[DeTomaso] 3.2 gears and clutch life?

Mad Dog Antenucci teampantera at yahoo.com
Sun Nov 11 01:36:23 EST 2007


Fogetaboutit...I was there.....Forget the Holly and the big cam...Larry was running his street 377ci stroker. He just didn't have enough HP period to pull that tall a ring gear. He said as much soon as he finished the run. Subsequently he went back to his ZF with the 3.77 ring gear. 
   
  I know what the book formula and calcs say about running 200 mph with 350 HP (hehe) but remember to do a reality-check.... in a open road race you need to factor in a 3%  HP loss for every 1,000 feet of elevation.  Also factor in rolling resistance plus power to overcome air resistance or drag, barametric pressure and any actual existing weather conditions like up to a 30 mph head-winds and 100F temps and not only do you 'hit-the-top-speed-wall' you get to also watch your operating temps go up as your speeds go down. ;-]>
   
  md      

Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com> wrote:
  I've been told that Larry Stock tried 3,2 gears and ended up cooking clutches. I'm wondering if that was with a big Holley and a big cam so the engine had to be revved to higher RPM from a standing start?

With EFI and a mild cam (low overlap for turbos), would I have the same problem? The engine should run much smoother and much better at a lot lower RPM. I know I can get a higher 5th gear, but I like the spacing of the stock gears.

Ken
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Mad Dawg Antenucci 
Team Pantera Racing 
  The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing 
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