need help with torque converter selection

[dcred]

need some help i'm building my first hot rod a 440 for the street / strip manly for the streets-- engine is 30 over -- moper purple cam 284/284 484/484 108------ the rear end has 3.91 gears the trans is 727 with a shift kit fast fuel injection need recommendation on size and stall and what kind of torque converter ---i dont want to have a dog out of the hole This is my first mopar i have own 1966 coronet 440 my trans guy is telling me i need 10in 2800 stall converter any recomendation would be helpful ........ i'm new to the sight

 

[Kern Dog]

Call Lenny at Ultimate Converter Concepts. I got my 11" converter from him. The smaller companies are often great at customer service.
I run a 493 with the 284/528 solid lifter cam, 3.55 gears. I got a 11" unit that is tight enough to give great response without engaging too early to bog the engine.

There seems to be a good supply of 10" converter housings because I keep hearing of guys getting that size. Converter companies sometimes have to resort to using used 11" cores if the customer requests it. I didn't wan't a "loose" 10" converter. The taller the gear, the tighter the converter needs to be. A 3.55 gear like mine works well with a slightly lower stall. Your 3.91 may be fine with the 10" converter. The stall rating is always a guess anyway. The builders know that many factors influence the stall: Compression, camshaft, cubic inch of engine, axle gearing, weight of vehicle. This is why a good builder will ask all of these questions to help select the right converter.
I had a 10" converter in my Charger that was great for drag racing but was a pisser for the street. At the time I was running 3.91 gears and a Gear vendors overdrive. With the GV on, the final drive was 3.05. The loose 10" converter made the car feel lazy when in overdrive or if the engine was below 3000 rpms. I hated that. I decided to sell the GV, install a 3.55 gear and switch to a tighter converter. Now the car feels snappy at all speeds, just what I always wanted.

 

[Grabinov911]

I FINALLY got my trans problems worked out - with a complete rebuild and replacement of the 9.5" high stall torque converter and valve body. If I go into detail I'll just be repeating what Kern said! My car was awful on the street. I switched to a "stock stall" 11" converter. With my heavy car (70 B Body) and big motor (493 stroker with a pretty big cam and a 3.55 rear end) it still stalls above stock, but is WAY more fun on the street.

I wouldn't buy a converter with a higher than stock (or so) stall or smaller than 11" if you're doing a lot of street driving. No fun at all. I learned my lesson.

 

[Kern Dog]

Yeah, Like I wrote....A slippy feeling trans sucks ***. The throttle response felt like a boat on the water unless I floored it. From a dead stop, the car would rocket at WOT because the converter spun up to say 3000-3200 and tightened up. GREAT for drag racing. Trouble is, I haven't been to a dragstrip since 2006. I like cornering and street fun. Tooling along in traffic, if I wanted to ease past someone, the car felt sloppy.

To clarify: There is a shortage of 11" converter cores. As of last year, nobody was making new 11" housings. The internals were available but the outer housings were getting harder to find. Lenny had to hunt around for a used housing to rebuild for me. The 10" housings are available new which is why the companies are suggesting them to their customers. If they can make a "tight" 10" converter that stalls just a few hundred rpms over stock, that would be fine.

According to my 1969 factory Service Manual, the 426 HEMI had a 11" converter that had a 2350 stall rating. If your cam specs are just a bit more aggressive than the street HEMI, that may confirm the 2800 stall suggestion.

 

[HT413]

with that gear and a 27-28" tire, you'll be around 2800 rpm or so at 65 mph. I've had a really tight B&M converter - basically stock stall, I've had a crazy loose, 9" old school 4500 stall on the street and honestly, neither was very much fun. Now I have a 9.5" street / strip converter from dynamic converter and I love it. Drives like stock but when you hit it it flashes to 3800 or so RPM and the car really moves. But under normal conditions it drives like a normal converter - gets rolling at maybe 1300 rpm and cruises nice and easy at whatever rpm you're at.

Whatever you do, like stated above, call a smaller shop - you'll get exactly what you want at similar prices to the big shops (B&M, Tci, etc.)

 

[MOPOWER871]

This is what i love about mopar's and this site . The nicest people willing to take time to help out another mopar brother. BEEP !! BEEP !!

 

[383man]

I also run the Dynamic 9.5 street/strip converter and love it. It drives around like a stock converter but will flash to 4200 when I nail it at the track. I used to also run a Turbo Action 10" converter years ago in my old 3.91 geared 383 Dart and it worked great also. It was their 10" tight 3000 converter. Todays converters work very good and if you want a good one call the company you want to use and tell them what you have as they can build a converter for your car. I have only used Dynamic and Turbo action and they have both worked great for me. Ron

 

[dcred]

thanks for all the tech advice this is agreat site

 

[Xp29h]

I rcently used Revmax Converters
Revmaxconverters.com
They make them all when ordered and well done. They shipped it very quickly.

Gave them all the info on the build and they suggested a converter. Couldn't be more happy with it so far. Have more fine tuning to do with the stroker but they suggested a 3000 stall rather than a higher one that had been previously suggested. For what I'll be doing, just driving to have fun, it should be better at that lower stall.

Good luck!

 

[Bb70charger500]

Get a stock style converter . It's such a pain in the *** driving a car on the street with a 3500 stall ,it's great at the track but as you said your driving the car mostly so if your going to the track once a year it's not worth the headache

 

[383man]

Get a stock style converter . It's such a pain in the *** driving a car on the street with a 3500 stall ,it's great at the track but as you said your driving the car mostly so if your going to the track once a year it's not worth the headache

Not with todays converters. I drive the street all the time with my 9.5 Dynamic converter that flashes about 4200 at the track. And it drives like a normal conveter with no slippage at all driving it normal on the street. Converter technology has come a long way. Ron

 

[HT413]

Not with todays converters. I drive the street all the time with my 9.5 Dynamic converter that flashes about 4200 at the track. And it drives like a normal conveter with no slippage at all driving it normal on the street. Converter technology has come a long way. Ron

It really is true. This 9.5" converter is almost bipolar lol. It is perfectly efficient cruising around at say 1800. A little light acceleration and the converter doesn't just flash to 4000, rpm rises a bit and the car accelerates normally. Then when you stomp on it, the converter suddenly turns into Mr. Hyde, flashes (for me) to 3900 and the car takes off like a rocket.

Now I'm making way less power than you and if I had to guess, my car is a bit lighter with all of fiberglass and aluminum I have, the 4 link plus the lighter than stock seats... so mine flashes to a bit lower 3900. This just shows you how versitile the modern converters are. Two totally different builds and two very happy customers with what is guess is essentially the same converter.