wow?
i have got a bit to share,
to the guys asking about what clutch to buy?
firstly a clucth is a clutch ,they have been around as long as the car.This may upset some people but i can remember my first, A Hayes street strip for a 455 ci 1976 TA with 29k miles and was the reason it was sold for only $4000.00.This was my fifth car at 18years old and second bank loan car .Gas was $1.36 for premium and the years was 1980.My parents said: absolutely NO corvette!!
Turns out this was good advice because i twisted that bitch up in record time.I have the scars to prove it.

This is my first LS car and i have been in corvette college ever sense,I sold these new when they first came out in 1997 and could not afford one with five kids to feed.I just waited for the right time and spent the $36000.00 it took for the yellow z06 i just had to have.
A few years latter and a bit wiser??
i was now thinking i am all most finished until?,



The same **** different day.

Now with 10lbs boost ,with the tick master fix,it is driveable as long as the clutch is cool and i only boost a little.
16 lbs and it kept getting worse until third slipped at 4k.
i re shimmed ,de glazed and still ,better ,not great.

THEE years ago ,
i called in before i bought a turbo app. clutch and asked all the right question(looked at all the manufacturers and called)
TWO YEARS AGO,
as this was the third clutch to going the car and i was forging the bottom end and upping the power.I followed the McLeod techs instructions and got the Borg and Beck original 1200 hp and aluminum flywheel ,I got it from Black 99 here on the forum and took it in to their local dealer for inspection.I could not under stand why a clutch kit would cost $2200.00$,,750.00 for the second single Kevlar ceramic 6 puck was a shock.

www.clutchandpowertrain.com

They gave it a clean bill of heath and said"put it in" so i did.I bought extra shims while working with the tech at Mcloed. and setting it up just as they said on a drill press.it went straight to Florida for a tune and i drove it 600 easy miles home(tuner did 23 pulls but it seemed fine)[708 tq.] just a disengagement issue that was cured by a TICK master(300. dollar fix)This is of coarse being told it was needing to have the slave shimmed or i set it up wrong and a few other reason why it is not the clutch..
After some street tuning and finally seeing some results the clutch slips.(was fun while it lasted!!!
i dropped the exsaust and took off the cover plate and checked the shiming and it was .034.All i could do was cut out a shim and clean it up good(had a little grease show from the pilot bearing,not on discs).Again it seems ok but i called in to see WTF and now they are telling me that i have the wrong discs?
I need to pull it out and "send it in"(told me the same before Tick) for a $600.00 ceramic upgrade not just a $400.00 dollar rebuild!!
Have any of these guys ever had to take a clutch out of corvette on the floor?It is a bitch.And do i want to put another one in just to here its the other guy's fault?Or i am not a ase mechanic?this is the same thing with the second clutch company said ( i still have it because i would feel gilty dumping it on some one alse,3800# double strapped PP &32lb steel sfi flywheel).6000miles and it was on the rivets . All they do is charge me for a rebuild on a clutch that will not do as they said(750 tq).I admit i drive hard but, a clutch should hold up for at least 80-100 k miles before a replacement.If it can not then what about a disclaimer?
I can see why all the higher power guys go to automatic.

Monster sent me a PM but i have been down this road of the clutch experts and have wasted too much time and money hoping to find a set that holds up.
I am talking to Quartermaster at the moment .They have just come up with a 2000.00 kit that is a COMPLETE 8.5" kit and there are no excuses.A fellow by the name of Danny Popp at Mccluski chevy has been working with thim for some time and i will probably go with him.He said he just received the first two for his cars and will let me know.

http://www.mccluskeychevrolet.com/corvette-world.htm

Wish i could afford to have just sent it to him in the first place it would have been much cheaper.At least Excedy as a non turbo disclaimer on their site next to each part number. McLeod just wants you to "SEND IT BACK",like this will fix it?No it just prolongs the pain and eventually guys like me just go away by either selling the car,going to a auto,trying another brand or just turn down the boost?NEVER!!

This is my new drug of Joyce and until my left knee gives,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, i want to keep going
I just really wish all these vendors would not be in such a hurry to sell us something with no idea of if it will hold up for more than a few passes and dyno pulls.The sad thing is i've had to go threw this BS for the cooling ,fuel, exhaust ,brakes,tires and worst of all tuners!!
i have spent no less than $10,000, 10k for the ability to tune a ls.
I now am the prod owner of the following:
1.)clayton water brake chassis dyno
2.)hptuners 200 credit pro,w/tuff book
3.)diablosport predator's and cmr's for gm&ford,w/both chip burners and laptop
4.)two eddy brake dyno's(going to Boston this month for set up of controllers
5.)tunercats and some other software
6.)my fist ever metric tools and everything else it takes to work on this car,did not count this in accounting ,extra 2-3k ,cheapy's from harbor frieght
7.)now going to tuner school in the fall so i can try to help others like me.

Three long years and there is still nobody in this town of 450,000 people that can get it done on my car.Her they just say leave it overnight and i'll have a look
It's like having a private amusement park roll up to their door
They will not say they have never seen a car like this much less work on it.

mike foote
mobile alabama

P.S.

let me know after 50,000 or so miles if it still works?




**http://shop.888murrays.com/home.php?...ction=0&page=1

 

Wow dude...longest post ever award. Summary? Your point is?

 

tired of all the companies that do not provide the services they sell a guy.No one has to worry about ever seeing me in person or me being able to hire a lawyer across state lines.Come on what ever happened to the days when customer service was paramount?
look at my last thread i put up on Craig Moats,He gets it!!
only a few guys even read it.I depend on this site for everything and just feel i have not been posting up enough.It's pretty bad when you read somr of the guys that respond to a thread and have the same train of fellows replying in like because they get paid to!
The guy's that really know there **** get inundated with request for help and do not have the time to fix us all.I live in a part of the country where folks make allot less than most other parts and are very careful with spending.They do however help turn a wrench when you need a hand.Before i joined this forum i never even tried to type ,write letters or do anything other than take what i could.Now i feel i have something to give back,so i will,i did learn allot here and have traveled to other members homes.
looking to get another c5 soon too

The point is i do not have to have a point or make sense it's not a fashion show or a test!!
just a place to talk,vent ,scream and yell or what ever i please.
thank you,

i am just trying to make this a better place

mike in mobile

 

Dude, that was a tough lesson to go through. I added monster power on my 2009 VMAX for the dragstrip and it would spit out clutches after a few runs, now I try to balance power and my clutch so I don't lose out on any fun. After a few power mods on my C5 the stock clutch went south real fast, and now have a new clutch to worry with.

Some local guys bump up power to 700+ and I've seen enough cracked bell housings and twisted drivelines and cracked torque tubes to risk having a daily driver pushing a lot of power.
I wish you the best in your clutch quest!

 

Cool...

Good stuff.

 

I think most of us that have replaced the clutch are in the same boat as you. The aftermarket clutches either will hold massive power levels and eventually require you to need a left knee replacement after a few years or won't hold the power and start slipping after a short while. Most will also require an aftermarket master cylinder so you can adjust the rod length. My biggest complaint was buying an expensive clutch that did not include the required master cylinder.

 

I know right,
Funny thing is I remember it was 325.00 parts and labor for that "high dollar" clutch for the Ta.This was the first time my parents ever paid for something for me.My dad felt bad because.He test drove the car,I could not drive a stick,and felt he new it was weak but loved the car.The second time was when he picked up my turbo kit from a member in Port Charlet Fl. And delivered it to me here in Mobile.Paid him back this time.
Again ,point being ,the cost to have a like clutch installed in and f body today is about 500.00.
Why so much for corvette?
I am a machinist by trade and was earning $9.08 per hour then and today that's is good pay in most places for a twenty year old.The parts cost is actualy lower with all the advances in technology.They certainly don't pay for product liability insurance.Clutch have never been covered by new car warenties for more than the first year.
As a matter of fact a GM ls9 zr1 twin is under 600.00 on eBay.I would bet it would hold my power!!
Mike
In Mobile

look http://shop.888murrays.com/home.php?...ction=0&page=1

 

That's pretty low around east texas, most machinists earn about $16.00 an hour. They just had a big hiring event locally for a large manufacturer and now a defense contractor is opening a facility here after the buildings are completed soon. It's getting kinda crazy with new jobs opening up here, while others are suffering.

 

no,
i mean average wage !!
The ship yards hire in around the 11-12 dollar range(unskilled),, if you can pass a **** test.Even so 16.00 is really not very good considering what the skill set the trade entails.I was at about $20.00 in 2000 when i retired from the trade.Here in Mobile welding and pipe fitting is the hi dollar work(25-30)
You get my meaning though , a disk is still under a 100 bucks!!
i read up on centerforce ,they have a twin out now ~ 2200.00 retail but on sale for ~1350.00 or so all ready--STILL TOOOO MUCH
How about a 500-600 clutch kit that does the job??
Some where around a grand installed would be nice too.
I am probably going to save up and wait for a quartermaster.

mike