We cooked our clutch. Woops.
We called Centerforce and they recommended their new Dyad clutch system. This is a new, twin-disc clutch that offers superior clamping force for high horsepower applications.
In their defense, Centerforce recommended this clutch initially when we were building our Shelby, but they were still in the testing phase. There was some concern about it fitting in the stock bell housing, and we would have had to wait a few weeks. As we have outlined in earlier updates, we had just minutes, not weeks to spare before we went on the Texas 1000, so we opted for the tried and true, Dual Friction, (but single plate), traditional Centerforce clutch.
When we pulled the single plate clutch out, it honestly didn’t look bad. It was definitely slipping though. Our combination of high (low numeric) gear ratio, big tires, and high torque, had done their damage.
Our fears about fitment were unfounded. The new Dyad dual-disc clutch fit right in our bell housing. This clutch also requires a special flywheel that is machined so the clutch unit fits into it. The dual-disc setup is noticeably thicker than a single plate clutch, and the extra thickness has to be hidden somewhere, so a thinner flywheel is used.
We had no clearance problems and our starter mated right up to the new flywheel and ring gear. Our only installation problem was easily corrected. The new Dyad clutch has more travel, so we had to lengthen the rod coming from slave cylinder to the clutch fork.
With this problem solved, we had decent clutch travel, easy actuation and are happy so far. We have the car somewhat apart for further restoration (which we will get into next), so we have not been able to really test the new clutch. We feel confident that we have solved our problem and can tell you the new Centerforce Clutch is beautifully made.
We will have an upcoming article to explain why this dual-disc principal works in our sister publication, Grassroots Motorsports. For a free sample of that magazine, click this link: http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com/try
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Update by Alan Cesar to the
