Saved some lunch money and invested in a new converter.

I told the folks a Continental to make the unit high stall but super efficient, they said it should flash to 3800 behind my small (209) SL6 with only 4-5 % loss.
Time to go do some wrenching!
DD

Doug, that looks & sounds like a nice converter. What do you have in the car now? Is it a 9" converter?
I have located an 11" 904 converter that is rated at 2500 stall & was behind a small block, any ideas in difference when bolted behind a Slant?

Bob,

An 11" will stall lower than your stock 10.75" converter. I tried an 11" and got about 1700 stall behind a warmed slant. Definitely go for a 10" or 9" (Dennis and Elam are selling them, I think?). Contintental is a good company, and I've heard Midwest is good too.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I'm still kinda foggy on the advantage(s) of high stall torque converters. What benefit do they have? Do they last as long as stock TCs?

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

A high-stall converter allows the engine to rev up into its powerband before launch, or during acceleration in a high gear. You can sit on the line (or at stoplight) and hold brakes and apply gas to rev to, say, 2800 RPM so that a high-perf engine does not lug. Most high HP engines have their power range start around 2500-3000 rpm, so they are doggy with stock converters.

As long as you keep a converter cool (trans cooler) and it is well built, then it should last as long as a stock one. You get gains in performance even with a basically stock engine because you are getting the engine to a higher torque and HP range right off the line.

Downsides are a little worse gas mileage and a little more trans heat from the increased slippage. A good 10" converter (2600-3000 stall RPM) will only cost you maybe 1 mpg and will feel almost like a stock converter until you stand on it.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

You can think about conveter stall speed in terms of how much engine RPM you give a manual shift clutch before you let it out. Drop the clutch with lots of RPM and you get a good "jump".
The nice thing about a torque converter is that it will not pull the RPMs way down like a manual shift clutch "dump" will, instead, the converter actually multiplys the torque until reaching its stall speed RPM, at that point the stator inside the unit locks and the converter then acts like a fluid coupler.

The thing to always think about when selecting a high stall converter to to know your freeway cruising RPM, you want a stall speed lower then your cruise RPM or else the stator will never lock as you drive down the highway, this leads to slippage, heat loss and short converter life. This is why high stall converters and "tall" freeway rearend gear ratios are not a good combination.
A torque converter is a pretty "trick" piece of engineering work, they have a "black magic" about them because they are welded shut and the average person never gets to look inside.
DD

PS for Bobby, my current converter is a reworked stock size (10 3/4) and it is not real efficient.

Doug, if you don't mind me asking, how many pennies did that beauty set you back? Sometime in the future I'll be in the market for the Duster.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

im not a member here but i asked about converters and slantzilla guided me here from moparts. you guys have a great mod in that guy.

Thanks FuryIII! That's what I keep telling these guys.....

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Dennis is OK, he just needs to get his car to run the number!

As for that converter, lots of $$$, I have not eaten lunch for the last 140 days! (remember math word problems )
DD

I'm pretty good at math word problems.

Q. Every day that Doug eats lunch, he buys a sandwich that costs $4.00 and a drink that costs $1.00. If Doug decided to not eat lunch for 140 days so that he can save for a new torque convertor, how much money will Doug have saved at the end of the 140 days?

A. $4.00 + $1.00 = $5.00, $5.00 x 140 days = $700!

Wow Doug, I hope you spend less on the average lunch than I do!

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'68 Dodge Dart 4dr Sedan

Hey now Doug, my car will always run the number, just not the one I put on it.

When you gonna have yours back togehter? I'm going to be following the converter deal pretty close.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Holy Moly, TCs can cost that much???

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

$700 is a good price on a 3800 stall. Some race convertors are now selling for just over a $1,000.

Cecil

Converters are an area where you definitely get what you pay for.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.