Tranny job coming up soon. CM, Spec or South Bend

[Devin]

Stock '90 SHO. Don't really look to be adding power now, or possibly ever. I have a CM stage 1 clutch I got way back when Midwest SHO was around, and I am looking to pull it down on a friend's rack and do some maintenance. Haven't really paid much attention lately, but should I stick with the CM or go Spec or South Bend? I know nothing about the latter two, or if CM is still quality.

 

[zoomlater]

I read some have had issues with South bend, you can probably find the post on this forum pretty easily. Haven't used them yet, but I have a stage 1 that I have been holding off installing because of those posts

 

[Irish Pride]

Oreillys/Sachs stock clutch from O'Reillys. Lifetime warranty! I have this clutch in every one of my SHOs except the boosted one. Even have the O'Reillys clutch in my Moonlight 3.4

-Chad

 

[Devin]

Stocker, eh? Not what I expected to hear!

Next question... any purpose in changing out to a lighter (17lb) flywheel?

 

[Irish Pride]

Stocker, eh? Not what I expected to hear!

Next question... any purpose in changing out to a lighter (17lb) flywheel?

Stock clutch will handle anything you can throw at a naturally aspirated SHO and has the best pedal feel. The lifetime warranty is worth it too.

I also have the SHOSource 17lbs flywheel in several of my cars. It's the best option for a lightened flywheel. I've used them all, 8lbs, 9lbs 12lbs, and I've sold off all of them once clutch time came around. For me it's the 17lb one or stock.

-Chad

 

[Devin]

Stock clutch will handle anything you can throw at a naturally aspirated SHO and has the best pedal feel. The lifetime warranty is worth it too.

I also have the SHOSource 17lbs flywheel in several of my cars. It's the best option for a lightened flywheel. I've used them all, 8lbs, 9lbs 12lbs, and I've sold off all of them once clutch time came around. For me it's the 17lb one or stock.

-Chad

I can't find a stock clutch on O'Reilly's website.

 

[black92]

If you choose Spec, Inspect it very closely.
This was purchased Nov 2023. I reached out to SPEC and was assured this is not an issue. Do not let Spec mislead you. These bent straps are indeed an issue and should not be acceptable. I returned my Spec product (another issue) and purchased a Clutch Masters from SHONUT.

 

[Irish Pride]

I can't find a stock clutch on O'Reilly's website.

The O'Reillys clutch kit and the Sachs kit on RA are the exact same kit. It's cheaper from O'Reillys and you get the lifetime warranty.

-Chad

 

[Irish Pride]

If you choose Spec, Inspect it very closely.
This was purchased Nov 2023. I reached out to SPEC and was assured this is not an issue. Do not let Spec mislead you. These bent straps are indeed an issue and should not be acceptable. I returned my Spec product (another issue) and purchased a Clutch Masters from SHONUT.

I used a Spec clutch kit one time and I didn't even get 10k miles out of it. I'll never use another one.

-Chad

 

[Devin]

@Irish Pride That's terrible. I think I'm up to about 70K on my CM stage 1. Thanks for the link. I put my car in and searched for clutch kit and it came back with 2000 results.

 

[Deathacus]

Personally bought all OE equivalent clutch parts from SHOsource a couple years ago, including a resurfaced OEM flywheel. Much smoother than whatever "high performance" stuff the guy before me had but tbh there is a ton of rev hang, so a lighter flywheel might be good unless you're dead set on going stock.

Probably the same thing as O'Reily or something but I didn't mind paying more to support the last specialty shop.

 

[luigisho]

Stock and stock equivalent for clutch and flywheel are the best for regular driving.

 

[BaySHO Performance]

Either the aforementioned Sachs (80 thou reinforcing straps) or Clutchmasters Stage 1 (120 thou reinforcing straps with HD rivets) for better shock loading. My go to flywheel is the 17 lb.