South Bend Clutch pictorial visit

[Bendy]

Living within 2 hours of South Bend Clutch, I decided to pay them a visit about two weeks ago as they had a car there with the same drivetrain as mine of which they had just put in their hallmark product into - the "Stage 3" OFE clutch - and were willing to let me come up and check out how it drove as well as the shop. Did I ever get more than I bargained for! Andy @ South Bend Clutch is a wealth of knowledge of the clutch industry, clutch design, competitor products, and just how certain types of clutches will perform. I took a buddy with me and we've been into automotive performance for about a decade now, having done tens of clutch swaps, several engine swaps, and numerous other modifications in the past, and we really think we know our stuff. We thought we might bring up some technical questions that we might not get satisfactory answers for. Well let me tell you, we couldn't throw Andy for a loop. He had the answer for every question we could throw at him. From industry knowledge to what makes things more and less drivable to "Hey, come over here and I'll show you how this works," we were treated like we were the most important people in his world at the time. We expected him to really seem pestered by us and our annoyingly technical questions, but he was excited to have these crazy conversations. My buddy and I don't think we've had such a thorough and mass educational experience such as this for as long as we could remember. If you are ever in the Michiana area, take an hour or two out of your schedule and see Andy @ SBC. You will be wiser about clutches than you ever thought you would be.

We thoroughly enjoyed it, as if you couldn't tell. :) Below I will post some pics of the shop in general, and then I will make another post of step by step how SBC builds a clutch.

-99.5 A4 Avant 2.8qm - South Bend OFE clutch w/Fidanza LWFW

[Bendy]

The obligatory "My car in front of the shop pic" :)


The area by the front desk. Lotsa trophies been won by them thar clutches


Lotsa linings on the wall there. Most of what you see are kevlar linings.


You actually put a pressure plate on this tool and it will tell you how much force it can exert. Andy told me this is one of only X number of these machines in the US I think. It's been two weeks, so I don't recall the exact exclusivity of it, but just know this is a machine you aren't going to see very often. :)


A small part of the masses of parts they have on the shelves. They stock lots of OEM parts to modify.




They not only do cryogenic freezing for the parts they directly sell - they actually treat some parts in this setup for the govenment. They can do just about anything from clutches to rotors to whatever. The folks that use it swear by cryo treating. Night and day different. I highly recommend getting this done. Next time I get brake rotors I'm going to have them cryo treat them.



There be lots of power tools around. They don't make 'em like they used to.


Lots of parts and tools at this place. It's an automotive enthusiast's Disneyland.








I have no idea what these clutches are for, but they certainly are funky looking.






They do a lot of work in the pickup diesel performance area and this is a race motor they have built. I'm trying to remember and I think this is something like 600-700hp with a torque in the 6 figure range. I wish I could remember the specs. I think this engine and frame was going to be a truck built for a tractor pull...


Here's the shop's car that I test drove. Unbelieveable clutch. Felt perfect. Light pedal effort and depending on how you drove it, it could be a traffic jam lover or grab as hard as you wished.

[Bendy]

I'll post the "How a clutch is made" pics later. Give you something to check back to this thread for. :)