aclass

Not sure what causes a 42 year old to act like this but a top fuel burnout from a stoplight changed the personality of my clutch forever. Thought at first that I had completely toasted the clutch disc but after driving it today I'm wondering if it didnt warp the Pressure Plate or something. Pulling off from a stop there is no gradual tension, instead it just shakes a couple of times and BOOM, its engaged.

So I'm asking for your personal experiences, I dont want a $800/800Hp clutch, just dont need it. But I do need a setup that will hold the Whipple. A few replies I've received today are pointing toward the Spec 2 and also stay away from Spec 3.

Also, unfortunately I need to stay as cost effecient as possible at this time so I'm planning just a clutch and PP. I appreciate your time to reply with your experiences and suggestions. As soon as I make the decision, the order will be placed and I'll put the car on cinder blocks one weekend.

Moose, I read your thread today and I'm wondering why you changed your cylinder and TOB. Thanks for the writeup b/c I dont want to pull my blower either.

AmericanSpeed

LOL, better than my record: whipple 3, clutch 0. I'm in the same boat right now after the track last night. STAY AWAY FROM SPEC 2+, myself and some others have had terrible experiences with it. Honestly Spec as a company has terrible customer service and will try to put the blame anywhere else but themselves. I've also used the Competition Clutch stage 4, but they had based their design off of spec which ended up killing my TOB. I currently just killed another competition stage 4 clutch with a stock pressure plate (this setup measured up with the stock setup), probably my fault for not breaking it in for more than 450 city miles. Good luck.

sactown

Don't go cheap on your clutch setup you will regret it it the long run, trust me. And what ever you do, do not get a Spec's especially the Spec's 2+ it is complete crap. Get an McLeod RST, and McLeod Billet Steel flywheel. The pedal pressure is just like stock and car will shift effortlessly and it will hold all the power you can throw at it. BTW: you can keep your stock TOB, but since the trans will be out I would replace it with a new stock unit.

MustangGT0405

Moose seems to have had good luck with his Spec Stage 2. So if you had to go inexpensive I guess I would try that one.

Personally I didnt think I needed a Mcloed RST (I figure thats what you mean by $800 clutch) in the end I got one. Mostly because 95% of the reviews were good and I figured buying an expensive on once was better than 3 cheap ones. Sorry American

You can roll the dice and win like Moose seams to, or get burned like Americanspeed.

I would recommend biting the bullet for the RST. You can use it with a resurfaced stock flywheel.

As far as the TOB, I would use a new OEM one. They run about $100 and it is cheap insurance.

Sorry to bear the bad news, but if you absolutely had to, you could just get the Spec 2 with resurfaced stock FW and stock TOB, and see how it goes.

moosestang

The spec stage 2 has worked great for me. A little chatter or rustling sound below 2000 rpms in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears, but it's very acceptable to me.

changing the TOB is probably not necessary and if you have low miles, then I wouldn't even bother.

I would recommend changing the flywheel to the spec billet steel piece. It's not that much and you'll need to get the stocker resurfaced at the very least. It's possibly warped anyway, so might as well scrap it. If you change the flywheel to a spec, be sure to hammer in the alignment dowels before you put the flywheel on the car.

I think I paid under $500 for the whole shabang.

No need to pull the blower, just loosen the engine crossmember bolts so you can lower the engine down a few inches. That was mustards idea and it saved me a lot of time. You can also get the top two mounting bolts off the transmission without going under the car. Seemed a lot easier to me than using a super long extension like the manual states.

moosestang

Moose changed his own clutch. Maybe Moose is just a better mechanic than the professionals. The professionals I have used like to over tighten everything, that's not good for the pressure plate. I don't know the difference between the stage 2 and 2+, besides the disk, but I know I have absolutely no shifting problems whatsoever. The car shifts flawlessly at high rpms and the pedal is just like stock. I would stay away from the 2+ just based on the number of people who have had issues, at least 3 I know of. The stage 2 is rated at 599 ft lbs of torque. That's more than enough for a stock motor. Nineinchnails has the stage 2 and hasn't had a problem.

There is no need to buy a $800 clutch, but if you have the money and it works better then why not.

There are other clutches besides rst and spec. Centerforce is well known and they seem to work well.

aclass

I was looking at the Centerforce a little bit today, I think AZAlloy has one but I havent heard back from him. It would be nice to hear from some of those guys since that is a reasonable priced unit.

What about the Slave cylinder? Currently my pedal goes way out before the clutch starts to grab and it's even worse since my wild hair last night. Are the stock cylinders okay for a peformance clutch/PP????

Simon1

Listen to Sactown when he says do not get a Spec. He spent thousands trying to fix a problem and had his car in the shop with the tranny pulled more often than when he got to drive it. It is the red headed step child of the clutch world for our car and Spec does not support their products if you have any issues. They blame the installer everytime. If you don't beleive me, go lurk arounf the modulr ford.com forum and see the review of the Spec 2/2+. People seem to have better success with the RST.

You may or may not need a flywheel. If it warped or chunked you can get it resurfaced. If you would like an aluminum piece I have one sitting in my garage that I would be willing to part with. Shoot me a PM if interested.

IMO you should buy a clutch that will last longer than your current piece did. I and many others are very happy with the Mcleod RST. It's exactly what you said you didn't want, an $800 clutch that holds 800 HP. But you probably replace most other clutches 2-3 times before you run through this one.

You don't need a new throwout bearing. Guys who start messing with the throwout bearing usually run into issues. The stock one will work just fine.

If your sotck flywheel is okay then just get it trued (if needed) and resurfaced. If not, shoot me a PM and I will sell you the best flywheel for our cars at a great price.

hammeron

is this the original thread or a recent write-up....

i can't find it

Simon1

[QUOTE=aclass;5626352]I was looking at the Centerforce a little bit today, I think AZAlloy has one but I havent heard back from him. It would be nice to hear from some of those guys since that is a reasonable priced unit.

What about the Slave cylinder? Currently my pedal goes way out before the clutch starts to grab and it's even worse since my wild hair last night. Are the stock cylinders okay for a peformance clutch/PP????[/QUOTE]

The slave cylinder and throw out bearing come as one unit from ford. I was quoted $233 for the OEM replacement from Summit and Ford. I did not call Hillbish Ford who would probably have a better price.

I did the same thing to my first stock clutch. When I pulled it off there was plenty of material on the clutch and the flyweel, but the disc was hazed and the flywheel was hot spotted. It didn't have enough pressure to hold the power.