DeTomaso Mailing List: October 2000, Message #24

Mike

FWIW,  Dennis Quella ( Pantera Performance) gets his clutches from McLeod.
I do not believe they perform any special modifications for Dennis as I
recently have had many conversations with Red Roberts, the President of
McLeod.  Dennis uses the Performance 100 and 800 series McLeod discs.  I
suspect you get the same disc from PAW or Pantera Performance.

JT
----- Original Message -----
From: <MikeLDrew@aol.com>
To: "Multiple recipients of list" <detomaso@realbig.com>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: CLUTCH QUESTION


> Ned wrote:
>
> >Another question from a "new" '73 L owner who is not on line.  He asked
me if
> his clutch was a normal Ford part.  Seems to me that the part is specific
for
> a Pantera.
>
> >>>You are correct, sir!  DeTomaso purchased Ford clutches, then
dismantled
> the discs one at a time, hammered the marchal (the wavy spring in between
the
> surfaces) flat, then riveted them back together.  So a stock
Mustang/Cougar
> clutch will physically bolt into a Pantera, but typically won't have
> sufficient clearance to allow for full gear disengagement; this $50 or
$100
> shortcut results in premature wear to the $5K gearbox and synchros, which
> seems like a pretty dumb trade-off to me!  Yet people still do it every
> day...:<(
>
> >I would appreciate if anyone could let me know what clutchs can
> be used and who has them; and I will pass it on.
>
> >>>Either buy direct from the Pantera vendors, who have clutches
manufactured
> to the original spec (my top-end stock-style clutch from Pantera
Performance
> Center cost me about $300 if I recall correctly), or buy from an
established
> outfit like Centerforce, but buy from them DIRECT and ensure you are
getting
> the right stuff.  Centerforce builds a Pantera-specific clutch but does
not
> list it in their catalog; you need to phone them to get the right stuff.
> Rick Moseley kindly posted the part numbers on the forum several times in
the
> past year; search the archives....
>
> Also, FWIW, a few weeks ago I was speaking with a high-end mechanic who
works
> on Ferrari and Lambo exclusively, and he told me that a clutch job on a
Lambo
> Diablo costs $18K!!!!!!!
>
> Why?  Well, the clutch itself is custom-built for Lamborghini and costs
> $8500.  In order to change it out, the car must be lifted 10 feet in the
air,
> then the engine must be grabbed by a cherry-picker, rotated nose-down and
> lowered through the car to the ground.  It's an extremely labor-intensive
job
> with plenty of opportunity for tragedy (Sorry sir, but we dropped your
> engine/gearbox onto the roof of your Diablo...) and takes two men working
> full-time a full week to accomplish.  One day to prep the car for
> engine/gearbox removal, one day to do the job, one day to change the
clutch,
> one day to put it back in, and one day to hook everything back up.
>
> Aftermarket Lambo clutches are available for considerably less than $8500,
> but are of dubious build quality, and considering the labor expense, who
> wants to take chances on a non-factory part?
>
> And oh BTW, the lifespan of the factory clutch is 10-15K miles.
>
> All of which makes me appreciate the Pantera just that much more! :>)
>
> Mike
>