727 Build for Mid-10s

The reason that grooved clutches are used in 2nd and 3rd gear applications is because the oem and most aftermarket clutch material is inferior to Alto's Red Eagle material. They need grooves to dissipate heat. The forward clutch is applied at idle and remains applied thru all shifts. Not a shift quality issue; shift quality is easily varied with changes in pressure. I have heated various clutch and band materials and have found that the Red Eagle is superior to all except kevlar.
I was referring to the issue of clutch counts.
It is common to see grooved or waffled front clutches and smooth rears. I was just suggesting that the 20% less clutch surface is perhaps why you usually see a recommendation for 1 more clutch in the front than the rear to make up this difference. After the 2-3 shift you would have equal surface area in both clutch packs.
In the back of the Tom Hand book there are build recommendations from about 6 different builders including Tom himself.
All of them recommend the red alto clutches, and all of them recommend a parallel grooved front clutch and a smooth clutch rear for a performance build. I know the instructions for a griner transbrake when used in a 904 specifically says the front clutch must be 5 disc.