Superformance MKII, Riverside Racer 289 FIA vintage race car

[1795]

WE have been having great weather the past week in upstate NY; it was in the 70's for the whole week, unbelievable for this time of year.

So, I figured that it was time to start working on the cobra to get it ready for next year, which will hopefully will be better. Have to change all of the fluids, am going to upgrade the clutch and flywheel and refresh the engine since I had to pull it to get at the clutch. I could have waited another year to refresh the engine, but since it is such a pain to pull figured that I would get it done early. It's also cheaper to find something that amy need to be changed out before it breaks, then run the engine until it breaks.

My cousin was coming over, so I did some prep work to get everything ready. Car up on the stands and removed the seats and tunnel.


The second photo provides a better look at the brake cooling system that Dennis Olthoff fabricated and installed.

It took us about 5 hours to pull the transmission and then the engine. A lot of things that have to be removed and disconnected.

Here are some views of the lowering blocks that Dennis installed on the front and rear transverse leaf springs. They made a tremendous improvement in handling through the corners, the only costs to that adjustment are that I tend to bang the exhaust pipes on the curbing when I cut the apex tight, and I had to make some adjustments to the trailer as the pipes were hanging up.


Engine is ready to take to the engine builder for a tear down and evaluation, cleanup, tuning, new clutch, pressure plate and flywheel, new bearings, etc. All I have left to do with the engine is make a box to put it in. Then, I am going to go through the chases and check all bolts, nuts, change differential fluid and transmission fluid, and clean everything up. Lots of things to keep me busy before the snow flies.



Jim

[Hotoxide]

Jim and other contributors -- thanks for a great read. Read the thread from the start. Like a good book, one chapter draws you in and makes you want to read the next.
Best of luck to the active racers out there. Let's hope for a better racing season in 2021. Make us street drivers proud.

Dave -- still waiting for mine to be finished

[1795]

Originally Posted by Hotoxide

Jim and other contributors -- thanks for a great read. Read the thread from the start. Like a good book, one chapter draws you in and makes you want to read the next.
Best of luck to the active racers out there. Let's hope for a better racing season in 2021. Make us street drivers proud.

Dave -- still waiting for mine to be finished

Thanks fr the kudos, boy you must have a lot of time on your hands to read al of that! Would be nice to see some other racers out on the track in a cobra. Will try my best this year. have scheduled two so far, Watkins Glen in September and Mid Ohio in June.

Jim

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by 1795

....am going to upgrade the clutch and flywheel and refresh the engine since I had to pull it to get at the clutch....

Jim, your flywheel and clutch requirements would be way different to mine, however I'm about to spec a flywheel, clutch and HTOB, so I'm interested in what you will be using. Your gearbox is a Toploader and so is mine so there's commonality there. So too with the Quicktime scattershield, but the only other 'hardpoint' is that I will probably need to use an HTOB because of tunnel size limitations.

Cheers!
Glen

[1795]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Jim, your flywheel and clutch requirements would be way different to mine, however I'm about to spec a flywheel, clutch and HTOB, so I'm interested in what you will be using. Your gearbox is a Toploader and so is mine so there's commonality there. So too with the Quicktime scattershield, but the only other 'hardpoint' is that I will probably need to use an HTOB because of tunnel size limitations.

Cheers!
Glen

Glen,

I decided on a Quarter Master street stock clutch, as they are good to 500 HP and I am at 424 HP. I really have no need to go to clutch rated for 1000 HP. It is a 10.4" steel flywheel, I chose that one over the aluminum as it was only 1 lb heavier than the aluminum and I felt like it would last longer and the weight difference was minimal. I also am using a HTOB, as there is very little room for a clutch arm and it would have required a lot of engineering to make one that would fit right, which means a lot of in and out with the engine and transmission. The Quarter Master one for you would be the 721 series.

The Top Loader is a limiting factor for clutches. Very few manufactures make a clutch for the Top Loader 1 1/16" input shaft with 10 spines. Most are for modern transmissions with twice as many splines. I could only find clutches from Quarter Master and Mc Leod that would fit a Top Loader. Tilton no longer makes a clutch that fits a 10 spline input shaft.

Let me now what you decide, or if you are able to find someone else who makes a clutch that would fit a Top Loader.

Cheers,
Jim

[blykins]

Nodular iron flywheels and pressure plates are a big no-no. They will stress crack very easily. Billet steel or aluminum is a racing standard.

All kinds of manufacturers make a clutch for Toploaders, they are easily found......McLeod and RAM have the two largest selections.

[1795]

Originally Posted by blykins

Nodular iron flywheels and pressure plates are a big no-no. They will stress crack very easily. Billet steel or aluminum is a racing standard.

All kinds of manufacturers make a clutch for Toploaders, they are easily found......McLeod and RAM have the two largest selections.

Brent,


My mistake, I just checked again with my order and the flywheel is steel. I was going to change it if possible to aluminum, as it is getting shipped today. I also still have the aluminum flywheel on the engine just n case. Thanks for all of your help.

Jim

[xb-60]

Jim,

Thanks for the clutch advice. I'll let you know what I end up with.

Cheers,
Glen

[blykins]

Make sure no organic discs at that horsepower level.

[1795]

Brent,

Thanks. I purchased the heavy duty disc, not the organic. Should be here tomorrow.

Jim

[1795]

Greetings,

Well, my Quarter Master clutch, HTOB and steel flywheel arrived yesterday, along with a new Lifeline fire system. The clutch, flywheel and pressure plate arrived all bolted together and since the engine is going out for a refresh and it was freezing in the garage, I decided to use leave it altogether for now.


They looked nice nd the HTOB has a nice feature in that there is a locking stud that prevents the HTOB from spinning on the shaft during install. My McLeod does not have that capacity and the HOB's do spin a little when you are trying to line up the input shaft with the bushing and bolting the transmission to the bell housing. Always wondered if my depth was correct after the transmission was installed and there was no wy to get a micrometer in there.

I did test fit the assembly on the input shaft to make sure that the correct disc was in the package and it slid on nice and tight (but not too tight).


Jim