Hey guys, anyone out there familiar with the old TH400 turbo-clutch setups? I'm gonna put one in my tube chassis "street" car. Have the trans, scattershield, clutch fork and all that. I've seen one in action behind a bigblock Chevy and "poor man's Lenco" comes directly to mind. I think with a modern Ram or McCleod adjustable clutch it might be the ticket for some fun.:3gears: Problem is I like to know EVERYTHING about a setup before I start the install. If anyone knows a good resource or someone with firsthand knowledge of the particulars I'd be interested let me know on here. Thanks
Aready have a Lakewood Scattershield that I just had the SFI made current on. Definitely going with your idea of the hydraulic T-bearing. Gotta call TA about a flywheel and Ram about a clutch. BUUTTT..............Still looking for info. Lots of guys local have heard of them and some of them even have a few "tidbits" Like "Just get a converter." or "It'll be too violent for the street." I tell them I have a nice converter and 400 in the car now and that I want to try something off the wall that could make the car quicker but they are too stuck following the crowd. I also tell them the violence came from old school clutch technology guys were running back when these things were the hot ticket, but I think sometimes I might as well be talking to myself. Oh well, back to the internet search engines for another few hours.
yeppers.. Hyd. Throwout Bearing with a line lock setup. -push in clutch. -hold button. -crack throttle to give it 8000 rpms.. -let go of button.. -....away you go...
i take it that you guys are talking about removing the torque converter and replacing it with a standard clutch? if that is the case how would you modify the hydraulic circuts in the tranny?
I think there is some info in the how-to th400 book. That might be where I saw it? How about an aluminum flywheel to make it rev like a small-block too?
I read about this type of modification years ago in one of my magazines. they called it a clutch automatic and from what i read it was pretty violent on the street. :beer
Not exactly sure what all is done to the circuits. I'm not a great trans guy. BUT, I do know that the main part of the setup is a new input shaft. Removal of Bellhousing Scattershield manual valvebody The front pump remains. There is a little 3 fingered device that engages the pressure plate fingers and also engages the pump drive to provide the rotation for the pump. This is the missing component in almost all the ones I've found over the years. Seems that, although not fragile, it is the one component that fails before the rest. Therefore, since new parts are unavailable, when the drive fingers break most guys remove the setup and go to a converter. Took me 2 years to find a complete unit in good working order. I'm having a local machine shop fab me a couple dupes of the piece I have now. Just in case.lol
http://www.wintersperformance.com/catalogs/SideWinder/index29.htm Thanks to Google, I found a kit in 3-minutes! (I think)
Thought about that one but without the torque multiplication of a converter a flywheel with a little mass behind it should actually be the ticket to smoother launches and driveability. Just have to bring the rpm's up a bit more gentle instead of matting it and jumping up on the chip. We'll see how it goes but I think a smooth roll down of the throttle to full against the 2 step will be how it goes. Plus a light flywheel will amplify the rough idle I get with the healthy cam I have in the motor.
Dude, if I was not quite the heterosexual I am, I'd plant one on you. :beer Gonna call them tomorrow and see of their kit is similar to the B&M unit I have from the 70's. Certainly looks similar. If it is I'm gonna get every piece of literature they have. Thanks a bunch. BTW: What did you use as a phrase for your google. I tried every combo of words I could think of and came up with very little useful info.
"clutch-turbo" wherever I read about it, that was the term I rmeember used. You know, I have one of those old Hot Rod magazine special publications form the 60's or70's that they used to put out called "TRANSMISSIONS" that I think had an article on them too. No worries, I'm secure in my manhood!
