clutch choice?

As a novice to drag racing so i have limited knowlegde and taking evryones advise, im building a blown methanol 392 hemi for an altered,around 1200hp thinking of runnng a two or three speed lenco, how many plates should i run? diameter ? now based on people experince who has any advise pro/cons on my clutch of choice manufacture? anything, have been told a crower is the best way to go, but to stay clear of a titan, what about east west clutches? the old hays clutches? any opinions or advise is much appreciated Regards Shayne

 

AFT ? or Boninfante ? anyone, please jus your opinion or if you dont mind sharing what your using and if your happy with it, or its problems? thankyou

 

Crower or Molinari would probably be the most common, which would give someone trying to help you a better frame of reference and the clutches are nice. East/West also makes a nice clutch. Can't go wrong with any of those three and all three have excellent service and a lot of experience. Just be careful not to get too much clutch. To give you an idea, a 1500 hp Pro Stocker uses a 6.25" 3-disc, 1900 hp Mountain motor cars use a dual 10" or even a 3-disc 8" when they're brave.

 

thankyou very much, so if i had bought to big a clutch it would not work because i would have to make it slip way to much to keep the rpm up, and if it locked up it would bog the engine down ? would that be correct in saying that.

 

clutch

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Yes, you are correct. You lose your tuning window when you have more clutch than you need, and what tends to happen is you will get brief slip at the hit, and two things can happen.. you will either bog the motor, which slows your driveshaft because the clutch is tight with a motor not accelerating which slows the tires and causes weak shake, or you pull the tire completely off like a fuel car. It can be calmed with more gear ratio to allow the motor to keep accelerating.

 

Thankyou for your post, i dont mean to sound like a novice, just trying to get my head around it before i start, thanks again
any suggestions for a blown 392 hemi making around 1200 or so still building the motor and not sure of the amount of boost i'll make so unsure of power levels.

 

If you don't have to run a clutch, i'd suggest a good powerglide instead. 1200 hp is not a problem at all and the whole deal is a lot more user friendly/cost less.

 

If you're running in the 1200-1400 horsepower range, you could run a dual 10" with the lightest springs and levers they offer and probably be okay and still have room for growth.. And it would be fairly low maintenance as far as running a clutch is concerned.

James D also has a point.. Unless your heart is set on running a clutch or you're trying to squeeze out every bit of ET you possibly can, a PG setup would be much easier. It pains me to say that, but it is the truth.

 

Thankyou, it was my original plan to run a glide and i have a bellhousing, i have just heard of so many guys having issues with glides, and everyone elso form shops i have been to said to run a lenco ? i guess this opens a new debate..........
my reason for going to the lenco was the local tracks all within 8 hours condition vary tramatically from good to terrible so i the tunablility would be better than the glide.
i was looking at leaving the line at around 4500 so say i had a 4500 converter and a transbrake, on bad tracks when it even if i left at 2500 whne i got out would it not come straight up on the tires?
thanks again and please guys point me straight never done this before so if i can be shoot down if im wrong please do id appreciate it, i just grew learning no such this as a stupid question, plus im a budget consious racer and id like to get it close the first time, as i know i wont get it 100% right. thanks again to everyone

 

We went 6.70's with a glide in a blown BBC altered with .980's 60 ft's. On bad tracks lowering the leave isn't always the way to go because you drop down in the torque range and it flashs back up to stall speed anyhow. Slight air pressue changes give you plenty of tuning range as does advancing/retarding timing etc. You said you were a novice so buy a good spragless 9 inch convertor, 1.80 straight cut gear set, vasco input glide and go. Good chance you could get a really good one on here with convertor for $2500 or less. I sold mine for about that and I had griner brake and alll the good stuff. We had to go to a clutch as we switched to fuel. Additionally if you have a problem with it at the track I'm pretty sure you couldn't swing a dead cat around without hitting 1 or 2 guys who would be carrying the needed parts and could fix it for you. pronto! That's a biggie!

 

here is another factor
you will be shipping this back every year for certs
depending on where you live might (east coast , west coast) make you lean towards a local manufacture unless you like your stuff bouncing along in the brown bus