That is the unfortunate part of that softloc clutch setup. It works great, but you'll kill at least one before you get it figured out.

But, once you get it figured out it will work... just sucks that you have to destroy the 2500 dollar clutch before ya get it right. I know about a 1/2 dozen peple that have gone to that style clutch (not f body guys) and they all told me the same thing, buy 3 because the first one you will kill before you get it right, the 2nd one you'll have it right at the end of it's life, and the 3rd one will actually work and get some life out of it.

That was enough to keep me away from it. I was ready to pull the trigger on a used liberty I found... just can't justify the headaches for the tenth or 2 that you will get over a powerglide, after you destroy 5 grand worth of clutches.

 

We're already past 2 tenths with shitty 60' times and clutch slippage at the top of 3rd gear and all of 4th.
I think we'll see 4 tenths over the auto when we get it right.
I like this combo alot. It is expensive and definately has it's learning curve.
The clutches are rebuildable at less then 1/2 the original cost of a new one.

I agree that it has its headaches. I bring a full bottle of Advil to the track...

 

I'm aware of the headache part. Buddy that's got a 434 sbc/vortech setup and he took the route of a liberty tranny... he had a Th400 in the car and it was running 9.20 on average, took that out, went to a Glide, got it to 8.90 with that, now with the liberty it's gotten to 8.70, but at about 5 mph more then he ever saw with the auto. Effeciency wise it's for sure there, problem is getting the damn weight's set right on the clutch, and the launch rpm with the weights is proving to be a tricky thing to deal with. He's making very small adjustments at a time, unfortunately, the initial setup he was told to start with was way too soft, and I think the first 2 runs probably ate 1/2 the first clutch. He tightened it up a ton to the point the car would bog bad, and started taking a little bit away/raising the launch rpm a little every run, and it's starting to get close. The 60 foot's are almost where they were with the auto now.The 3rd setup is now in the thing, and it's finally starting to come around.

I think the first set lasted about 10 passes and that was it LOL. 2nd one the car started to come around a little better, about the last 3 passes were decent. The first 2, pretty mugh the entire friction plate turned into clutch dust. He's now got a cooling fan he hooks up force a bunch of air at it, and that's helping with the consistancey, certainly makes it alot more livable to get under there after that's blasted a bunch of air on it to make an adjustment.

Overall he's still scratching his head, and wondering if the glide would have been a better deal and maybe he should have spend the $ on a gear drive instead to try to make more power... he's aiming to get fast enough to run the 8.50 index stuff too, fwiw.

You guys will get it, but it's not easy that's for sure.

Did you ever have an auto in Barry's car after you put the solid roller stuff on it or are you basing the fact that's running faster now then it did in your car? I just wonder how much of that is the better valvetrain and added power from the solid roller compared to when you were running it. I'm sure that the tranny is more effecient there's no question about that. Just wonder how much of what you've seen so far is what.

 

It's based off my car. The solid roller isn't much bigger then the hydraulic I had. (I didn't have much more room in the valve reliefs.) Didn't make anymore power on the dyno. Matter of fact, the #'s were the same.
The solid was put in for the higher RPM's he'll be at on spray. When he tried spraying it earlier this summer one night, the RPM's were way to much for that hydraulic setup and that was with one stage.

In the summer with a +3000 DA, he went 9.86 with the hydraulic and came back about two weeks later with the solid and duplicated that same # with another 9.86.
The fall air helped it to a 9.62, but the clutch is worn out due to our lack of experience with it.
Car weight is about the same as my car was.

It's definately not a perfect comparison, but this car will easily be 4 tenths faster N/A then I was. Of course, Barry doesn't let me forget it also...

 

I hear ya. Kid I sold my old motor to went a GOOD bit faster then I did with it. Granted he hit it with a good bit more power (jet) then I did... but still.

I'm surprised the solid roller didn't help the power out any. You either had a really big hyd. cam in it, or didn't go crazy with the solid one...

Regardless it's a somewhat accurate comparison, your cars are close weight wise, ya run at the same tracks, and when it duplicates the hyd performance after the solid stuff went in that's enough to say it didn't make a big difference.

You'll get that clutch thing figured out. Worst part will be the constant adjustment to keep the air gap the same as it wears.


I'm gonna be totally honest I am pussing out on putting a liberty in my sled. I wanted to do it.. but I just don't have the time to work on it as much as I would have to in order to race it for a season with one of those in there. Just too much work to get it running right. The time it will take to get that figured out I could have the car running at 95% by the time I just figure the clutch part out... and I'd rather spend the time racing it during the season and spend the offseason working on it.

 

The hydraulic was ground for an N/A application. I never intended to spray that engine. My torque converter was built that way also. I hooked up a small system on it for test purposes only for when the 440 went in I would know electrically everything was ok. You guys never saw me lift the hood between rounds because there was nothing more that could help that setup with 12.6% converter slippage on that little 100 shot. That's why the car launched like an animal and slowed down on the big end.

The solid we installed is a specific nitrous grind with no inentions of running the car N/A. It is basically no bigger then the hydraulic with he exception of more exhaust duration for the nitrous. Our lack of knowledge with this clutch has forced us into running it N/A so we don't blow this thing up.

 

Makes sense. No reason to kill it during the learning curve.

 

So true, and you'll love the customer service and product from Coan.

 

Still back and forth on this. I think I'm going to just use what I have ounce my engine is back together. My clutch was holding good enough to pull 1.45 60ft. Full weight so that set up should buy me some time. Plus if I swapped to auto now I would never know if I could have hit 9's with the stick. If I go auto it's going to hit 9's.Then I have to update my car and me to pass tech. Even more money. These cars are such money pits.Or maybe it's just my greed of wanting more.

 

When it comes to racing, it's both...

 

I run in the 10's at 130mph with my m6 n/a. My car has not broke in years once i got the unit built. I run the spec st3+ and street drive easy. I have to get a new clutch usually on the 3rd year. My trans lasted 5yrs between rebuilds. I plan to get into the 10.3's this spring n/a. I'm sure an auto would be quicker but i like not having a converter to suck up gas and i drive around town easy. On highway i'm on 1,800rpm's at 70mph,i love the m6. If i had a race car,then it would be an auto,i have a street car that goes to the track twice a year.

 

^^^^ This....

To me, automatics are just boring. Auto's are consistent yes, but if I'm not having fun then what's the point? I'd have more fun shifting/driving a slow stick car down the track than hit the gas/steer a faster auto car, but that's just me.

To the OP, good luck with your decision.

Mike