What budget torque converter?

The right TQ is the single most important part in any setup, IMO, beating out the cam by just a hair. It can make or break any combo. Yeah, if you just want a stock cruiser then go for an off the shelf part and odds are you'll probably be very happy with it. However, if going for any type of serious performance build, then it's absolutely worth the money to get a true high performance TQ that is matched specifically to your combo.

BTW, I'm a total cheapskate but a TQ is the one place I will never cheap out. Sometimes I will really spend some money on a particular part(s) but it's because I only want to spend the money, and do the work, once. Being cheap sometimes means actually paying more.