Transmission friction materials and more questions.

[375instroke]

Could someone explain when one would use Alto Red Eagle, Alto Kolene Steels, Raybestos High Energy, Raybestos Blue Plate Special, rigid or flex bands, brass impregnated carbon fiber, carbon fiber, or Kevlar clutches, bands, or steels?  When would one use 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 clutches?

[Ghoste]

The short answer is, it depends on the performance level.   For example, the higher amount of torque you are putting into the trans, the greater number of clutches you need to hold it.  As for using fewer discs, well, if you were an oem and building thousands of these things, the few bucks you'd save by putting in only as many as necessary would add up pretty quickly.  There are also some trans rebuilders who say that having too many clutch discs can restrict oil flow and shorten trans life.  I don't know if that's true or not but if it is I suppose it would be one of those things were track performance would overrule street longevity?  The friction material also comes down to performance.  Something like Kevlar works well in a hard hitting race transmission but I've heard that it performs poorly when cold and tends to grab harder than most people want on the street (think harsh shifting).
If you call a place like A&A and tell them exactly what you're real world uses for the car will be, they can tell you what to use for materials and number of discs and so forth.

[zeke]

 Buy the book on the 727 torquefite by Carl H. Munroe put it next to your toilet and read it. This book is very discriptive and will answer every question you have
BTW Carl H. Munroe owns TSR racing. Check out the website at  www.tsr-racing.com   In short your question probobaly couldn't be answered on these pages.

[NMike]

Could someone explain when one would use Alto Red Eagle, Alto Kolene Steels, Raybestos High Energy, Raybestos Blue Plate Special, rigid or flex bands, brass impregnated carbon fiber, carbon fiber, or Kevlar clutches, bands, or steels?  When would one use 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 clutches?

the clutch material is the same as a manual trans when it comes to type. the stock is nice and smooth, but will burn up with abuse. the racing frictions will last longer, but are not as smooth. steels are pretty much all the same. no real performance version.

the number of steels/discs is dictated by the thickness of the piston and the groove position on the drum. the more the better, but there is slight parasitic drag from the extra clurches. but this is for the front drum. the clutches are engaged in high gear. only drag in first and second. the rear clutch drum is on in all forward gears, so the number of discs in that is not so important. but more is better.

the flex bands are not as strong as the rigids. there is a slight chance that the  anchor point will snap off on the band during a real harsh 1-2 shift. the front band is the only flex band, used in second gear. rear is a solid. only used in manual 1 and reverse. again, no point in a racing rear band, usless you plan to run a trans brake.