Is there any legit reason not to give B/AD's a 2 stage lock up clutch?

Some say it will help, others may debate it won't do much.

Fact of the matter a two stage lock up mechanism for existing clutches can be done well under $1,000 bucks. A local pro mod racer said he rigged up one with a lenco air solenoid to control the throwout bearing and I think he said he put 3 different style fingers on the clutch.

My question is why not? With the blown cars still at a disadvantage, what's the logic for not giving them something that may help them pick up as much as a nickel?

Personally, I think it could be worth as much as .05. Here's my thinking. There's two trains of thought when it comes to tuneup with the current clutches out there. If you run a lower ratio to get the killer 60' times, you can only run so much counterweight. If you run a taller ratio, you can really load the clutch on it and the car really picks up from 330 on, but you suffer some in 60'. Every car I've been associated when we tried to run a lot of ratio, we had to pull so much counter off of it to get it to quit shaking or be consistent, you lose most of what you gain in the early numbers out the back half. Another method of calming the car down with low ratios is to knock timing out in the middle of low, but your're still leaving e.t. on the table when you do that.

IF you could dictate clutch lockup as a function of time rather than rpm via counterweight adjustments, man, that would open up some windows. I think it would create a situation where you could have your cake and eat it, too, so to speak. You could run the lower ratio to get the killer 60', then play with the clutch lock up point to avoid tireshake, but have plenty of counter weight to get good clutch lock up for maximum gain out the back half. Having tuned one of these recently, I honestly think it would pick the blown cars up .03 to .05 on average.

Granted it's speculation, maybe it could be used for even more? How much it could help is debatable...but...

What's the case against it???

 

few points

Marty,

I don't think any of the mechanical 'lockup' clutches could offer the desired difference. I don't know that you could slide it through low then have it really locked up like you could with manual lock up. Let's say you're running a 1.64 now, in theory you could step up to a 1.68, 1.72 or even 1.74 to get the killer 60 time, and run a clutch amount on the primary fingers that would get it to a predetermined point in low gear where you feel it's right to throw enough clutch to really lock it up. Potentially, you could also possibly go the other way with it, running a lot of clutch with a taller gear, then even more.

Bottom line it could open some windows of opportunity that aren't there. If they don't allow it, there's zero chance it helps.

David,

I don't see any difinitive difference in clutch expense since the clutch will essentially be doing the same thing, just manually controlled vs rpm only controlled. I'm sure the clutch companies could offer a conversion kit for around $1000 bucks. I know one local Pro Mod racer who did it for less than $400 I believe. In the grand scheme of trick of the week parts, that is certainly on the low end as far as price.

Any increase in cost of operation pales in comparison to the rapid depreciation in value of the B/AD.

 

my tuneups...

flash,

so far you've been lucky enough to not have to ride one of my tuneups through low gear...lol. i've rode enough of them out to already be talking to yourself in the shutdown area....boy that didn't work...lol.

i say that in jest, but the point isn't so much if it will work or not, just what's the reasoning for not allowing us to try it? even if it's driver actuated.