73 Duster build named Fred
Ok, time for an update….
Let me start off with thanking everyone for taking the time to try and help me figure out why my car was leaving so soft. Special thanks to @73smallblock for loaning me his spare converter and to @71Demon528 for taking the time to talk about my theory and for agreeing with me.
I felt all along that my converter wasn’t performing the way it should and that it was holding back the performance. Starting with the first time I dynoed the car, then to the track in Vegas, then the dyno again and finally the 2nd time in the track here, I thought there was something going on with the converter. The car just felt like I was driving a stick shift car with a slipping clutch.
Got the spare converter which is a 5300 stall (2600-3200 lb car with 360) Turbo Action on Friday after work and I proceeded to get to work. Pulled the trans and converter, then called it a night. Got up this morning and got the converter in and trans mated to the engine and stopped to go watch my grandson’s football game. He scored 2 touchdowns and a 2 point conversion and they won their game 24 - 8. Headed home to finish getting the car back together. Decided to check valve lash whilei I had the hood off and a couple of hours later with the trans fluid topped off, the car was back on the ground and ready for a test drive.
Backing up out of the shop, I immediately noticed a difference in the converter. Before, you could tell I had a 5000+ stall converter because it took a lot of throttle to get the car moving. Now it seemed to take very little to get going. At first I was concerned that the converter would be too tight and stall end up lower than the one I pulled out. By the time I drove around the block to the spot I use to test hits, I had convinced myself that this is what current converter technology was supposed to feel like and when I finally got after it and saw the converter flash at between 5400-5500, I immediately felt what the car had been lacking all along. This sumbeech gets up and moves now!
I stopped and launched the car again and witnessed a solid 5500 rpm flash again…. Hell yeah!
I’m not going to be able to sleep for 6 days now waiting to make the trip to @MOPARMAGA and @Newbomb Turk ’s home town for their Summit Racing series opener next weekend. I fully expect to see some new PB’s and finally get to experience what I built this car for. I should also be able to decide on how much more converter I will want when sending the PTC in. I might even choose to go with turbo action on the next build…. I guess we will see.
Ok, time for an update….
Let me start off with thanking everyone for taking the time to try and help me figure out why my car was leaving so soft. Special thanks to @73smallblock for loaning me his spare converter and to @71Demon528 for taking the time to talk about my theory and for agreeing with me.
I felt all along that my converter wasn’t performing the way it should and that it was holding back the performance. Starting with the first time I dynoed the car, then to the track in Vegas, then the dyno again and finally the 2nd time in the track here, I thought there was something going on with the converter. The car just felt like I was driving a stick shift car with a slipping clutch.
Got the spare converter which is a 5300 stall (2600-3200 lb car with 360) Turbo Action on Friday after work and I proceeded to get to work. Pulled the trans and converter, then called it a night. Got up this morning and got the converter in and trans mated to the engine and stopped to go watch my grandson’s football game. He scored 2 touchdowns and a 2 point conversion and they won their game 24 - 8. Headed home to finish getting the car back together. Decided to check valve lash whilei I had the hood off and a couple of hours later with the trans fluid topped off, the car was back on the ground and ready for a test drive.
Backing up out of the shop, I immediately noticed a difference in the converter. Before, you could tell I had a 5000+ stall converter because it took a lot of throttle to get the car moving. Now it seemed to take very little to get going. At first I was concerned that the converter would be too tight and stall end up lower than the one I pulled out. By the time I drove around the block to the spot I use to test hits, I had convinced myself that this is what current converter technology was supposed to feel like and when I finally got after it and saw the converter flash at between 5400-5500, I immediately felt what the car had been lacking all along. This sumbeech gets up and moves now!
I stopped and launched the car again and witnessed a solid 5500 rpm flash again…. Hell yeah!
I’m not going to be able to sleep for 6 days now waiting to make the trip to @MOPARMAGA and @Newbomb Turk ’s home town for their Summit Racing series opener next weekend. I fully expect to see some new PB’s and finally get to experience what I built this car for. I should also be able to decide on how much more converter I will want when sending the PTC in. I might even choose to go with turbo action on the next build…. I guess we will see.
