Stick car, too much clutch?

[Stick Racing]

My 2 cents,

If you have a big-tired car, chances are you don't need counterweight on your clutch.
Counterweight is great for a small tired, high hp car with limited traction. Low base
pressure gets you off the starting line, counterweight locks it up at the gear change.
If you use the clutch at the gear change, you'll need more pressure to lock the clutch back up, and that usually means the tires will chirp at each gear change.

I usually start with all fresh pieces and turn up the static around 1000lb. Make a run and start backing down the pressure until it slips, then add 1/2 turn. Watch the tack on the starting line. When you let the clutch out, the rpms should not drop then rise. they should load the engine and then rise. Should shift smoothly at each gear change. If it slips into high gear, add counterweight. On a cool day you may need slightly more pressure. Hot days, it may be too aggresive. This is where you need to know your car.
The clutch makes or breaks these cars...

If you have a bearing problem, I suggest checking the bellhousing alignment. If its right, you should have no problem.

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Andy Stone 1102 A/S 1112 SS/C

[Jeff Lee]

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil

Well, this is my bracket car, and I normally go to 12-14 races a year, every year, so consistancy and reliability are at least as important as absolute lowest ET possible. That said, Jeff, using your 1320 formula, my car seems to pretty much hit its potential pretty well dead on, even with my "less than ideal" clutch setup. Actually. if you watch that last pass on the video, it even ran a bit quicker than the formula shows. As I mentioned earlier, with the stock floor and trans tunnel, removing the bellhousing requires pulling the engine, and frankly, I`m just too lazy to do that on a regular basis. If running too much clutch can continue to give me a couple of years on a disc, maybe I`ll sacrifice that 5 hundreths or so.

Then it doesn't seem there is a problem!

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Stick Racing

My 2 cents,

If you have a big-tired car, chances are you don't need counterweight on your clutch.
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Andy Stone 1102 A/S 1112 SS/C

I'm trying to process this logic........but I'm missing something apparently.
I pull out some base in the interest of better 60fts or preventing breakage.......I offset that with c'weight. What exactly are you saying?

[Todd Hoven]

Originally Posted by joespanova

I'm trying to process this logic........but I'm missing something apparently.
I pull out some base in the interest of better 60fts or preventing breakage.......I offset that with c'weight. What exactly are you saying?

What he is saying, is when you have a light car with an unlimited tire size it shoud always hook. Run the clutch tight, leave on the valvesspring and it doesn't matter. When you run a car with a bunch of power and limited tire, it becomes a game of finesse. Soft base, extra counter weight lower starting line rpm. Leave at a lower rpm and the clutch will act soft, shift higher and the counter weight locks it up.

[Jeff Lee]

Rob Youngblood has a big tire and he uses CW. And so do the SS/AH cars that run (very fast) with his clutches. The CW is there to adjust the slippage on the shift.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lee

Rob Youngblood has a big tire and he uses CW. And so do the SS/AH cars that run (very fast) with his clutches. The CW is there to adjust the slippage on the shift.

Pretty much what I was thinking................but apparently I'm stupid , LOL

[randy wilson]

Not trying to steal the thread, but this has come up a few times here. To align the bell housing properly, get the browel tool, (which I now have), or, a simple method I used to keep pilot shaft bearings in that worked for me goes like this, put your clutch and flywheel in,( not in that order, Ha), set your bellhousing on, with dowels removed, start a few bolts, get a pilot shaft out of the transmission you use, slip a spare collar over it, slide it in through the clutch, let the collar go into the housing, wiggle it a little to make sure it's in the bushing, look at where your dowels go, and you will see what offset dowel you need, leaving it like that, drive the dowels in, make sure you can still slide the shaft, and collar in and out freely, start to tighten bolts, and wala, it works good. Beats the hell out of a dial indicator for me.

[Ed Carpenter]

Originally Posted by randy wilson

Not trying to steal the thread, but this has come up a few times here. To align the bell housing properly, get the browel tool, (which I now have), or, a simple method I used to keep pilot shaft bearings in that worked for me goes like this, put your clutch and flywheel in,( not in that order, Ha), set your bellhousing on, with dowels removed, start a few bolts, get a pilot shaft out of the transmission you use, slip a spare collar over it, slide it in through the clutch, let the collar go into the housing, wiggle it a little to make sure it's in the bushing, look at where your dowels go, and you will see what offset dowel you need, leaving it like that, drive the dowels in, make sure you can still slide the shaft, and collar in and out freely, start to tighten bolts, and wala, it works good. Beats the hell out of a dial indicator for me.

x2 I have the Browell alignment tool. Its a great piece.

[SuperStockDodge]

It all depends on the stagg rpm...lol

[JRyan]

For those of you wondering, heres a link written by fellow stocker racer Jerrry MacNeish.

http://www.camaros.org/bellhousings.shtml

Jerry