What is a good brand clutch kit to use for a BBC. Is the Zoom or the Ram brands any better than the ones you would get at local auto parts supply (Autozone). Any advice or experience would be great.

 

I would have serious doubts about Center Force pressure plates.

 

Centerforce Dual Friction is a fabulous clutch when installed correctly.

 

 

I'm not to crazy about my Ram.

 

very true..great clutch, but a real PITA. I love mine BTW..

 

Not to steal this thread, but I was going to buy a Ram clutch, why don't you like it?

 

In English, please??

 

 

got a hays setup in mine. no problems...

 

I just purchased a McLeod 12" clutch, pressure plate, T.O Bearing for my 383 small block. Originally I was going to go with a 10 1/2 or 11 inch, but after talking to McLeod, they recommended the 12". The pedal effort is less than the smaller high pressure plates and the greater surface area of the clutch will surely provide more friction service to hook-up. The large surface area enables you to use less clamping load/pedal effort on the pressure plate as compared to say the 10 1/2" clutch.

McLeod's are more expensive as compared to the others, but after doing my research, I believe you get what you pay for.

Call the McLeod tech line and discuss with them, I'm sure they will have a recommendation for you. Get the Part numbers and then call Paul @ Thunder Racing (Sponsoring Vendor) to pruchase it for less than McLeod's full retail price. Don't be shy about doing this, the lady at McLeod's that answers the phone is who gave me Pauls' number when I asked if I could purchase their products from someone else for less .

Here are the urls:
http://www.mcleodind.com/index.asp

http://www.thunderracing.com/

I didn't go with the Centerforce because 3 out of 5 people I talked to didn't recommend them due to issues with the counterweights. One person who had the Centerforce was using a McLeod clutch disk because the Centerforce dual frcition didn't hold-up. What does that tell you?

Good Luck

 

Take to a reputable Machine shop and have it Blanchard ground. I'd also use new pressure plate bolts and flywheel bolts, ARP brand, about $25 for the set.

 

what was wrong with the counterweights?

 

I believe they were causing an out of balance condition/vibration. Not 100% sure, but as soon as it was mentioned to me I decided to go with a different brand.

 

Pressure and size have nothing to do with clutch force. Its how much cutch u can afford and a BB just costs more. U need to find the most expensive street clutch u can buy or u will slow way down. I would start with the big PAW cataloge ($6) and search by price. Don't listen to the local trans shop or clutch manufacture in town, the BB needs the badest clutch to run right.
U can spend less but remember, u have a BB.
Hope can get a grip with this. cardo0

 

I love the hayes in my truck. The center force in the vette, not so much. It shudders while i'm doing slow speed manuvers, like backing out of my steep driveway. It grabs pretty good, but the shuddering is annoying. Works terriffic above 5mph. I even thought i put it in incorrectly so i took the clutch apart and put it back together, still does the same thing. It seems to get less and less each time i drive it. Hopefully the problem will go away.

 

The Ram is very stiff and requires a longer throw than stock. I had to extend my z-bar to get the correct throw-out bearing travel. Holds very good however.

 

I like my CF-DF. No shuddering, no vibration, no slip, no concerns.

It was installed, per instructions, with the proper TO bearing, Fork pivot dimension, and new flywheel...

 

Put a Mcleod on my 68 454HO when I installed the TKO600 5 spd, it's a great clutch & it grabs....a great clutch.
Alan

 

The counterweights are on a circular metal ring. The metal ring is loosely attached to all of the clutch "fingers" that touch the throwout bearing. The ring if perfectly centered to the transmission input shaft, would not be a cause of vibration. However, you can easily use your hand and shift the ring off center. Of course being off centered, I would guess this is the cause of the vibration. It's been a while since I looked at mine, but you'd think there should have been a mechanical mounting design that causes the ring to self center. However, since its so easily to move off center by hand, I guess during operation it can get off-centered.

Mine is now inside the bellhousing. After all I've read, maybe I'll just go the McLeod. Hate to buy another clutch. But my engine/transmission is still outside of the car. This is a good time to try to avoid problems. I'm sure when I get everything back together, I'll discover enough now unknown problems!