Why a $700 convertor???

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tooslow

tooslow

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I am running a 440 with 530Hp and a B&M 3000 stall $300 convertor.
I have read quite often the most important item is to get a "real" convertor. $600-$700 one. Really?? Is the B&M good enough for 650HP?
 
When purchasing a t.convertor,it,s usually matched with your cam,gears,tire size.The bigger the cam,the more you,ll spent to get all the performance from your engine.
 
tooslow said:
I am running a 440 with 530Hp and a B&M 3000 stall $300 convertor.
I have read qiute often the most important item is to get a "real" convertor. $600-$700 one. Really? Is the B&M good enough for 650HP?
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Sure its good enough, but the better converters are made with stronger internal parts & don't slip as much when cruising in traffic, & have a lower slip percentage after the stall point is reached which mean faster et's and MPH, and more MPG.
 
I am happy with the stall but from a quality stand point is a $320.00 B&M considered decent?? I have about 530hP at the moment
 
.......EL5DEMON340 has it rite......If its in the car u may as well leave it there........which B+M do u have?......kim......
 
pettybludart said:
When purchasing a t.convertor,it,s usually matched with your cam,gears,tire size.The bigger the cam,the more you,ll spent to get all the performance from your engine.
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Exactly. These are made to order and will not balloon and take out the thrust bearing like a less expensive off the shelf model.

I went with a 10 inch race from Dynamic.
 
Thanks and it makes sense
I take my car to road racing tracks
I drive pretty hard for 20 minutes
at a time. Heat is my enemy with my transmission especcially. Do think if I upgraded to a more expensive(better quality) convertor it would be beneficial?
I am planning on upping my HP to 600HP.
All I know is B&M
Can you guy's rec some good torque converter companies??
 
EL5DEMON340 said:
Sure its good enough, but the better converters are made with stronger internal parts & don't slip as much when cruising in traffic, & have a lower slip percentage after the stall point is reached which mean faster et's and MPH, and more MPG.
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Agreed. I spent $550 on a Continental converter for my n/a, 468 cid, 4460 lb Pontiac and it runs 12.9's and gets 14 MPG at 75 MPH with 3.23's and no OD. I'm pretty happy with it.

Other people at the track say, "my car's lighter and slower and gets worse MPG!" :glasses7:
 
With a quality built converter you'll probably notice a difference with less slippage (less heat generated) and a dialed in stall instead of "somewhere around 3000", I know I did. For that kind of horsepower and more importantly torque contact the guys below and be completely honest answering the questions. I installed a 10" turbo action 2 yrs ago and night and day difference.

http://www.ultimateconverter.com/home.html

http://www.turboaction.com/frame.html

http://dynamicconverters.com/converters.htm
 
Thanks guy's I am only running a performance series convertor. I went to the B&M site and read a PDF file on what goes into making a torque convertor? Now I understand
I took them forgranted'
I will invest in the right convertor
 
Maybe this will make your pocket feel better,I will be ordering a new converter after my freshened engine gets on the dyno.The new converter will cost almost $1300.00
 
I had a cheap converter behind a 450hp 440, Worked fine till it ballooned, pulled the seal out of the tranny empty it all over the road, killing the transmission and taking out the thrust bearing causing a total rebuild of the motor to be needed.
 
Finding a good converter ain't all about avoiding physical failure, either. Converters are torque multipliers. Cheap converters multiply poorly. Even those from big companies considered "good" converters are not the best torque multipliers. While they are good for the converter companies to crank out in mass numbers for ALL different vehicle combinations, that makes it bad for us, because in order to get a converter that 1) will LIVE behind REAL power and 2) produce a REAL honest 1:1 high gear coupling.....or as close as you can get, you gotta spend a chunk of change. Look at it like this. Did you go KMart and cheap out on the rest of your project? Do you really fancy a puked *** cheapo converter on a midnight run blowin a chebbies doors? Speed costs money. How fast do you wanna go?
 
Im never fast enough"StrokerScamp" Im "TooSlow".
" Hemi-itis" it didn't make my pocket feel better, my pocket dropped out of my pants-LOL!! $1300.00. Wow!
I am sure glad I started this thread. I have not really pushed my car hard yet. Broke everything in and fixed leaks last year. This year I am upping my HP by 60-70 with some luck,
I,m just running a street performance cheap convertor. When I stepped up to the B&M from my ALabama convertor I thought I was really hittin the big time!!! The Alabama was $190.00
I spent $1800,00 to have the tranny built to handle some HP and run cool.
Then I cheaped out on the convertor. I did not know to the extent a ballooned convertor can wreck everything. I think I dodged a bullet!!
 
balloned converter...wrecks thrust bearing on crank.....

been there and fixing it now....
 
Personally,I am tired of used converters and "this should work"I had an old 8 inch that was in my junk when it was n/a.I left it in when the blower motor went in.It wasn't 'till I installed a used 9.5 inch converter that I realized I was "BLOWING THROUGH" the 8 inch.Car picked up real nice but that used converter balooned after 4 passes and 50 street miles and started leaking at the weld.I thought it was a seal.Installed a new front seal ,put the trans back in,and soon as it had some heat in it the fluid was hittin' the floor.This time around I am having a new converter built for MY combo,and I corrected my carb problem also:smilebox:
 

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I'd get a custom made convertor from someone you can trust. A good convertor will pay for itself when you show up in the money.
 
DO NOT GO WITH THESE GUYS
http://www.edgeracingconverters.com/

I got dicked over so bad pulled converter back out 3 times and resent it on my dime after buying it from them with in two months they never got the stall speed right i told them 5500 they gave me 2000 lol then 2500 then 2900
i mean really its your job to build what i ask for i ended up selling the car because i was sick of pulling the trans
 
I'm tired of jerkin the trans too:homework::-\" Still not sure who to use for the converter.The top 2 are Pro Torque here on Long Island,Lennie at Ultimate or ATI.:-?
 
Also for you guys pulling the trans to get the tc out. There is no need. Pull and replace two of the lower bellhousing bolts with much longer versions. 8" long should work well. All you need to is pull the rest of the bolts/driveshaft/linkage and simply slide the trans back enough to remove the tc. The longer bolts will hold the tranny in alignment,makes it simple to replace the tc,slide the trans forward and bolt back up using original bolts.Be sure to use a long bolt on either side of the bellhousing lower down,lift the tranny by it's tailshaft and pull it toward the rear of the car. I keep these special bolts in my toolbox and painted them chrysler blue to prevent myself from sorting them into my shop bolt supply. The bolts act like glides so some grease on them helps too.

This should make your next tc changeout much easier!
 
People will spend thousands of dollars on a motor and tranny then buy the cheapest converter and set of headers. I never understood that.
 
AdamR said:
People will spend thousands of dollars on a motor and tranny then buy the cheapest converter and set of headers. I never understood that.
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lol.. i know. it makes absolutely no sens to me at all. only thing i can figure is that a ton of people just don't understand it.


a converter can make or break a combo.

the new ones these days are awesome. very efficient. that old head way of thinking that 3000rpm stahl is max for a street car is long gone. you get the best of both worlds with these new ones... mopar enthusiast magazine did a nice article a while back on the new type of converters. explained a lot in simple to understand language.


i went from an off the shelf ati. if i remember it was a 3500 stahl (on paper any way) and i thought the car ran goos and was quick. well i went to a 9 1/2" 3800 rpm dynamic converter and damn near **** my self when i felt the difference. holy crap man. at the track it felt like you were shot out of a cannon when i launched the car. but on the street it acted almost like a stock converter. i couldn't believe it. lower cruising rpm and when i hit it the rpms instantly flashed to the 3800 stahl..

had a couple friends that thought i was nuts spending $600 for a converter. that was until they drove my car with the new one in the car..lol. yea they bought one too..


i would call:
dynamic (lupo)
ultimate
ptc

see what place you feel most comfortable with..

the biggest thing when ordering a new converter is to be 100% honest about your combo and the intended usage of the car. it will be the deciding factor in if you will be happy or not with the converter they build for you.


.
 
AdamR said:
People will spend thousands of dollars on a motor and tranny then buy the cheapest converter and set of headers. I never understood that.
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If you stop and think about it, those two items are the biggest cost items IF you go with REAL good stuff. All the rest of it you can piece together over time. Machine work, engine parts.....all of that can be gotten at a budget friendly rate of time. It's not like you can buy one header tube at a time or one half of the converter at the time. It's easy to see how people get in a hurry wantin the car on the road and cut corners.....but they usually regret it later.
 
StrokerScamp said:
If you stop and think about it, those two items are the biggest cost items IF you go with REAL good stuff. All the rest of it you can piece together over time. Machine work, engine parts.....all of that can be gotten at a budget friendly rate of time. It's not like you can buy one header tube at a time or one half of the converter at the time. It's easy to see how people get in a hurry wantin the car on the road and cut corners.....but they usually regret it later.
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yup and they end up spending more doing it twice...lol
 
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