I am in a desperate search for a good twin disk clutch. So far all I could find is a street twin from Mcloed, and ram. but I cannot find anyone who sells them or can give me info as to what kind of material the friction surface is. Can anyone here help point me in a good direction.

 

I have McLeod Street Twins in both my '67 Sting Ray and my '90 Callaway Twin Turbo. I purchased mine through Summit. They have the best deal.

The one in the '67 is good for 1400 hp while the one in the Callaway is good for 1200 hp.

McLeod has a tech support line that can be found on their website. I think it is www.mcleodind.com.

Steve

 

Thanks for the info, I gave them a call, they stated 661 for the clutch for use with a steel flywheel, and 860 for one for use with aluminum. Seems good and all, I swear though a local shop "darkhorse performance quoted me areound 800 for a full clutch kit including a new flywheel. I am not sure what kind, cause mainly they have not responded since my first e-mail. With my current cash standing, I will most likely be going with a steel one, perhaps i can find a light weight steel if any are out there. :)

 

For what it's worth, aluminum is the only way to go. I have been buying aluminum flywheels since the 70's.

I don't buy the crap that you need the extra weight of a steel with a small block. My son's '69 with a 350 has an aluminum flywheel and there are no negative attributes whatsoever. The seat of the pants feeling is immediate and noticeable.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

That's my total intentions, it's just I have to be money consious now.. that and I need to find a new job, so I cannot go into debt anymore at this time. perhaps I could find a smacking deal on e-bay for a aluminum one, who really knows. How about the pro's and con's of alun vs steel? I imagine the alnuimum one would handle heat much better, but also warp or shatter easier. also is there any difference between a 168 and 153 perhaps weight savings? And my final question. I see many flylwheels that say not for use with SB 400. I am using a SB 406 with a 350 main, and currently plan on internal balance. I know that chevy ran external balanced setups on the 400 plus engines. bascially requiring a external balanced flywheel. What are the details one this, can anyone enlighten me?

 

I've got the McLeod dual disc aluminum 153 tooth package sitting on the work bench (along with numerous other pretty pieces!) waiting to be installed. The main reasons I opted for it was: #1 the expected super long clutch life, #2 lighter pedal pressure compared to the 3200 pound ram clutch, #3 fantastic holding power. I also went for the aluminum flywheel for quicker revving. I also bought mine through Summit, but spoke to the McLeod company a number of times before ordering it and found them to be very helpful and accommodating. They know which splines go with which transmissions and will help you avoid mistakes in ordering.

Chuck

 

Okay, I have been speaking with they boys at Ram clutches, and they stated their dual disk is not a good idea, they say it's loud and rattles when the pedal is depressed, it also takes considerable more reving to engage it, They state I should go with a single sintered iron disk, which should hold the same power levels. I personally don't see how a one disk clutch could beat a 2 disk clutch with twice the friction surface area. 542c2, how is the drivability factor of the twin disk? Can you drive it on 167 at 5:00pm past the super mall into Puyallup? Does it provide a fairly good response. I don't mind a heavy pedel or quick engagment. Infact I would perfer it. I just don't want something that is basically ON OFF.

 

The Street Twin is 100% streetable. It has moderate pedal pressure and yes you could drive it on 167 at 5:00pm past the Super Mall. There is no "ON-OFF" feel with this clutch, it is very progressive.

You really need to talk to the guys at McLeod. They will give you all the info you need on the Street Twin - or any other clutch they sell. By the way, they are really down on Centerforce. According to them it is junk. I can attest to that having destroyed one on my DynoJet.

 

Thanks for the input. I too can say that Centerforce is absolute crap. I don't think those weights actually help with anything. Infact I could easially see them create an off center rotational weight issue. I burned up mine when pushing 432hp I am worried to see what Merlin would do if he were to actually open up this throttle and get it tuned. Perhaps that would be an excuse for him to have to pull the trannie and put in an auto :) and sell me the 6 speed :).

 

Centerforce Crap.. :confused:
I have been using there Dual Friction clutchs for a few years and have had good luck with them. If you abuse any thing enough It's going to fail. For the money I think It's a good deal. I agree the Twin disk is a great clutch. But If you run a car with slicks at the track some thing is going to break with that clutch, unless every thing is built to handle It. I know two people that have broke trannys with a twin disk with slicks. One a 4 speed and the other a 6 speed. :)

 

McLeod Twin Disk.

I ran one on a stock L98, a stock L98 with a 150-175 shot, a non-streetable 355 and now a "streetable" 360.

The clutch action is very progressive, as someone else said.

Your left calf muscle will get more of a workout than with a stock clutch, but not too bad.

They've done some updates to the clutch package, I think it's better than ever.

 

True Blue,

Looks like you went through 3 engines with your dual disc. How did the clutch discs and T/O bearing perform? Did they need to be replaced? I am most concerned with the longevity issue with the setup. I went with the McLeod dual disc because I don't have a removable cross member under the ROD 6 speed. Trans must be pulled with engine. My hope is to go the better part of 100,000 miles without need of replacement.

Chuck

 

I'd say it's possible. So long as you resist the urge to fan out the clutch in 2nd gear at 10 mph and smoke the rears while the speedo reads 50-60 :D

From what I've gathered, the best way to start out is just to let the clutch out pretty quickly. Not enough to overwhelm the rear or make the drivetrain clunk, but enough to make a nice jolt when you get moving.

When you ride the clutch in first, especially with highway/econo gears, you're doing most of the wear and tear on the unit, IMHO. It may look and sound smoother to the average driver, but that's not what the clutch was designed for, I'm told.

Put it this way, if the only stop and go driving you do is slowing down to pay for tolls, you'll get 100k out of it, I'm sure. When I had the L98 in the car with 3.07's x 2.88 1st gear, I put about 30k of street miles on it. Many hard launches, many times I was in 2nd or 3rd with the revs down and I rode the clutch without downshifting to get moving, etc etc. Although, admittedly, I did alot of highway crusing too, probably 50/50.

I sent the clutch back to McLeod to get inspected when I installed the solid lifter 355 and they said it was "on the fence" whether to rebuild or not. They said I was halfway to the point where I'd need to rebuild, and I did it just to be safe. They upgraded to the double sided marcel and 3-finger actuation at that time also.

So the discs looked pretty good after all those times I made the clutch work like a torque converter :smash: , and the 3-way adjustable throwout bearing looked good too (though I just replaced it for good measure.)

I'm changing the 3.07's to something more like 3.73's, that should really make this clutch's life easier, especially on the launch.