How did you pick your torque converter?

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MRGTX

MRGTX

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How did you pick yours? What features do you look for? Are you happy with it?

It seems like the price range is pretty huge...from $200ish for a basic off the shelf "street/strip" unit at Summit to ~$1000 for a mild custom made one...and I'm certain that you serious guys spend way more than that.

I'm trying to pick one now for my cruise night/occasional strip application in my soon to be running 5.9 Magnum/A904 Dart. I'm on a tight budget...any tips on picking a decent converter that will do the job but not force me to eat beans out of a can for a month? :p

What's wrong with this inexpensive unit? The stall is slightly lower than what I had in mind but it's $100+ cheaper than a unit that offers 400 more RPM.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hup-27-20/applications/make/dodge?prefilter=1


Mike
 
i had a mopar cheap $200 converter and ran it for a few years -

I swapped to a dynamic 9.5" and what a night and day difference it made in the car - drove much better on the street - even at 3800 stall with 3.23's!!! compared to the 2500 stall of the mopar one

It lowered my cruise rpm about 300 rpm - it gave me more mpg and had a better et & 60 ft

It was the best money I spent on my car at the time
you definately get what you pay for in converters - but you know what? I paid $200 more then I should have!
 
It’s not a matter of picking one, but matching torque converter to engine output, cam profile, rear gear, tire size, weight, and intended use of car. You need to know what your cruise speed/rpm is, torque curve, and idle characteristics which all can be calculated.

If converter is miss-matched the car will be a pig to drive, and feed. Too lose and heat will destroy transmission, and fuel economy will suck. Too tight (low stall) car will be a dog off the line out of optimal torque curve.

Call up a converter company; give them your cars particulars listed in first sentence of post, and they can advise best compromise.
 
Do it right the first time. I called PTC for a quote on mine, they need to know as much info as you can provide. Car weight, intended usage, engine specs cam etc., rear gears, trans, tire size. Mine came in at around 700.

It might seem pricey, but do you want to got to all the work and expense to put one in that you aren't happy with? And then have to do it again?
 
they need to know as much info as you can provide. Car weight, intended usage, engine specs cam etc., rear gears, trans, tire size.
Click to expand...


and thats one time you have to be 100% honest about your combo and intended use.
 
Wow...so it makes a really big difference...
Thanks for the superb info, guys.

There's just no way to get off cheap in this hobby!! :D
I'll give Dymanic a call this afternoon.
 
MRGTX said:
Wow...so it makes a really big difference...
Thanks for the superb info, guys.

There's just no way to get off cheap in this hobby!! :D
I'll give Dymanic a call this afternoon.
Click to expand...

You won't be disappointed when you slam the loud pedal and and she launches ya like it's supposed to.

Like Joe said be very honest about what you have and what you want the car to do or it might disappoint you anyway.

I also recommend installing a trans temp gauge to monitor the trans temp.
 
I called dynamic and told them what I have and what I
Want to do . I have a 9 1/2 4200 I do not have the car together yet. I'm sure it will do what they say ! Good luck
 
DJVCUDA said:
i had a mopar cheap $200 converter and ran it for a few years -

I swapped to a dynamic 9.5" and what a night and day difference it made in the car - drove much better on the street - even at 3800 stall with 3.23's!!! compared to the 2500 stall of the mopar one

It lowered my cruise rpm about 300 rpm - it gave me more mpg and had a better et & 60 ft

It was the best money I spent on my car at the time
you definately get what you pay for in converters - but you know what? I paid $200 more then I should have!
Click to expand...

Definitely worth spending the money on a good one. I went with a 3500 stall BDR for my Dart, and so far, I'm really happy with it. I'll get some passes on it this summer.
 
I just called PTC (http://www.ptcrace.com/) and chatted with them for a while. Very friendly and informative...they quoted me $475 + shipping for a 9.5" converter with a 3500 stall. Not too bad, I guess...

Does that diameter sound correct for a 904/stock flex plate?

They wanted to know the cam specifications...this is a dilemma since I plan to swap out the stock Magnum cam next year for something more wild....so what do you guys think: will I have to re-buy this thing next year?

I'm amazed at how much I have yet to learn about thse cars. I have been drooling over classic muscle cars since I was old enough to drool...but this is my first time actually putting one together so I feel like I have been starting from scratch!! :D
 
if your combo changes most likely so will the converter needs. may have to send it is to be tweaked. in my opinion i would get the engine where you want it before buying a converter. why spend money more then once on the converter?

yes, a 9 1/2" is what most are recomending these days..
 
Thanks, guys.. .

So my goal is to get the Magnum installed, sorted out and reliable this year, start hot-rodding next year (when I have some more money!)...

So if a new (or tweaked) TC will be necessary after the new cam, etc; should I just set it up with the the stock TC from the original 318 for now? I know it would suck for performance but IIRC, it is a neutral balanced unit...

Thoughts??
 
MRGTX said:
I just called PTC (http://www.ptcrace.com/) and chatted with them for a while. Very friendly and informative...they quoted me $475 + shipping for a 9.5" converter with a 3500 stall. Not too bad, I guess...

Does that diameter sound correct for a 904/stock flex plate?

They wanted to know the cam specifications...this is a dilemma since I plan to swap out the stock Magnum cam next year for something more wild....so what do you guys think: will I have to re-buy this thing next year?

I'm amazed at how much I have yet to learn about thse cars. I have been drooling over classic muscle cars since I was old enough to drool...but this is my first time actually putting one together so I feel like I have been starting from scratch!! :D
Click to expand...


I think you'll be OK. I'm running a 9.5" converter that stalls around 3500-3800 with a Magnum 390 and a big *** cam. I'm also running 11:1 compression too, so that picks the bottom end back up a lot.
 
MRGTX said:
Thanks, guys.. .

So my goal is to get the Magnum installed, sorted out and reliable this year, start hot-rodding next year (when I have some more money!)...

So if a new (or tweaked) TC will be necessary after the new cam, etc; should I just set it up with the the stock TC from the original 318 for now? I know it would suck for performance but IIRC, it is a neutral balanced unit...

Thoughts??
Click to expand...
You're right about it being a neutral balanced unit.

What are your overall goals with the car? Are you trying to squeeze every last bit of E.T. out of it f or racing, or are you using it more for street/strip and just messing around?

If it's the latter, then the PTC unit that you're considering will be fine when you swap out to the Magnum motor. Otherwise, I agree with AbodyJoe. Hold off until you have the engine where you want it.
 
rnaz said:
You're right about it being a neutral balanced unit.

What are your overall goals with the car? Are you trying to squeeze every last bit of E.T. out of it f or racing, or are you using it more for street/strip and just messing around?

If it's the latter, then the PTC unit that you're considering will be fine when you swap out to the Magnum motor. Otherwise, I agree with AbodyJoe. Hold off until you have the engine where you want it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input...

Thsi is a street driven car that I'd like to bring to the strip a few times/summer...so it's not necessarily going to be the hottest small block on the planet. However, I would prefer a well matched, good performing unit so I'm leaning towards holding off for now...

...so what would happen if I ran the stock 318 torque converter? Would the car be drivable?
 
I agree, run a stock converter until you get your car modifications like engine, cam, tires, rear end ratio done, then buy the right converter once. Get your car and engine build sorted out and its intended purpose of usage first.

If you are not doing much drag racing then I would mention that to the converter company. You definitely want your converter "locked" when your torque curve starts coming in for highway and cruising so the car is not a dog at part throttle.

I made the mistake of buying a higher stall when I went thru the trans, with the "intention" of rebuilding the engine with big ported heads, 2.5 - 6K cam shafts, open exhaust. Then I just never did. I drove the vehicle with a loose converter and stock engine and it took all the torque out of the lower rpm range of the engine and made the vehicle very sluggish.
 
MRGTX said:
Thanks for the input...

Thsi is a street driven car that I'd like to bring to the strip a few times/summer...so it's not necessarily going to be the hottest small block on the planet. However, I would prefer a well matched, good performing unit so I'm leaning towards holding off for now...

...so what would happen if I ran the stock 318 torque converter? Would the car be drivable?
Click to expand...

All depends what the combo is now. What's the 360 set up like?
 
I agree with post 5 completely. i had mine built by coan racing and they asked for all those specs to build mine. made a HUGE difference from the off the shelf one i was running.
 
Comp did the cam. don't know exactly what this means, but it says.
GVL .475
tappet lift 273 279
Duration @ .050 224 230
Lobe lift .3170 .3170
Lobe seperation 110.0
Based on that and 10:1 pump gas they put me at 2500 stall.
Don't plan any time at the strip, just want to do good burnouts and look good!!!
B.T.W. What the hell does asll that mean. I'm smart enough to know I'm not smart enough
 
You guys are the best... thanks again for the input. :glasses7:

abodyjoe said:
All depends what the combo is now. What's the 360 set up like?
Click to expand...

The Magnum 5.9 is an original Mopar Performance "Magnum 300" crate engine with the stock mild cam, dual plane manifold and a 650ish carb...

I am still hunting for an Abody 8.75" rear axle at less than highway robbery pricing ( ;) ) so in the mean time, I have my stock, "fragile as glass" open 7.25" rear...my freshly rebuilt 904 transmission has upgraded clutches, bands, a shift kit and a 5800 rpm governer.

So if I put the whole thing together as-is, it would be a real snoozer with the 2.73 (ish) axle ratio... but with 4.10, cam/valve springs/carb swap, it would be an entirely different animal.

Would there be any serious drivability/durability issue with running the stock TC?
 
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