Hi, I am building a 468 with about 600 horse+. It is going in a 71 firebird, i currently have a doug nash 4+1 street five speed behind a pontiac 400 with a 3.27 first/1.1 fifth, with a 3.08 rear gear.
I wanted a Mcleod aluminum flywheel with a 12 inch single disc pressure plate, which was gonna run me around $700. I have a chance to get a Mcleod twin disc street clutch with matching steel flywheel for $350, it has about 1 year of streep/strip and the guy blew his tranny, I trust this guy and he says that the clutch is in perfect condition and still looks very good, Mcleod says these clutches outlast cars! Should I go for it?? My main concern is that i wanted an aluminum flywheel, and these clutches are supposed to absolutley not slip, so i might break my Nash, plus my tranny is already not working well!!! which brings me to my next question:

I am thinkin of getting the D+D T56, Since it was highly recommended, Will this tranny hold up to my torque/power/clutch??? I was also considering the Tremec TKO, just for good strength, but i think if i spend that much might as well go for the 6 speed. any input??? how do the T56 compare to the Richmond six speeds??

First off the 'Street twin' rocks! I did a fair amount of development with Red on the street twin (hence the reason I sent you in his direction) and was hoping that he might mention using it. They come with a light weight wheel so you shouldnt have to worry about the weight factor I think you keep leaning to.

Second, I wouldnt even really try to compare a T56 to a Richmond ROD, 5+1 or whatever they want to call it this year. The D+D T56 is a Viper box and I can say it is better than a Richmond box by far (I have my reasons). I think I told you about the problems asociated with the Richmond boxes only being supported on one side of the cluster shaft......right? Well I guess if I didnt give you the low down on it, drop me an e-mail and I'll tell you what I can. Large engines and real clutches and traction will hurt the Richmond boxes.

Now as for the T56 with a street twin.....as long as you do not road race it, an alloy wheel would work just fine with a single disk, but the street twin comes with a wheel that is pretty light (couldnt tell you the exact weight, do not have one in front of me). But, it in overall weight difference between an alloy single disk and a street twin is marginal. I would also recommend the use of a hyd throwout bearing with the street twin though.......

The alloy wheels are labor intensive to rebuild when you decide to change the disk or pressure plate the next time, which equals $money$. That and when you get 'em really hot, they dont like the bendix of the starter too much either.....meaning that sometimes the starter will hang up during engagement.

Personally, I think you would like both. Tough choise....but $350 is a deal. But if you are not familiar with how they work or how to tune the clutch itself (people tend to freak out how to strighten the floater plate....I'll save you the shock now.....just trust me). You just might be better off using the single disk.

I knew that Red would get your mind thinking though.......these are great questions to get different opinions from the guys......

[ 04-30-2003, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: chicane67 ]