I've seen tons of hear-say about guys who think they know torque converters. I thought this link would be appropriate, especially here in the drag racing section where I commonly see questions about an off-the-shelf converter that's supposed to stall at a certain RPM. WARNING: the link contains language. Everything I've ever learned about converters is backed up in the link, stators, fins, pumps, turbines, sprags, diodes, etc. http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428435 Just thought I'd share this in case some of ya'll haven't seen it yet.
Dirty Dog Converters are good stuff.....That guy knows his chit for sure..... He does business out of the greater Cincinnati Ohio area. In fact next automatic build I do......willl have a dirty dog converter......
Best Converters I've Ever Bought Coan Conv call CRAIG He will keep you on the phone for hours and tell you everything you need and when you say when can I get it He says OH in about two weeks. These guy's really build for your combo. Anybody tells you they have one on the shelf and we'll send right out dont buy it. Be PATIENT and wait it's well worth it.
Coan is so so......in my book.......talking from xp. 3 of there trans and converters in the family.......I had a front pump market take a crap on my original build......only had 8k on it. Sold it to a member and according to him he has to have the trans and torque converter redone. It had less than 10k on it......dads cougar is holding up.....the one in my bros car is a trans brake full manual reverse shift valvebody......yet to be used......
Maybe the problem is in the install not the converter or trans. If the converter is not spaced properly #1 in dos and donts and you dont know anybetter that can leave you to believe its their fault. They build them everyday how often do you install em?
Mavman, I've really never done anthing with an automatic for the street but have used them in drag racing for over 30 years and in all that time I've only gone to 2 shops to have the converter or transmission work done, Marv Ripes of A-1 Transmission and Mike Stewart of Mike's Tranmission (home of the fastest Powerglide in racing...........sub 6second car), but that's just me. Back back when I started racing I really had to trust the person building them to give you what you needed to win races and because I was racing on a "Shoe String" and it had to last (with oil changes/good cooler/frequent filter changes) a long time..............Marv Ripes of A-1 built my first Powerglide in my SS/IA Camaro and it lasted for over 3 years of serious racing...................the powerglide from the Maverick was just freshened up a llittle because it was originally done by Mike of Mike's Transmission in Lancaster, CA, (this transmission lasted almost 10 years)...............Mike loosened up the converter and freshened up the trans and I'm hoping it will last at least 3/5 years of serious bracket/Nostalgia racing in the Maverick. I am also hoping that with the looser converter and some header mod's I can get to 1.2 or less 60' times.
Did I say anything about advertising so and so's converter is better than whats his name's? No. Heck I can grab a credit card & pay whats-his-face for the baddest race transmission available for 4011 HP. Sure it'll last forever behind my junker 438". But what fun is that? I guess if you want to just run, and don't care to learn HOW your car works, that's perfectly fine, but was not the purpose of the original post. The post was aimed at showing what part of the converter does what, and also shows that just picking a stall speed and buying that certain stall speed means very little. I have a converter guy...I've used a bunch. Marv is a good guy..have spoken with him a few times. Also have worked with BTE, Coan, PTC, A-1, TransGo, Dacco, TCI, B&M, and a few others I can't think of right now. Converters I can't do. I can however do my own transmissions. Once I learned the C4 when I was younger, with Old Guy's help, we got 'em figured out for our usage. Then I graduated into some Powerglides. That was probably 10 years ago give or take a couple and I'm still running the same one I built back then...and have built some for other folks too. All are going good with the exception of two broken planetaries, which those (stockers) are time bombs anyway. Sometimes they last forever sometimes they make one pass. I went with a 1.80 on mine. The other one went back to a stock 1.76 and has his fingers crossed. I will say this...and I think I speak for a lot of trans builders. You (we) learn from mistakes. And I'll leave it at that because most of the trans builders know what I'm talking about. One big thing I've learned by reading forums is that there are two parts that are very opinionated. Carburetors and torque converters.
Sorry MavMan, I didn't mean to turn your thread into an advertisement. As for the advertisement, well sometimes I get carried away, but I am very proud that I have met and talked with these gentlemen in person, looked them in the eye, and gotten what I perceive to be an honest answer with no BS attached! But I did think the article was very interesting and what I took away from the article, other than explaining how an automatic works, was that off-the-shelf converters are just that and if you want one that will work with What I took away from the article, other than explaining how an automatic works, was that off-the-shelf converters are just that and if you want one that will work with "Your Combination" you need to consult someone in the know. Although I have a pretty good idea what a fulid coupling is and spent a few hours learning fluid hydraulics in college, I have no real drive to build an automatic...............leave that to the guy who loves doing it and has the experience (like you)...........I'd rather spend my time and energy working and building my "junker stock block 408" and trying to make sure it doesn't grenade itself all over the track trying to make that magic 850hp without any power boosters rather than worry about the transmission.......but hey, that's just me. I am not a transmission builder and really never will be, so I'll leave that to knowledgeable transmission builders like yourself. To me, picking the right converter is like picking the right cam...........both take a lot of information/calculations/guess work/experience to get right and with both, if it doesn't work the way you wanted or thought it would..............it's easy enought to just change it out and put something new in its place.
