shiiit **** 1000 bucks for a clutch labor swap, about 2 years a go down here in houston i paid 400 bucks to a corvette performance shop for labor alone i bought a monster level 3 clutch,,

 

mmmmmmmm....how much of a trip is it to Houston from Florida??? Just kidding. That's a GREAT price. Wish I were closer.

 

I paid $550 last month to have my Monster Clutch installed at the local performance shop. The local GM dealership quoted me at $1200.

 

Wow...another good price from far far away......anyone have a clutch installed somewhere in my area Orlando/Daytona/Volusia County??? How much and where???? I'm sure others would like to know as well.

Once again, my thanks in advance for your comments/advice.

 

A shop who's done it a few times should be easily able to R&R the drivetrain in a day. They might run into issues and may have to do things like replace the manifold studs or the diff seals or pull the diff covers and reseal them or fix other issues which would take more time.

I would not recommend the LS7 clutch. It's heavy and uses more power to accelerate leaving less power to put to the wheels. Go for something more lightweight like a Monster clutch & lightweight flywheel they offer.

 

The energy used to spin the heavier flywheel and clutch isn't "lost," it's put back into the drivetrain. You might not rev as quickly there will be little to no (probably not measurable) power loss. That's how a flywheel/flyweight works...

 

Heavier flywheels are actually better for driving in traffic and drag racing. On a road course you want a light weight flywheel for faster revving. I doubt if one causes any more power loss through the drivetrain than the other.

Obviously the heavier flywheel will have a marginal negative impact on overall performance due to the increased weight...

 

Geeze, I never posted the power was lost.

Very little power or energy is used to just spin the flywheel. Power is used and energy is stored when the flywheel accelerates and then the energy is released when it decelerates. How useful that energy is depends on what you're doing with the car when the motor is decelerating.

I'd bet money the power difference is measurable on a wheel dyno. It'll hurt the performance of the car more in the lower gears too.

Heavy or light flywheel for drag racing is very debatable. Sure, it gets you off the line better but it hurts your acceleration for the rest of the run.

 

You did say that power was lost. If you're trying to say that it will dyno less, then you're saying power is lost. I can't imagine you'd see any significant difference on a dyno whatsoever.

The flywheel energy isn't just used when you decelerate; if you're power shifting, the flywheel is putting more energy into the drivetrain when you let out the clutch on an upshift.

 

No, I never posted that power was lost. You can stop right now with this claiming I posted something I did not crap. The retardedly stupid thing is then you come along and tell me I'm wrong while at the same time you're posting the same thing worded differently.

It requires more power to accelerate a heavier flywheel from the starting rpm to the final rpm in the same period of time. You can read into this whatever wrong conclusions you want, but this isn't a power loss. It can be lost later if you do something like clutch in while letting the rpm's fall or jamb on the brakes right after accelerating dumping that power as heat in the brakes.

Ask yourself how many seconds you spend power shifting vs how many seconds you spend accelerating with the clutch out when you're on a 1/4 mile run. Will that heavy flywheel help more during the 10% of the run you spend shifting or will the lighter flywheel help more during the 90% of the run you spend accelerating with the clutch out?

I'd bet in 1st gear it's like taking 30-40hp away from the engine. It won't show as nearly that much on a dyno in 4th gear though. If you can't understand why this is then you don't belong in this arguement.

 

I just picked mine up 2 days ago. Got LS7 clutch kit, new slave, bleeder, and pilot bearing. All parts and labor out the door was about $1700 from a reputable performace shop.

 

You can stop being the idiot yourself. Here is exactly what you wrote: Less power to the wheels certainly sounds like you're saying it's causing a power loss. Or at least, a usable power loss, which I'd assume anyone would consider a power loss. So stop trying to claim you didn't state something that you obviously did.I simply don't believe that the flywheel is going to cause you to lose 30-40HP in 1st gear. Also, most 6 speed launches involve a certain amount of wheelspin, and you accelerate that flywheel to a certain RPM (determined based upon trial runs) before you even start a drag race. The heavier flywheel will either cause you to drop the clutch at a lower RPM as the flywheel will provide more power to the wheels immediately, or you will need stickier tires to handle that additional power dropped to the wheels.

As you're rowing the gears, you're only losing, what, 1.5 or 2k RPM per shift? So you have the power you 'lose' accelerating that flywheel putting itself back to the ground on every shift, and the flywheel itself isn't really changing momentum all that much anyhow (not like it's from idle to 5500 or something).

You're significantly exaggerating the situation of a heavier flywheel vs. a lightweight flywheel. I would imagine in most situations, it's a wash, because the flywheel itself, as you've also stated, simply stores the power that you claim is 'lost to the wheels' and the motor is what is generating the power; same motor will provide similar performance either way.

 

Lionelhutz: I also thought you implied that a heavier flywheel would cause a loss of power to the wheels based on the quote in the above post but clearly that's not what you meant.

At the risk of getting too deep into a subject I'm only semi-familiar with...

My understanding is that, all else equal a lighter flywheel is better all around for performance due the decrease in rotational mass. Most cars (especially high-powered front engine RWD cars like corvettes) experience a certain amount of wheelspin at launch in a drag race which limits the benefit of having a lot of stored energy in a heavy flywheel. Assuming there is sufficient friction for the tires not to break loose when the clutch is engaged then the heavier flywheel would be of some benefit but that isn't usually the case. Obviously the lighter flywheel is better for acceleration once the car is moving.

The caveat to that (and my reasoning behind the heavier flywheels are better for drag racing and driving and traffic statement) is that cars with light flywheels are very difficult to launch properly with any kind of consistency. I've been to the strip in cars with aluminum flywheels and I'm always slower off the tree with them than I am in my car with a heavy steel flywheel. It's not because of physics, it's because of skill. Most drivers simply won't race enough to be able to achieve repeated optimal launches with a light weight flywheel. Steel flywheels will also stand up to abuse better than light weight aluminum flywheels will. On a road course the launch is far less important than the ability to accelerate out of turns and along straghtaways so obviously the lighter the flywheel the better under those circumstances.

The stored energy in the flywheel also makes driving in stop-and-go situations like around town with traffic lights or in heavy traffic much easier and more enjoyable. Light weight flywheels require more throttle at launch and are easier to stall out with. I DD my 6MT vette and absolutely love it. If I had an extremely light weight flywheel in there I'd probably hate it...

So in summary, my .02 is that from a theoretical perspective the lighter flywheel would be a better choice for all-out performance; the heavier one would be better for practicality and meeting the needs/skill of most amateur drag racers.

That said; everything is relative. Lionelhutz said he wouldn't recommend the LS7 clutch kit due to the weight of the flywheel and I agree with him there. There's heavy and then there's HEAVY. If I remember right the LS7 flywheel weighs almost 26 lbs by itself. I'd still recommend a nice heavy non-aluminum flywheel unless you're a road course racer but there are many better alternatives to the LS7 that will still give you the traffic and launch benefits of inertia without effectively stuffing a cement brick into your bellhousing.

See here for an example: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1559659430-post1.html

 

If your C5 is not your daily driver, I would suggest doing it yourself and trying to find some members near you who have done it guide you along. The money saved on labor can help you do other things while it's taken apart such as:

headers
tunnel plate
new O2 sensors
shifter

And don't forget that a remote clutch bleeder is just about necessary, at least I think the great majority of people who replace their clutch end up going with a remote bleeder.

 

pretty sure I have cracked the 100 install mark on C5/6 clutches

I can swap your clutch in FL for $650,
LS7 clutches are $425(parts)
always replace the slave with a 2004 Z06 GM unit $130
GM pilot bearing $15

Give me a call if you'd like to set this up, attention to detail is critical in a task like this.

 

Still reading into things that were not posted. Sure, you have less usable power when you are accelerating with the clutch out, but it's not a power loss in the traditional sense. The power that goes into the flywheel is not radiated as heat from the bellhousing. The power is just stored. That is why I specifically didn't write it's a power loss. You keep describing how the power is stored and released during shifting or launching, which is saying the same thing.

Now you are changing your arguement to "usable power loss" instead of "power loss".

 

You're arguing semantics. A 'usable power loss' would be considered a power loss to most anyone; you're trying to say that less power is available to the wheels, and I simply disagree with that statement.

 

I have to agree with Trios and cdkcorvette7, the old L88s had a small lighter weight flywheel, for fast revs, and that was factory race car

 

I'm gonna also add that if you have the tools, DO IT YOURSELF. Its not hard at all, just a little time consuming making sure to go slow.

I changed mine back in April

 

Need to replace my clutch on my c5 Corvette. I was hoping for some recommendations on a nearby reputable shop. I reside in san jose. Any info will help. Please and thank you. Might be on the wrong post/section. Sorry if so