next project.

If you like the soft engagement of an organic or Kevlar disk persay, stick with it.
But that's just my $.02

[soCalTA]

thanks Alex... I'll look into it as I continue to look through all my options/combo's.

[sneitzel]

My $.02.....

Stay away from SPEC.

I gave them a shot 2 different times and was nothing but disappointed.
I have what amounts to a $1000 paper weight sitting in my garage with the SPEC logo on it.

[FTA1995]

My $.02.....

Stay away from SPEC.

I gave them a shot 2 different times and was nothing but disappointed.
I have what amounts to a $1000 paper weight sitting in my garage with the SPEC logo on it.

I could not agree more with this statement as well, blew through a stage 2 & 3 like they were nothing, even the kits when new don't feel anywhere heavy enough. I broke the hubs on both as well, the stage 2 was plastic >.<

[soCalTA]

thanks guys .... what are your thoughts on the following:

LT4 pressure plate.. from GM
GM flywheel, taken to be balanced
Mcleod single (5500rpm Standard Organic) - good to 500 bhp
New ARP bolts
Brass pilot bearing?

[FTA1995]

Thumbs up on everything, with exception to the brass pilot bearing ( did you mean bushing?). I would recommend a Teflon bushing, there should be a substantially lower chance of failure. I have used needle bearing types, brass bushing types.

[soCalTA]

Sorry Alex.... yes "bushing"
Are they all the same or do you have a suggestion on what to get?

And thank you for taking the time to help.. much appreciated.

[FTA1995]

I saw a design that was steel generously coated in Teflon, supposed to be good for very high rpm applications, did not use this myself though. If you go with a bushing, try to find one with a synthetic coating.

No problem, we're all here for the same reasons haha

[Al 96 Ram Air T/A]

Just my $0.02.


I'd get a new flywheel. I have heard numerous stories of why stock flywheels should not be resurfaced/rebalanced. Personally, if you're not drag racing, I'd go with a lighter flywheel. I chose the following for my set up:

RAM Powergrip clutch (you could step up to the HD if you plan on supercharging later)
LT4 pressure plate (any aftermarket plate will either be the LT1 or LT4 as Valeo makes nearly all of them anyway, Centerforce makes one, but I'm not into their centrifugal clamping process - not convinced it works)
RAM billet aluminum flywheel (about half the weight of the original, and is rebuildable)

My clamping force and off the line ability has greatly improved. The lighter flywheel allows the engine to rev faster (perhaps smoother? but it may be my imagination). All in all, I'm, extremely happy with my setup. The Mustang guys turned me on to RAM and I couldn't argue with their reasoning - great product at a great price.


Oh yeah - I used a brass bushing as well too. It may be old school, but the needle bearings have been known to fail.

[soCalTA]

thanks for posting .. good info...

I haven't yet decided between a brass or kevlar bearing... I would like to supercharge in the future so the Mcleod disk I am picking is rated up to 500 bhp so I think I am good.

did you guys pick up some ARP bolts or reuse the stock ones?

[FTA1995]

This is not a statement from experience, but Most of the big trans guys I have met recommend against using a lightened flywheel on a stock trans, at least upgrade the synchronizers. I guess the synchronizers and straight cut sections of the gears don't like the lowered mass. If your flywheel is badly scarred, do get a new one, otherwise single step flywheels are fine when you only have to take off a few thousandths. Plus, your 60 foot times should be better with the heavier flywheel. Again, all a matter of preference, and your application. The less centrifugal mass you have, your engine can rev up faster in a given period of time, but it probably won't net you much horsepower, if any measurable amount. Just keep in mind that more mass on the flywheel, better street driveablitity

I re used my stock bolts, they are not the original set, but oem the less.
I have always been wary of using soft metals for most applications.

[soCalTA]

This entire evolution started because my clutch fork split in half and of course rendering the car useless. It sat since 2006 and I am now rebuilding it. I figured since I had it out and the car has about 60K on it I would just do the cluthc as well. Nothing happened to any of the components but again .. its out so lets take the time to upgrade/replace. That is really what has prompted all this. I already have the slave in, the tranny down. With the slave came the TO bearing. My goal at some point in the future is to perhaps get the heads reworked or new and possibly at a supercharger. None of those are immediate but in my 50 year plan.

As for the flywheel, I came across some similar info except for the part about the syncros and gears. Not any informatino contradicting it .. just never came across any comments on it.
The stock FW is fine so it will get balanced/shaved as needed and I will buy the McLeod and LT4 PP as I mentioned along with a new pilot bearing. Also, I am going to replace the mounts with new Energy Suspension ones.

[soCalTA]

BTW .. where would one go to get the flywheel balanced and such? A simple machine shop or would a transmission place be the ticket? Also, what exactly gets balanced here.. the entire assembly or what?

[raroZ28]

I ran a Spec 3 for about 40,000 miles. It gripped awesome but the pedal was a little too stiff for my daily driver.

I ended up going with a SPEC stage 1 after my Spec 3 wore out and it feels great. Grabs super hard and feels better than stock.

The SPEC 3 was a puck disc and did kinda eat up my flywheel so I ended up replacing the flywheel with another stocker. I love my current setup, I'd recommend it.

I ran SPEC 2's in both of my past Conquests. One was high horse, the other closer to stock but that clutch grabbed super hard and felt like stock as well.

Apparently the 2 can handle a lot of horse power without sacrificing any pedal feel.

You can't go wrong with the 1 or 2. I would not recommend the 3 if you daily drive this car or don't plan on racing it a lot.