New Performance Mod! Lightened 250pounds! [SRT-4]

[dangerously_cool]

Well, today some work was done on the car, and the tranny is on the floor in my garage. It's 250 pounds lighter though...
We found the problem, the clutch fork pivot was broken, so the clutch wasn't being disengaged.

The axles are both out, the brakes disassembled, and the calipers are zip-tied to the frame. The clutch is going to a shop tomorrow to make sure it still works (it's a SPEC, and they don't make good clutches for the SRT-4 it turns out...), and the broken part will be replaced.

Here's what it looked like yesterday:


And the nice fan under the hood:

And Here's today:





Edit: This is my car, it's in the verification/ownership proof thread.

[T-Bird]

I told you you would have problems once you get up into the 300+FWHP range on that tranny a loong time ago didn't I. Hoepfully this will sort out the car and make it somewhat driveable until you burn up the clutch
Personally since you know the Spec clutch isn't that good for the car I would just get a good one while you have the tranny out of the carsince it won't be such a pain later when you have to do it.
This is why I waited until I had my truck to start working on my car (slated to lose the engine this week)

[dangerously_cool]

Yea you told me...but would the clutch fork pivot...thing really go because of the power?

Either way, I know the SPECs suck, I'll find out if there's still something left in it or if I should get another one. My axles are in good shape at least; if I put a pair of slicks on I've a good chance they'll snap.

[5vz-fe]

250 lbs..haha, that's a Jermey Clarkson out the car lol

[ZfrkS62]

Originally Posted by dangerously_cool Yea you told me...but would the clutch fork pivot...thing really go because of the power? Either way, I know the SPECs suck, I'll find out if there's still something left in it or if I should get another one. My axles are in good shape at least; if I put a pair of slicks on I've a good chance they'll snap.

No, that's just a shitass part made by chrysler. I've seen a pair of Stealths/3000GT VR4's with the same problem. All of the stress gets placed on that little ball during the clutch actuation since it's the fulcrum for the fork. Power has nothing to do with it's failure.

[dangerously_cool]

Originally Posted by Ronin005 and this is why some people shouldn't modify their cars. they get bigger turbos and they forget about upgrading the rest of the car to suite the extra hp, then they cry about this and that breaking and they don't know why. allot of things don't necessarily need to be upgraded right away, but its better off since it will save you headache issues in the future. i've scene plenty of this in the VW scene. people upgrade the turbo, get 250hp or more and leave the stock tranny and clutch in. sure at first the tranny and the clutch might be able to take it, if they drive in a suitable manner, but if they are upgrading the turbo theres a good chance they are going to be driving hard and well that will only break the weak links. axles are also very important in upgrading, as they are whats transferring all that extra hp, that they weren't meant to be transferring.

No worries here, I know the weak parts of the car. The axles go at around 350whp/tq with drag radials or slicks (street tires won't give enough traction), the water pump goes at 4-450whp, and the oil pump turns to powder with prolonged exposure to 450whp.

The pistons are the weakest part of the main internals, they go anywhere from 450whp to 530's. In fact, there's a nice video I have of a guy seeing what maxes out the stock engine; he blew the 2nd piston at 1/8th of a mile, and still ran a 12.9 in the quarter, despite coasting down the rest of the track.

Oh, and there's an AMS tuned SRT-4 with 587whp and 579wtq running around; he's still on the stock tranny. There are batches defective from the factory, but for the most part these are stout transmissions. I doubt it'll go at my power level.

Case in point, the Mopar (DCX owned here...) Stage 3R turbo kit runs on race gas around the 340whp I make on pump. All of these cars run the stock transmissions, and the kit was tested by DCX/Mopar on the stock transmissions.

I know brakes always need upgrades commensurate to the power, and I'm considering getting slotted rotors and Hawkhead CF pads.

No whining here as long as I get it done before the 10th. If not, I'll whine.

Originally Posted by ZfrkS62 Originally Posted by dangerously_cool Yea you told me...but would the clutch fork pivot...thing really go because of the power? Either way, I know the SPECs suck, I'll find out if there's still something left in it or if I should get another one. My axles are in good shape at least; if I put a pair of slicks on I've a good chance they could snap but that's nowhere in the near future. No, that's just a shitass part made by chrysler. I've seen a pair of Stealths/3000GT VR4's with the same problem. All of the stress gets placed on that little ball during the clutch actuation since it's the fulcrum for the fork. Power has nothing to do with it's failure.

I thought so. Funny thing is I have no idea what happened to the pivot ball itself, it's not there, and it didn't fall out when we removed the tranny.

Oh and the throwout bearing is toast as well.

Originally Posted by T-Bird This is why I waited until I had my truck to start working on my car (slated to lose the engine this week)

I've already got a beater, this isn't really a daily-driven car any longer. It's a '97 Plymouth Neon, actually it's at the dealer getting an oil/brake pad job/ironing out some rattles.

[T-Bird]

hey you got any updates on the car? I had an interesting experience with an SRT-4 the other night and it reminded me of your car.

[dangerously_cool]

Hey T-Bird. Well, I have some updates. I lifted the transmission back up with the new clutch arm pivot ball in, and we put it in--that was a really hard thing to do with just a jack and two people. I tested it after the slave cylinder was put in, and you can spin the wheel with the car in gear, foot on clutch, so it worked!

I don't have many pictures but what I do have I'll put up. The only thing left to do is put the turbo hot side pipe on, and then the battery, intake, and wheels, and fascia. Then it's done. Unfortunately it's out of my hands now as I moved into my dorm yesterday.

So what was this interesting experience?

[dangerously_cool]

Hey update! It's finished, and I took it to a meet on Sunday. Good news too, is that I got an alignment, and it no longer pulls to the right so hard. I have a video, if anyone knows how to host it.