The V8 Owners Forum -

I am fitting a 4.6[260bhp,298lb/ft] to an lt77gearbox.I wondered if the standard sd1 clutch is up to it?It is going in a Westfield so I am hoping the lack of weight will mean I will get away with it.Cheers,Nick

I hear its not even closely.

Lehto wrote:I hear its not even closely.

I have a warm to hot 4.6 in a cob rep, I'm running a clutch that RPI flogged me. (friction plate and pressure plate) It seems to be holding out well. Not sure that the SD1 clutch will be up to it, I know nowt about them. You'll be piddled off if it slips....I'd bite the bullet and by one that will definately work.

Pete

Why do decent clutches seem so expensive though?!!! I dont want to spend £300/400 on a clutch either!!!!!

The RPI one was 200 quid

topcatproduction wrote:Why do decent clutches seem so expensive though?!!! I dont want to spend £300/400 on a clutch either!!!!!

Who said power was cheap??? lol

I've just smoked a £200 clutch in my Griff. It's not the RPI one, but I guess you'll get similar quality for similar money. (It seems my clutch wasn't as "uprated" as I was led to believe... but that's another story)

In the process of dieing, it damaged the flywheel. More machining expense.

I was only using the car for the odd track day and going to work. And it's not like it's a powerful engine - only 315bhp and 350 ftlbs. The car is fairly light too, seeing as it's a TVR.

So don't buy a cheap clutch! It'll cost more in the long run.

I have now replaced the inferior clutch with a Helix item bought from V8 Developments rated to 400 ftlbs.

The ones that RPI are flogging are apparentley out of TVR's. They bought a large number in one go. I can't remember the torque figure quoted by RPI. The pressure plate was an AP jobbie, I think that the spring had either a blue or red blob of paint on it!

You have to bare in mind the weight of the car and the grip level, the clutch has a lot more work to do in an LDV van than a Westy. Even in my cob the rears just light up in second gear, first gear....forget it!

Pete

I dont really know what sort of torque my engine will be knocking out- 3.9 Supercharged with edelbrock 500cfm carb and hopefully a 100 shot of nos, around 400 ft lbs?!
Any guesses so I know what clutch to get?!

topcatproduction wrote:I dont really know what sort of torque my engine will be knocking out- 3.9 Supercharged with edelbrock 500cfm carb and hopefully a 100 shot of nos, around 400 ft lbs?!
Any guesses so I know what clutch to get?!

The one DNB got would be my guess as its rated at what your looking at.

I would go for something like a Mcloud or AP Racing clutch, plus a nice lightweight flywheel. I picked a super lightweight aluminium flywheel and twin plate AP racing clutch for £400 off ebay. Yes it was an expensive outlay, but I know it'll handle a lot of power, and since its in an MGB I'm in a similar position to yourself, light car with high power! Plus added bonus is clutch plates are relatively cheap, think mine were £110 delivered from Helix for a pair.

nickm wrote:I am fitting a 4.6[260bhp,298lb/ft] to an lt77gearbox.I wondered if the standard sd1 clutch is up to it?It is going in a Westfield so I am hoping the lack of weight will mean I will get away with it.Cheers,Nick

Hi nickm,
what are your engine-spex?:?:
Thanx
Stephan

chodjinn wrote:I would go for something like a Mcloud or AP Racing clutch, plus a nice lightweight flywheel. I picked a super lightweight aluminium flywheel and twin plate AP racing clutch for £400 off ebay. Yes it was an expensive outlay, but I know it'll handle a lot of power, and since its in an MGB I'm in a similar position to yourself, light car with high power! Plus added bonus is clutch plates are relatively cheap, think mine were £110 delivered from Helix for a pair.

Sounds nice..... anybody want to list the above on ebay for me to win? Lol

Well, FYI I saw a similar set up go for a little over half what I paid for mine (but that was nearly 2 yrs ago). If I was buying new, I'd probably go for the McCloud stuff. I believe stevieturbo used such a clutch in his 500bhp twin turbo RV8 some years ago.

How about one of these for your westfield?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-CHIMAERA-GRIF ... dZViewItem

- should be well in, I asked them how much power/torque it could handle and got this back:
"It will be good to 360 bhp in our own experience. Torque is not a problem unless you repeatedly launch the car thus causing the friction material to over heat and break up."

I thought it was more the torque that clutches struggled with though!!! Either way I rekon it would be ok for my application...