Comet 94c clutch info

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 09:01 AM

Maybe I can get this thread to be a sticky?

I've been reading alot about the 94c clutch, and found alot of useful info here and all over the net, but there really isn't any "single" location to get the info we need for using these clutches on our golf carts.

Sooooo......

If you have any info to contribute, please do so, but keep this thread "clean" for reference. If you have any special questions, use PM or even start your own thread to get some responses. I'd really like any info you have to include pics and links to useful web sites. If there had been a thread like this, we all could have saved ourselves valuable hours of searching.

Thanks to everyone!

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 09:22 AM

Ok so here's what I know about the 94c. It was made by Comet, who went out of business several years ago. In it's day, the 94c was the "universal" clutch of snowmobiles, both stock and mildly tuned/modded. It's a very simple clutch, with very few moving parts, almost indestructible. The only ways these clutches get damaged/ruined would be from bending the covers, which I understand happens alot, or to use it on a high horsepower application. The 94c is good for up to 70 horsepower, so for our golf carts they are perfect, as most carts are in the 9-25 hp range. Parts are not "hard to come by" but are not "plentiful" either. They are highly adjustable, with only two main components to change for tuning, the spring, and the pucks.

The way it works is, the clutch spins with the engine and the weights/pucks will travel outwards with centrifugal force. They slide in slots that narrow as they get closer to the outside edge. The pucks put force on the movable sheave, pushing it closed, which then contacts the belt and begins to grip the belt and spin it. The spring is what gives the resistance to the movable sheave, allowing it to stay open until the desired rpm is achieved for engagement. The puck weight and the spring tension/length will determine what rpm the clutch will engage at.

Here's the general rule of thumb for engagement: the heavier the "total puck weight" is, the sooner the clutch will close/engage. And also, the stiffer/longer the spring is, the more rpm is required to engage. So if you want your engine to rev higher before it engages, you can lighten up the puck weights (or remove some pucks) and/or get a stiffer/longer spring. This is a trial and error type process that takes some time, but there are charts out there that will get you very close, then you have to play with it to get it to work the way you want.

Here's a chart to get you started. My recommendation is to figure out a starting point and use the "weakest" spring you can start with, then work your way up....

The pdf attachment if from a company that sells parts for the 94c clutches, good reference material, but I am not promoting their company because I haven't actually purchased anything from them.

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 09:38 AM

There are two basic types of 94c clutches. One that uses a "smooth" cover and one that uses a "ribbed cover". The general consensus is that the "ribbed" cover is the preferred one because the ribs in the cover allow a better grip on the pucks under force. The smooth cover is still fine for lower and medium horsepower applications, but there are rumors of people melting the pucks in higher horsepower situations. So for our carts, either version will be ok, provided you aren't running over 30 horsepower. Even then it would take alot of "slippage" to cause the pucks to melt.

Then, some clutches use a large spring, some use the small spring. There are only two diameters of springs, the smaller is a 1 5/16" diameter, and the larger is 1 9/16". One is not really better than the other, just a difference. So make sure when you order springs to get the correct diameter. Note, they are NOT interchangeable, you must use the diameter spring that was designed for your clutch.

Weights also will correspond with which type of cover you have, so when you order your weights, make sure they match your cover, either ribbed or smooth. They are shaped different and will NOT interchange.

Here's pics of the spring sizes, and one of the ribbed cover and smooth cover.

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 09:48 AM

There are many styles of the 94c clutch. Most of the differences are the center hub mounting type, and whether or not it has a "starter belt pulley". The hubs are typically two types, a tapered shaft or straight shaft. Which one you need will be determined by your engine.

The two most common sizes are: 1.) 30mm 1:10 taper or 2.) 1" straight. Most snowmobiles use the 30mm 1:10 taper, along with golf carts. Most (or alot) of clone and/or v twin engines use the 1" straight, although many may use an adapter to fit the 3/4" shafts.

Be very careful in choosing which size you need! Do your research on what size your crankshaft is on the engine you are using, and when in doubt, post a new thread here and ask questions.

I have heard that CPP (Cart Parts Plus a sponsor of this site) has been helpful with the clutches and adapters. I also know that Vegas Carts (also a sponsor) can help with clone engined setups.

http://www.cartpartsplus.com/

http://www.vegascarts.com/webstore/

This was not a paid nor prompted plug, just good info.

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 09:57 AM

For the G1 cart owners, I can offer my experience with the 94c style clutch that CPP sells.

http://www.cartpartsplus.com/yamaha-g-1-hi-perf-clutch

It's not cheap, but if you want some degree of adjust-ability on your primary clutch, this is the only way to go. You might get lucky and find a used sled clutch that will fit, but take it from me, this clutch works and you'll be glad you spent the money and avoided the hassle of buying and selling clutches that don't fit.

My setup is on a G1 cart with a stock bottom end engine, with an Enticer 250 sled top end. The stock clutch didn't give me what I wanted so I found a 94c from an EZGO that had the same size hub and a starter pulley. Well, it didn't work because the hub was about 5/8" offset toward the engine, so the pulley's wouldn't line up. It mounted up fine, but to use it I'd have to move the engine toward the drivers side to make it line up. So I bought the CPP performance G1 clutch.

This clutch is NOT a Comet clutch, it is a clone/copy made by someone else. It does, however, use the same parts for tuning. It's a ribbed cover clutch, and comes with 9 heavy weights, 53.3 gram I believe, and a black 1 5/16" spring that is relatively lightweight. It comes ready to bolt in out of the box, with an engagement at about 1500 rpm or so. It does not come with a "puller" bolt, so I bought one of those as well. It comes with a mounting bolt and a dust cover. Since my cart is lifted, the dust cover wouldn't fit so I left it off. Supposedly it doesn't affect performance, but if you get it muddy it might, so be careful and clean it out after mudding.

I changed springs and weights around a few times, and it's very easy to do, once you get the clutch removed. To remove the clutch on mine, I have to disconnect the rear shocks and jack the cart up as high as it will go, then remove the clutch from the underside. It takes me about 15 minutes to do this. Then switching springs and weights only takes a couple mins.

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 10:08 AM

So the setup I'm at now is like this:

This setup:
4. Third Mod: (6) 53.5g pucks = 321g total with black spring and stock gold secondary spring and new 1/4" longer belt
Result: engagement at 2000, wot shift at 4500 rpm
10 mph rpm at 3000 or so
feels much more powerful, not annoying
top speed 37.2 mph

In the photos here you can see all the parts I used, including the pucks, stiffer/longer white spring vs. black spring, and the removal tool on the right side. Also the first pic is a comparison of the EZGO 94c Duster (left) vs the CPP G1 94c copy (right). I did try the stiffest spring, which is the white one, and it definitely raised the engagement rpm and that was cool, but I believe it may have worked against me at higher rpm. I don't think it fully shifted, but can't be sure. I switched back to the black spring and was happier with it. So I still may play with a different spring and different weights. For now it works pretty good.

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 10:12 AM

proceed to next post, sorry

please delete this post

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 10:17 AM

In the first pic you can see that all 9 pucks are installed. In the second pic I have switched weights out and only installed 6 pucks. The pucks "must" be arranged in this type of pattern, evenly in pairs, or the cover won't work. It is also recommended that at least 6 pucks be used, although I have heard some people use only 3 pucks, but I've never tried that.

It also might be worth to note that when you change your primary clutch, your stock belt may not work for you. In my case, the Plowman's belt I was using that worked great in the stock clutch was too small and I couldn't get it installed without a fight. Once I got it, it was too short, causing the clutch to be engaged during starting. So I ended up using an older belt that I had laying around, still in good shape, but it was 1/4 to 3/8" longer....installed easily and works great. On a side note, my cart will sit and idle now without taking off. I raised the idle speed up a bit and once I get it started, it will just sit (with the parking brake on) and idle all day long. Nice!

slonomo · 08-19-2013, 10:43 AM

That's all I have at this point. Please feel free to add any additional info that you may feel is useful.

Any of you with big block setups, please post your pics and experience and advice about your setups, this may be very useful to others trying to do the same.

Thanks!

lady bug · 09-19-2014, 09:11 PM

Very informational post. I'm trying to clutch my 23 vanguard. It has cheetah cam longer rods fly cut piston cut port and polished heads roller rockers stiffer springs ect. Trying to tune the 94c that's on it without much luck. I would like to lighten the current wights I have and was thinking about making a jig and setting a drill press to a certain depth and wight each one till I have the proper wight. Also was trying to think of a way to remove every other puck but can't do to the fact there's only 9.

08-19-2013, 09:01 AM	#1
slonomo Searching for The Way Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Medina, Ohio (NEOHIO) Posts: 11,441	Comet 94c clutch info Maybe I can get this thread to be a sticky? I've been reading alot about the 94c clutch, and found alot of useful info here and all over the net, but there really isn't any "single" location to get the info we need for using these clutches on our golf carts. Sooooo...... If you have any info to contribute, please do so, but keep this thread "clean" for reference. If you have any special questions, use PM or even start your own thread to get some responses. I'd really like any info you have to include pics and links to useful web sites. If there had been a thread like this, we all could have saved ourselves valuable hours of searching. Thanks to everyone!

08-19-2013, 09:48 AM	#4
slonomo Searching for The Way Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Medina, Ohio (NEOHIO) Posts: 11,441	Re: Comet 94c clutch info There are many styles of the 94c clutch. Most of the differences are the center hub mounting type, and whether or not it has a "starter belt pulley". The hubs are typically two types, a tapered shaft or straight shaft. Which one you need will be determined by your engine. The two most common sizes are: 1.) 30mm 1:10 taper or 2.) 1" straight. Most snowmobiles use the 30mm 1:10 taper, along with golf carts. Most (or alot) of clone and/or v twin engines use the 1" straight, although many may use an adapter to fit the 3/4" shafts. Be very careful in choosing which size you need! Do your research on what size your crankshaft is on the engine you are using, and when in doubt, post a new thread here and ask questions. I have heard that CPP (Cart Parts Plus a sponsor of this site) has been helpful with the clutches and adapters. I also know that Vegas Carts (also a sponsor) can help with clone engined setups. http://www.cartpartsplus.com/ http://www.vegascarts.com/webstore/ This was not a paid nor prompted plug, just good info.

08-19-2013, 10:12 AM	#7
slonomo Searching for The Way Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Medina, Ohio (NEOHIO) Posts: 11,441	Re: Comet 94c clutch info proceed to next post, sorry please delete this post

08-19-2013, 10:43 AM	#9
slonomo Searching for The Way Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Medina, Ohio (NEOHIO) Posts: 11,441	Re: Comet 94c clutch info That's all I have at this point. Please feel free to add any additional info that you may feel is useful. Any of you with big block setups, please post your pics and experience and advice about your setups, this may be very useful to others trying to do the same. Thanks!

09-19-2014, 09:11 PM	#10
lady bug Gone Wild Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: mi Posts: 766	Re: Comet 94c clutch info Very informational post. I'm trying to clutch my 23 vanguard. It has cheetah cam longer rods fly cut piston cut port and polished heads roller rockers stiffer springs ect. Trying to tune the 94c that's on it without much luck. I would like to lighten the current wights I have and was thinking about making a jig and setting a drill press to a certain depth and wight each one till I have the proper wight. Also was trying to think of a way to remove every other puck but can't do to the fact there's only 9.

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