Clutches & Pressure plates?

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madmaximum

madmaximum

CA-HWY9 Road Race Rebel
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
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Location
Santa Cruz, Cali
Which ones are you guys running?

I am most interested in Small block 1" x 23 spline set-ups. But the thread would benefit from all styles I suppose.

I am looking @ the Centerforce II set.

Oh, I also need a flywheel! Mine is Wicked Thrashed!!!:stop:
 
id take a look at mcleod if your a little tight on money...they just went back under their own ownership so their prices are back to the lower area they used to be, and their product is very good from what i hear from alot of people...centerforce is good stuff too, but i do know for a fact it is more expensive, especially that dual friction
 
CENTERFORCE II

You will love it, I have this in my 66 Valiant 340 and am very happy with it, very user friendly!! I am running a stock flywheel, check a local shop that resurfaces flywheels, maybe they can locate a new one for you.
 
few years ago i bought a ram street strip clutch set from summit i hate it . it would be good for the strip but it sucks on the street hard to shift and wears your leg out at the stops lights just my to cents
 
340jeff said:
few years ago i bought a ram street strip clutch set from summit i hate it . it would be good for the strip but it sucks on the street hard to shift and wears your leg out at the stops lights just my to cents
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Definitely a Beatch to drive that way, hopefully you will be changing it soon. I wouldn't mind taking that dart around the block a few times:)
 
Centerforce dual-friction is bulletproof. It has a great grab and wear-resistance. I have a flywheel off a 273 in good shape if you're interested in a used piece. $100 plus shipping.

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pettybludart said:
Centerforce dual friction,stock flywheel and Lakewood scattershield!No turning back!
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Same setup in my car. It doesn't run yet, but the pedal presure is very light. I removed the over-center spring from the clutch pedal, accoring to Centerforce instuctions, and still the pedal is easy.
 
When I first put the 360 in my Barracuda i purchased an OEM replacement from ZOOM. It worked OK but I couldn't adjust the pedal correctly. If i adjusted for the proper free play the fingers would contact the disk when pedal was near the floor. One of the finger supports broke after about 18k miles so I needed at least a new pressure plate.

I wound up purchasing a RAM street/strip clutch (rated for 500 HP). This clutch works much much better than the ZOOM. More linear, progressive and smoother (there is a wave spring between the two layers of friction material the ZOOM did not have). It is slightly stiffer to the leg but not really an issue, just something I noticed between the two brands (I drive the car daily in traffic). Also, this clutch can be adjusted without the fingers touching the disk. The hub of the disk is about 1/4" higher than the friction surface where the ZOOM was about 1/2" higher, that is the reason the ZOOM couldn't be adjusted.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced street/strip clutch for a sb less than 500HP I would highly recommend the RAM Street Strip clutch from Summit.
 
I have had 2 Borg & Beck style pressure plates have one of the arm pins break, one being a Ram.

I think the cause is over-travel.... I may put an adjustable clutch stop in or go with a Diaphragm next time.
 
I too run the Ram street/strip clutch. It works great. Yes the pedal is a little stiffer, but it's a good clutch. DO NOT get a ZOOM clutch. Bought a new one from Summit and when the RPM's went up, you could not push the clutch pedal down. They said it was defective and they sent me a new one, same thing. The fingers would come up and you could not push the pedal down if your life depended on it. How can two clutches be bad unless their junk. It bent the ball stud bracket on the bellhousing. I wasn't happy to have to do this job three times. I like the Ram the best of all the ones I used.

Fred B
 
hi, mcleod makes a B&B/long pressure plate. this is a very good unit!!the static pressure can be set where ever you need it. plus ,you can add C/W to fingers. the long style fingers have better ratio over any others.I have ran these in my 340 for years. disc can be the series 200 for street or series 300 . this clutch won't be stiff to operate, it grabs without breaking parts.
 
perfacar said:
hi, mcleod makes a B&B/long pressure plate. this is a very good unit!!the static pressure can be set where ever you need it. plus ,you can add C/W to fingers. the long style fingers have better ratio over any others.I have ran these in my 340 for years. disc can be the series 200 for street or series 300 . this clutch won't be stiff to operate, it grabs without breaking parts.
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I want to go with a B&B/long pressure plate and mcleod disc as well....What kind of disc would you recommend for a street/strip car running low 13's/high 12's with some growing room to go faster? the mcleod website doesnt really get specific about each discs usage and power capability so i was under the impression that i would need a 600 or 800 series disc...I also want the clutch to slip a little on launch to save the tranny and driveline instead of being so harsh
 
BigSlim said:
South Bend Clutch!!! Save a couple of bucks and they make an awesome product.

http://southbendclutch.com/
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Wanting the most bang for the buck (especially important in this Obama time), I went to the South Bend Clutch website at this suggestion. Spent twenty minutes of frustrating myself trying to navigate this site to get an idea of their products and pricing. The site is all hype, there is no mention of a real, sent to you by mail, catalog, and the so called online catalog is a JOKE. No listings for older cars (I don't own a late model **** box). There are only a few random items with pricing, otherwise you must call. Why waste my time arguing with some bonehead on the phone? I had this experience with some "tech" at Centerforce that was so busy hyping his own product, he wouldn't listen to me, the uneducated consumer (I wanted a dual disc clutch and he told me there was no such thing, that I wanted a dual friction clutch), at that point I vowed never to buy from them, no matter how good the product. I can't tell from this website how their various products would apply to my situation, their price points, or if they even list a 10.5" diaphram style clutch suitable for street/strip use behind a 340 in an A body (no doubt they probably do, but they don't make it easy to find out), and I want to contact them directly, WHY?.

Furthermore, if I can't easily get useful information to make an informed, comparative buying decision, why would I want to risk buying mail order from these people in a location clear across the country (I can imagine all sorts of customer service nightmare scenarios), when most all their competitors do provide this information?
 
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