Corvette Performance - Heavy Duty Clutch

Has anyone put an aftermarket heavy duty clutch in their Vette for better clamping power? If so, what is the manufacturer and specs.? Also, how many hours did it take? Did you do a new flywheel while you were there?

I got a McLeod Dual DIsk clutch in mine. I had to pay someone becasue my arm was in a cast from surgery and I needed it to get done. But it took him about 3 hrs to get it in. (takes me abotu 6-8 hrs usually) Most of the time it can take anywhere from 5-10 hrs. Bleeding the hyrdaulics turns into a PITA though and can take longer to do that. My clutch is over kill. As for grabbing, and clamping I can here the clutches spinning in the car, and there is only off and on. I think my clutch is rated to hold around 700 if I am not mistaken I am not sure so do not quote me on that. Honestly I should have went with a Cartek STG 3 or 4. Always best to get a new fly wheel if you do not then at least turn the one you have. Most clutch kits though come with a new one, and the one I got from McLeod has a balanced one with it, and its billet. I only make 488RWHP right now but that is soon to change once I got my tuning done, and the clutch i have like i said is over kill. Looking at your specs a STG3 would work great. I hear great things abotu the RAM clutches too. For the price the Cartek and Ram clutches are hard to beat. The only reason I went with teh over kill is just in case for down the road.

Damon

I have a spec III and have no issues, mike at ICON can set you up

Sweet, thanks for responding guys. I am contemplating a replacement as I do more and more mods., and really think it will be best. I know a few that have done the Carbon Fiber driveshaft, a nice way to finish it all off with a good piece of mind seeing that can't waste time while you are there. Thanks alot, both of you, I will check them out online.
Vetteman

get a cartek or a spec 3

We've had the

Stock Z06
McLeod
Exedy

and now we've got the Oz700 from Textrlia. Its much better than the the McLeod or the Exedy IMHO. See my comments here.

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271658

I've been fine with the Exedy twin. Like any clutch, there are always some people who are going to have problems.

joe03z06 - beautiful Z, btw. :thumb:

Mark

There's a new clutch out of Australia that's getting a lot of attention on the other forum. It's certainly worth checking out. Probably what I will go to when I need a new one. Probably this summer.

I've been fine with the Exedy twin. Like any clutch, there are always some people who are going to have problems.

joe03z06 - beautiful Z, btw. :thumb:

Mark
How much HP are you making?

The Exedy while it is a dual disc is completely different from the McLeod (we've had both). The only thing I can compare it to is a motorcycle clutch. It is very stiff at first, but after about 200-500 miles it changes character. It is still very much an on/off clutch and has a short engagement. But once you are used to it, it is kinda fun and not what I'd call bad in any way shape or form. I think it makes a good road racing clutch.

We however ran into a few issues with the clutch. We still had the McLeod adjustable master in the car. I think on any clutch other than a McLeod this is a potential issue. The McLeod M/C is different than stock in the ammount of volume, etc... it moves. I think this possibly contributes to possible issues with the clutch. I would recommend a stock M/C with it.

The two issues I found with the Exedy is its engagement. Its engagement point is very short. On top of this its VIOLENT. In the car I was driving on a well prepped track I broke off the short shaft in the rear. The car hit the tires very hard. On anything other than a VERY well prepped track it was spinning. I tried to slip the clutch on one pass (the 5th one on the clutch) and the clutch immediately glazed on me. I have spoken with several folks who have Exedy clutches, and I know of one person who has been working on softening up the hit on the clutch with some very good reports. My concern with the Exedy is with the HP that the clutch itself can take. I know it has been reporrted that in higher HP cars the clutch has been slipping, and not holding the HP of the bigger cars. (On 427 strokers it was slipping on the dyno when a car made any big HP. On Neptunebill's car with 500 miles all the friction material was gone in the Exedy.)

This is of course a cause for concern. I have spoken with Tom at Carolina clutch and he's aware of the issues. I know he's been working on a clutch to replace the Exedy.

As I said, think the Exedy has had success in the road racing crowd, and has had good reports from the lower HP (say under 450RWHP). I think in the more extreme applications certain limitations have been seen.

From what I've seen the Oz700 is the best all around clutch I've come across for the best price.

I had a spec stage 2 and hated it didnt last at all, then I upgraded to a spec 3 and fidanza flywheel also upgraded the hyrdalics in the car.....much much better go spec 3.

How much HP are you making?

Five hundred and change at the tires. Exedy has recently stated that using anything other than a stock master/slave will likely cause a problem.

The Aussie clutch looks interesting, but I'm going to sit on the sidelines and wait for much more feedback. The pro-Aussie clutch threads read just like the Exedy threads did a year ago.

Cheers,

Mark