I'll start by tell you that we don't use our 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 (VIN 3) as an every day driver.  We race it on Dirt Tracks in the area. These tracks are anywhere from 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile in length.

We've done a few legal mods to it to gain a little more HP... Headers, ported intake, long ram cold air intake and aluminum flywheel. Trouble is when we had the MTX-75 manual transaxle off the car we didn't install a new clutch kit.

We'd been having problems with "what we thought" was the clutch slipping and an occassional "popping out of gear".  So we decided to install a new clutch.  We installed "per Perfection Clutch tech support" a Stage Two Zoom clutch kit.

After installing it we test drove it around the house and down the street (country roads, thank goodness) and it seemed to quit slipping. We took it to the local 1/2 mile track to race last night and it looked VERY SLOW in the heat race.  In the race feature it completely stopped moving. . . only reving up. . . There are NO foward gears.  it won't even grind.  It does have reverse, however.

We are totally confused.  Could it be the ring and pinion gears?  We've installed NEW CV Shafts, which I failed to mention, CARDONE MaxDrive shafts.  We keep throwing money at this and we are literally and figuratively spinning our wheels.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. By the way, I am co-owner of a NAPA Auto Parts Store in S.E. Iowa

Gene Arnold
pizzad00d@hotmail.com