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Is Spec the only "kinda" performance clutch out there?

HiSPL

HiSPL

Fanking Champion 1993
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Location
College Station, TX
I'm not going to +T my '88. I will be doing cam, exhaust, milled head, ignition, etc, etc. Plus I want to beat on it sometimes. I'd like to be able to chirp second gear and maybe do some aggressive downshifts every once in a while.


So that being said what I'd like is a Spec Stage 2 or 3. But is there anybody else out there building a decent 200ish lb/ft holding clutch? Hopefully a little cheaper than Spec?

Hit me with what you've got.
 
Hold on a sec. Change of plans.

I think I want to convert to a flat flywheel to save the rotational weight. STS has a South Bend Clutch kit for 350. I've used south bend clutches before and had nothing but a good experience.

Is there anything I need to do besides locate a flat flywheel? Then the 8.5" clutch, PP, and Throwout bearing all fits? Reusing my cable shift fork? This is an M47 BTW.
 
what you'd like is to avoid spec unless you have a fettish for replacing prematurely failed clutches.
 
linuxman51 said:
what you'd like is to avoid spec unless you have a fettish for replacing prematurely failed clutches.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my 3800 is experiencing that right now. The solid hubbed 6 puck only has a couple thousand miles on it and looks terrible. I'm hoping to go with Clutch Masters next time.
 
Diesel/850R driveplate and stock pressure plate should do those numbers with ease and serve as a fuse to not nuke your m47.

If you move to a sintered driveplate or a uprated pressure plate you should easily hold enough to replace that with a m90 or a t5 within a month. 3/4/6-pucks destroy stuff fast, it's all about the shock they transfer, and it won't be fun in traffic:p
 
Do you have a local clutch shop that can throw something together specific to your needs? We are lucky enough to have one here and they are very popular with the local guys who have used Spec, Centerforce, etc in the past with mixed results.


linuxman51 said:
what you'd like is to avoid spec unless you have a fettish for replacing prematurely failed clutches.
Click to expand...

This isn't the time and place for kink shaming.
 
James M said:
If your going with a flat flywheel a Viggen PP becomes an option
Click to expand...

So what is needed for a flat flywheel conversion?


To be clear I don't expect to ever make more than 200 lbs/ft at the crank. And this is a daily driver that I also want to hoon in. That's why I want something more than the stock explody clutch.

Flat flywheel and a stage 1 or 2 organic clutch sounds about right to me. So can I just source a flat flywheel and then put the flat FW clutch kit in and that's it?

Looking at this kit:
https://www.stsmachininginc.com/col...ch-kit-south-bend-clutch-stage-2-daily-driver
 
B230FT clutch is a significant upgrade to the N/A and retains all the reliability of a production piece. You will NEVER make enough torque to compromise it and it's $200.
 
linuxman51 said:
what you'd like is to avoid spec unless you have a fettish for replacing prematurely failed clutches.
Click to expand...

volvowagoon said:
Yeah, my 3800 is experiencing that right now. The solid hubbed 6 puck only has a couple thousand miles on it and looks terrible. I'm hoping to go with Clutch Masters next time.
Click to expand...

I swear that I'm the only person that has great luck with Spec clutches :e-shrug:
Also, never use a solid hub unless you're racing and are inspecting it often.
 
I never had any issues with the Saab 9000 Aero Spec clutch I had in my 16VT. Held strong at 300 - 350 whp. Not that I put a yuge number of mileso n it, but probably 15K-ish?
 
culberro said:
I swear that I'm the only person that has great luck with Spec clutches :e-shrug:
Also, never use a solid hub unless you're racing and are inspecting it often.
Click to expand...

No racing, but the car doesn't get babied either. I inspect it every time I pull a transmission out which is about ever 500 miles. :rofl:
 
I would never use another Spec setup - I went through several versions on my old wagon - after 425AWHP I couldn't keep the nice AP Racing clutch/SM flywheel, it just wouldn't hold. I used Spec stage III with flywheel - sprung, unsprung, made no difference - had wheel hop, chatter, general ****ty performance.
 
shoestring said:
B230FT clutch is a significant upgrade to the N/A and retains all the reliability of a production piece. You will NEVER make enough torque to compromise it and it's $200.
Click to expand...

I've been running the Sachs K70030-01 for years. (Thanks FCP!)

I got nearly 20k (actually over 20k because my odometer is wrong but whatever) out of my last one, and I was careful not to do any clutch dumping burnout stuff. I put as much as 26psi through it.
 
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