gtc industries torque converters

[r97]

hay all

any one have any opinions, reviwes, experience on the new gtc industries torque converters? the only info i could find about it as this http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/general-minibike-talk/25463-gtc-has-tav2.html if you read the last couple of pages some one was very upset with it. despite that i bought one anyway so far i've had none of the problems that the other guy had every thing looks to be great qualty and some of the part are made by azusa bearings ect. unfortunatly i wont be able to test it out until a couple months from now. so any input is appreciated to give me an idea of what i should expect. thanks oh ya and heres there website http://gtcmanufacturing.com/GTC-TC2-Gokart-Torque-Converter-1002.aspx im also putting in a pole ,the options are dislike perfectly fine and realy like

 

[Blazkowiez]

I honestly don't trust after-market clutches until I've seen them. These Chinese clutches seem decent but are very affordable. What makes these anything better than Comet like they claim? Their website makes fantastic claims about how they produced these clutches using state of the art machining techniques in CALIFORNIA... I say this questioningly because I find it hard to believe they're actually making clutches.

They show no real pictures of their personal machines or their production standards. These just look like Chinese clutches that have been screenprinted. I believe they may be stamping out these fancy aluminum backplates which is neato but still not anything because the clutches are the things that do all the work.

I read the whole forum post you lead into, I'm fairly certain we have Chinese clutches put on an American made stamped plate. Yay! A reason for them to charge 100dollars extra. I am very disturbed by the guy who paid 212 dollars for the set-up and had to wait several weeks for it to ship and get to him, this is a supposed American made product, and an American based company shipping across America using UPS or even the United States Postal Service, should've taken at most 8 days from order to delivery if he was at some far reaching place where it needed to be trucked through the snow and ice.

Best I can say is they have no market to price the item the way they are, their prices are the same as Comet when they were in business. Comet had a direct right to charge 180-215 for their assemblies due to their long track record and quality product. This is some upstart company who decided they can charge the same price after being in business for 6 months versus 60 years.

 

[r97]

yes i to am not quit shure what happened with the shipping for that guy. even though he had problems mine was shipped fri and recived wed with all parts included and no problems (i also live on the east coast) so far my experience has been the exact opposite
but like i said i still havent be able to test it because i dont curently have an up and running kart which is whats really important. anyway thanks like i said any imput is fine with me

 

[turbojimmy]

I have one on a Manco Phoenix Eagle II kart. I bought the cart with the stock Fun Power engine and a rusty Comet converter. I think it's a 30-series. The rust was shredding the belt.

My brother happened to have a new GTC setup new in the box, unused. All of the pieces are visually and dimensionally identical to the Comet TC on my kart. The steel used in the construction of the GTC is as thick as the Comet and I would venture to guess that they weigh exactly the same.

The back half of the Comet drive pulley and the entire driven pulley were rusted in place on my kart. I used the front half of the GTC drive pulley, the Comet back-half of the drive pulley, the GTC-provided belt, and the Comet driven pulley. It all functions quite nicely. It appears as if the GTC and Comet parts are interchangeable.

I'd like to be able to get the old Comet driven pulley off one of these days, but it's pretty well seized onto the jackshaft, and the jackshaft is seized to its bearings. It's working right now, so if it ain't broke....

I did not use the aluminum bracket that GTC provides since my kart has a jackshaft arrangement. It appears to be a quality piece, though.

My Frankenstein combination of clutch parts functions perfectly. Smooth acceleration right up to top speed. I recently switched to a 6.5 HP clone instead of the Fun Power. This setup will yank the right front tire off the ground if you punch it from a dead stop.

I guess time will tell whether the GTC will hold up as well as the Comet, but so far so good.

If it ever stops raining I'll post side-by-side pics of both the Comet and the GTC.

 

[r97]

nice to here some good reviews on something i bought (but havent yoused yet)

 

[weekendwelder]

I think i might buy one when i get enough money. Once I try it out I will let you know.

 

[fowler]

whats their price compared to the average comet (used and the odd new one)

 

[r97]

gtc tc kit is 179.99 3/4" bore and like 212.00 1" bore, the company that bought comets dies and machinery (not gtc ) is making stuff exact to comet specks (which i think so is gtc) but unfortunately have only 3/4" #40 chain available and are using the stamped back plate. im not sure what comet tav kits go for now a-days but prob wayy more than 179.99 if you can even find them, its sometimes cheaper to get a used kart, take off tc then sell kart than to buy the tc itself

 

[metalthrashinman]

I purchased the GTC torque converter for my project. Removed the Subaru EX17 engine from my kart and installed the EX27 engine. Almost a 100cc upgrade. Was surprised to see that the shaft was 1" on the new motor-- uh oh! Ordered the GTC kit and paid $212.00. Was supposed to bolt right on, but NO WAY! After MAJOR modification including filling in the factory drilled holes with bolts and grinding the bolts down to eliminate them effectively filling in the holes, I drilled new holes and made the thing fit. I must say that the unit is functioning perfectly and pulls hard and shifts fast. Like a totally different kart. Thumbs up from me.

 

[r97]

you shouldent have had problems with the bolt pattern, did you mount the tc in an odd way?

 

[metalthrashinman]

you shouldent have had problems with the bolt pattern, did you mount the tc in an odd way?

Nope. The problem was that the opposite side of the driven pulley (that you cannot see in their picture) is very large and actually hit the engine. Not a chance to make it fit unless griding down the plastic rear oil fill cap (luckily there are 2 of them on this engine -front and rear), spacing it out with some custom metal, and relocating the factory drilled holes. This was a VERY large project that I have spent WAYYY too much time on, but the finished product is AMAZING. Once I re-geared the sprockets and built my new chain (I went down 12 teeth in the rear), the sucker knocked my socks off!

Got about 8 hours on the thing now, and it seems to just get faster and faster. Lovin' it. I highly recommend this product, but am still a little angry that they advertise that it fits the Robin engine. Not to pat myself on the back, but most people would not be able to make this work on the EX27 engine. I'd bet my balls that most people would just send it back and give up.

Editing this post---It apears that I was incorrect that this TC would not fit this motor. It will fit in the inverted position with the jackshaft forward to the engine, but they never mention this. Although this would not have helped my particular application due to the fact that my kart's frame would have been in the way preventing an installation of this kind, I do not blame myself. The directions that come with this thing SUCK. They really leave the installation up to the creative man, and if you are not skilled, you are screwed. It's a box of parts with the assumation that you know what you are doing.

I also believe that this unit (GTC Tav2 30-100) could in no way handle the 13hp it claims to. Even Comet only rated the original to 8hp, and I believe this to be true for the GTC. 8hp max.

 

[redsox985]

Betting your balls is not a good bet to make.

 

[r97]

send a letter to go karts usa and tell em it doesn't fit on the ex27 they say it doesn't fit on 11 or 13 horse hf clones either (well not easly). i wonder if original comet stuff had this prob too

 

[metalthrashinman]

Betting your balls is not a good bet to make.

Ha Ha! -- I only bet them when I'm SURE that I will win!!!!!

 

[metalthrashinman]

Oh yeah, and BTW; I had to grind the spacer down too because when I spaced the mounting plate out, the pulleys no longer lined up.

The bolt that they supplied for the shaft did not fit either, but a trip to the hardware store fixed that.

Also a disappointment is that they tell you that you should not operate the converter without the protection cover (plastic) installed, and it WAS NOT SUPPLIED. Now I need to spend even more $ to order that too.

----AAARRGGG---- Just went to order it and it is $30.00 AND NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL 9/20!!!
Maybe I should change my vote...

 

[r97]

just dont get the cover (p.s bmi sells tav covers, gtc prob just needs a little bit extra cash to get there company in full swing.

 

[r97]

gtc is selling snow mobile clutches now http://gtcmanufacturing.com/SNOWMOBILE-CLUTCH-HIGH-PERFORMANCE.aspx, it would be nice if they moved into the 40 series, and cent clutch market

 

[metalthrashinman]

just dont get the cover (p.s bmi sells tav covers, gtc prob just needs a little bit extra cash to get there company in full swing.

I want it for safety (my little girl rides as a passenger and has VERY long hair), to keep out some of the dust, to keep out some of the water from the grass dew, and I think it looks cool.

You say it is available elsewhere?

 

[r97]

this site sells them but they seem to be missing the second and third pages. http://www.bmikarts.com/shop/?shop=1&cat=168

 

[r97]

i received an e-mail from gtc a while back saying they are going to give a discount on my plastic cover, that may be because i was prob one of the first to order