Im contemplating something I may regret, anyone have experience running a clutch turbo 400? I picked up a Fairbanks and am considering running behind my 392
If you are talking about a street car it's not a good option. The following is a post I made in another discussion of the topic: About 15 years ago I was thinking about doing a Clutch-Flite. I ended up talking with a local guy who had done quite a few. He said he would help me put one together if I wanted, but that it wasn't a good choice for a street car. Shift quality was one thing he mentioned. One issue was that for good shift quality a lot of slippage is needed, and that's bad for trans life. The Clutch-Flite in his drag car wasn't a bullet proof set-up either. The fact you don't see them being used anymore is probably an indication as to whether it's a good option.
Thought you already desided it was OK. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8715260&postcount=37
Thanks Junior, I thought I had posted up on the subject...still undecided though, with all the flak about having only 2 pedals Ive been thinking this would be cool, would get me the third pedal and confuse alot of people at the same time lol but maybe not worth it....
ran one in my sand flopper years back..fairbanks....hardest hittin thing i ever sat in....drawl backs are they need alot of hp and torque ...my 233 odd fire buick v-6 dropped from 8800 rpm down to 7200 at the drop of the clutch pedal...but recovered very nicely...2:1 trans case...couldn't get it out of first quick enough,,,so i always launched in second....just remember to never let anyone in the car and push down the clutch pedal...if the brass 3 finger coupler is in the wrong spot on shut down, it'll snap the fingers off real easy....
The basic idea is to cut the bell off an automatic trans and attach the trans to a standard trans bellhousing and use all the clutch components. I read an article about it years ago in Hot Rod magazine I think. It musta been 25 years ago or more. The owner said the shift quality was extremely harsh...like BAMMMM!!!
I've heard that too, but I don't understand it. If you drive a car with a manual transmission on the street you use the clutch to shift, right? A full race straight cut close ratio dog box can be shifted w/o using the clutch, but on the street (even when I had a gearbox like that) I just never saw the need to do that. So even if the shifts are super harsh on a Turbo Clutch, wouldn't that problem go away if you just use the clutch, like you would on a regular stick shift 'box?
I have one with hydraulic T/O so i'd use a lineloc solenoid on the throwout bearing. It is TH400, mcloed clutch and bearing and i believe the internal bands etc are same as lenco. The tranny is about bulletproof, i believe mine came from JungleJims' funnycar but can't confirm one way or the other. Some of the guys used them like a lenco but they are harder to take apart for servicing, there are bolts inside the can that go into the trans so to pull the trans you have to pull the can etc, you can't just unbolt the tranny from the outside and slide it back out of the way. Don't need transcooler, you just loop the line right back into teh case. Ain't nothin like a clutch and rowin the gears.
Vic Young has one in his Henry J. I asked him if it was harsh. He said if you use the clutch between shifts it was like a normal stick shift car.
We ran a clutchflite behind an enderle injected 336 SBC in a 2245lb. corvette. It worked like a champ but was a handful driving back down the return road unless a guy slid the clutch between shifts. Otherwise, it was bang -bang ! No accumulator springs and no converter, really tough on the planetaries.
Yup. I ran one back in the day, in an early funny car type Nova. Twisted several input shafts..Then put it in a big block Anglia that I drove on the street. A real tire chirper. Passengers got white knuckles hanging on to the grab handle.. Sore necks too.. My dear old mother refused to ride in the car..I had a blast!!
Run one in my blown Pontiac '31 Chev gasser. So far, no trans issues but have eaten several clutches. Now run Mcleod aluminum flywheel, Ram 3200 lb pressure plate with metallic disc. Clutch works and is a blast to drive, floor it & hang on. I race only & do not drive on street.
i started to run one in my topolino...guy who ended up with my sand funny car was going to sell it..at the last minute he decided to keep it In a lite street rod, it would be a blast..guess it would depend on what clutch ya ruin in it...mine wouldn't slip....none..zip...zero..none...1400 rpm idling back on the return sand/dirt road it was a click...no clutch...was told it was for starting and launching only...but that was one of the reasons it hit so hard:banghead: Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
raced one for years in a willis coupe ,BBC for power, worked great, but, weight wise its a heavy combination, you do not have to use the clutch to shift....only to leave the starting line or to come to a stop. the trans produces no heat due to the lack of a converter...its really just a poor mans lenco. there was an outfit named S & S transmission that bought out all of B & M 's stuff that we bought from, don't know if their still around. back in the day they produced clutch-turbo's, clutch-glide's, and clutch-flite's....hope this helps.
I've been tempted to make one up for my 57 chevy.... hmmmmm. I'll probably chicken out and stick a manual valve body and a loosy goosy converter in a t350 before it's over... but a man can dream.
I was tempted also, tempted enough to buy one, but wimped out because of the drama to put in the 3rd pedal....Ill probably sell it....
Hardest hitin thing i ever owned our drove....behind my 10,900 + rpm sand funny car..... Like BAM, ain't even close...its like BAM to the tenth.... Kinda like this ¥¥¥¥ :banghead:
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