Guys,
Here’s a excellent article on the Liberty clutchless 5-speed and how important modern clutch technology is to making a car work.
Liberty Stands Tall In The Face Of Increased Competition – Competition Plus.com – December 31, 2009
“Going to our transmissions opened up a bunch of windows of opportunity for these guys in terms of clutch technology, chassis technology and engine technology,” Craig Liberty said. “The RPMs of engines just keep going up and up and up and you can benefit from those higher RPMs, partially because of our transmissions.”
Ram clutch assembly for Sportman classes with clutchless transmission
Ram 6-paddle disc for clutch assisted transmissions
Ram Pro-Stock, Comp Eliminator clutch
PROJECT WHITE WAGON: A REAL CLUTCH PLAYER – Competition Plus.com – October 14, 2010
It is my understanding that with a clutchless transmission, it is vital that the clutch slip more on the gear changes than with a conventional pro-shifted transmission due to higher shock loads on the gear changes.
Here’s a technical discussion by Ram on clutch tuning:
http://www.ramclutches.com/Clutch%20U/cl_u_7.htm
Since you only use the clutch to launch the car with a clutchless transmission, much less static pressure is needed. Clutch discs for a clutchless are often made of sintered iron with a much larger friction surface than a paddle disc, aluminum flywheels and the use of centrifugal weights to control slippage. An entire science in itself.
However, using the heavy sintered iron disc with a clutch-shifted application will greatly accelerate wear and tear on a pro-shifted transmission!
I updated this topic today with a hyperlink to an excellent article on Competition Plus above on how clutch technology is changing and improving.
My only beef with the “Project White Wagon” is that the car when completed will have nothing in common to the car when it competed in Modified Production. It will be more of a Comp Eliminator car of today.