Well, fixed one problem and created a new one...
Clutch holds well, no slippage, but the heavier yellow spring with the extended arm was too much pressure for the almost 50 year old steering tower and clutch arm mount...It bowed out to the point the top of the arm was "clicking" against the driver pins...
At first I thought it was the gears themselves in the tranny grinding, when I tried to put it in gear at the line on the first hook...so I just jammed it in 2nd and got what wind up I could and let 'er rip...
Recall says I never got over 5800, and I think I worked "up" to that down track rather than launch speed...needless to say less than spectacular finish...
Went to pits and seen the arm rubbing the pins and with a little persuation (BH) got some clearance so I could make the 1050 run...That launch was also not of "epic" proportions, I did get rpm up...but release was less than smooth with the flex in the mount, again running a strong 5800 rpm down the track
Was pulling with the Dairyland GT Pullers out of SW Wisconsin on a 275' track..
Forgot my camera so I didn't get video of the runs...Out of 8 SA's, 4 went 194' to 196' for the wins and 4 of us went 169 'to 178' for the rest of the positions in both the 950 and 1050 class. ( I did 174' and 176' for a 6th and 5th finish)
Considring the clutch trouble I was glad to have done that...
I definetly think I need a different cam, I've been launching at 7,200-7,500 rpm and pulling around 5,400-5,800 and I'm afraid that's all she has... Talking with the top 3 guys (can you imagin asking advice from a 14 yr old..?) they were launching at 8,500-8,900 rpm and running low to mid 7s down the track (only one tooth higher than me) I think I could put the extra 1,500 rpm in the power band to good use if I had it...
Unfortunatly they weren't quite as open with cam numbers as they were rpm but looked like Hackman and Vogel were the cam of choice...