Car People, Drag racers, need racing clutch advice.

[magley64]

So I'm looking to get a new clutch for the dune buggy. It has the small transmission (pre-67), and a 1600 dual port engine with stinger exhaust (a little more torque than stock exhaust). cable actuated clutch.

currently slipping in 4th and a little in 3rd, so i'm thinking it's shot, and if i'm gonna yank the engine off to replace it anyway, i might as well upgrade to something that grips better, and will last longer.

Basically wondering should I go stage 1, 2, 3, or 4.

http://specclutch.com/products

Thinking higher is better, but i'm concerned that they mght get more difficult to control @ the friction point. Is this a valid concern? How much of an issue is this?

[Steve Butters]

for the motor youre describing, a stage 1 would be fine...my car made about 260rwhp with the old motor in it and my stage 2 grabbed like a dream and was nowhere near running out....the motor youre describing probably makes less than half of that, so a stage 1 would be fine for you....if you start going too heavy, the clutch gets stiffer and stiffer ...i drove a car with a stage 4 twin disc clutch and it was ungodly stiff, but it worked out perfectly for that car since it made unreal hp....if you have an urge for a real stiff pedal, a stage 2 would be fine also...but anything over stage 1 on that application would be overkill

[magley64]

really? I thought the stiffness in pedal would be the difference in pressure plate, not a difference in friction plate...

[Steve Butters]

the higher stages will be stiffer, as for control at the friction point, the higher stage you go, the more control you will have....at the price of a stiffer pedal....my mustang had a stage 2 and i could let it out to the point where it catches and actually hold it there and get the car moving without using the gas at all, just the clutch....a lot more control than any other stick car ive driven with a stock clutch

[magley64]

Okay, in that case I'm thinking higher is better, stiff clutch be damned, I want grip and control.

[Steve Butters]

if you say so.....how much power is that motor making?

[Casper]

Higher is better, but higher also means less control. The higher you go, the more it becomes more like an on/off switch.

For good streetability and friction, I'd suggest a Centerforce DF or II. The DF is more for the street, and the II is more for racing/towing. The DF held fine on my sprayed and mildly built 96 GT. Never had any slippage.

http://www.centerforce.com/

[Steve Butters]

ben - a DF is overkill for what im thinking...were talking about an old dune buggy motor...unless hes got some crazy build, dont these old buggys make like 50whp? a regular stage 1 clutch would be fine for such a low hp application

[Steve Butters]

Higher is better, but higher also means less control. The higher you go, the more it becomes more like an on/off switch.

to me, this is more control...higher you go, the easier it is to feel where its engaging... if you go drive an old 4 banger junker, the clutch pedal flops around like a wet noodle and you cant feel shit...you just have to guess where the clutch engages....to me, the easier it is to find that point and hold it, is more control....to each their own i suppose, but i think the higher it goes, the more control you get

[Casper]

ben - a DF is overkill for what im thinking...were talking about an old dune buggy motor...unless hes got some crazy build, dont these old buggys make like 50whp? a regular stage 1 clutch would be fine for such a low hp application

Eh, I'm assuming he's doing some offroading with it. So if the rear tires are sticking (either in mud, or sticky tires on asphalt), I could see a cheap stock clutch slipping. Problem is, generally when you fix a slipping clutch problem you break something else like a rear diff, yoke, u-joint, tailshaft, etc. Just have to be careful. If you're building enough torque and the conditions are right to slip a clutch, any of the other things I listed plus more can break if the clutch doesn't slip.

[Steve Butters]

oh i guess im thinking of the wrong kind of buggy.....is he building a rail or something? i thought he meant one of these

and i never see these offroad...if its a mud machine, i still the stage 1 would be fine, but a stage 2 would work also, or the centerforce DF like ben stated.... centerforce dual friction are awesome clutches

[Steve Butters]

If you're building enough torque and the conditions are right to slip a clutch, any of the other things I listed plus more can break if the clutch doesn't slip.

this would be another reason not to go overkill on the clutch...end up snapping axles and anything else...but i dont see this motor making enough hp to ever slip a stock clutch...if he was in the mud alright, but at the point, you sitll want it to slip and not tear stuff up...more reason to go stage 1...the DF would be fine im sure, it just seems like overkill...your mildly built and sprayed mustang had a DF and your nitrous shot was probably as much or more than his whole motor makes

[magley64]

Yay, discussion from which knowledge can be gleaned.

I've got probably 50 hp. The problem is that the clutch plate is tiny. So I'm thinking an upgrade would make the tiny clutch as effective as a regular size clutch. Most of my slip is probably caused by the 33's I have mounted on the drive wheels.

[kawi kid]

I have always held center force near and dear to my heart. But for 50hp like said it might be over kill. If you change the rubberband in that motor maybe you could pull 55-60 hp