Clutchflite Info

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71GSSDemon said:
I am now thinking maybe a racer thread like....

Nostalgia Drag Racing Wins and Fails. Show us some odd things that worked and didn't in old school drag racing. Like the Missle wire car..then clutch flites.. hmmmm maybe??
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What we used wasn't the Clutch Flite. It was B&Ms version. Clutch-Matic I think it was called. They made a kit for all the domestic three speeds at one time. They actually worked pretty decent on dirt.
 
71GSSDemon said:
I am now thinking maybe a racer thread like....

Nostalgia Drag Racing Wins and Fails. Show us some odd things that worked and didn't in old school drag racing. Like the Missle wire car..then clutch flites.. hmmmm maybe??
Click to expand...
...

transmission explosion.jpg
 
71GSSDemon said:
Wow, that is scary! A buddy shared a story of a John Unamann that ran one. 1956 Tbird with 436 BBC. It exploded at Spencer Speedway got hurt bad. Is that what Garlits was running when he lost some of his foot?
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Garlits was running an experimental two speed, that he claimed was a reverser. (Everybody was direct drive at the time, and the trans made Big Daddy two tenths faster). Prudhomme figured it out and called the guy Garlits got the two speed from, and Snake ended up with the first production Lenco.
Garlits experimented with his own two speed, based on a torqueflite, and when pressed for time to make call for a round, didn't have time to fill the trans properly. Sprag broke, drum broke, car literally sawed in half, all toes on one foot gone, couple broken bones. He restored the car many years later (swamp rat XIII) after buying it back,stripped, from being a small Chevy econo car......for $300.
 
33IMP said:
Garlits was running an experimental two speed, that he claimed was a reverser. (Everybody was direct drive at the time, and the trans made Big Daddy two tenths faster). Prudhomme figured it out and called the guy Garlits got the two speed from, and Snake ended up with the first production Lenco.
Garlits experimented with his own two speed, based on a torqueflite, and when pressed for time to make call for a round, didn't have time to fill the trans properly. Sprag broke, drum broke, car literally sawed in half, all toes on one foot gone, couple broken bones. He restored the car many years later (swamp rat
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Garlits.jpg
 
TT5.9mag said:
Same could be said for any modifications done to any part on a car.

I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of a clutch flight and wanted one. Then when I was 17 discovered what a Bruno with a lenco behind it could do. Curiosity over.
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I would love to have a Lenco someday. Rowing through the levers..
And I see they are making a Lenco with a converter so no clutch at the line.
 
71GSSDemon said:
Transbrake is the way to go, trans, driveshaft and rear diff all under load at launch. But, this about old school info
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A transbrake does NOT load the driveshaft or suspension. It DOES load the s#!t out of the trans and converter. A transbrake reacts like a clutch drop to the drive train. That's why everything in the drivetrain, from the crank flange back, has to be built to handle the power.
Edit: correction- the drivetrain shock.
 
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This is my transbrake car
Sfi flexplate, munsinger tb converter, sfi flexplate shield and trans shield, tb glide, 4" aluminum driveshaft, billet yokes, nine inch with 4.57s, spool , 33 spline axles (biggest that would fit, with the small ends) jfz brakes, and 14x32 mickeys.
Never broke anything.
A transbrake in my low 11s 62 would break EVERYTHING in the drive train.....

20210531_120226.jpg

Strangely enough, this car did have a lenco in it at one time.
 
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TT5.9mag said:
Same could be said for any modifications done to any part on a car.

I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of a clutch flight and wanted one. Then when I was 17 discovered what a Bruno with a lenco behind it could do. Curiosity over.
Click to expand...

I helped on a car with a Bruno. Took it out and went back to a clutch.
 
33IMP said:
A transbrake does NOT load the driveshaft or suspension. It DOES load the s#!t out of the trans and converter. A transbrake reacts like a clutch drop to the drive train. That's why everything in the drivetrain, from the crank flange back, has to be built to handle the power.
Edit: correction- the drivetrain shock.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I have always been under the belief that when low and reverse where engaged, it also preloaded the driveshaft and rear gear.
 
71GSSDemon said:
Interesting. I have always been under the belief that when low and reverse where engaged, it also preloaded the driveshaft and rear gear.
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Nope. A power brake, the movement is stopped by the brakes, so everything in front of the brakes are loaded. With a transbrake, the trans is loaded, (two gears at once, first and reverse, reverse held by an electric solenoid) but that means nothing after the trans is. Till the solenoid is released, that is.....
 
Years back in the 70's I worked at Cottman transmission as an installer. The trans builder had an Altered with a SBC. It had a Turbo 400 with a blow proof bell , fly wheel and a clutch. It would jump all 4 wheels off the ground in low and second. I never saw anything like that since. This picture always reminded me of that car

23 Ford T F-A Nanook #1 wheelie.jpg
 
I think modern clutch control would improve the clutch/automatic quite a bit, but the splits you get from 4 or 5 gears would still come out ahead of a 3spd.

Grant
 
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