72 455 with massaged heads , aluminum intake, q jet carb and headers. Advantage of stall vs. stock ? or disadvantages ? Its a street car not a drag car. Jegs sells the stall 2000-2300 for 99. Unless someone has one to sell. TH400 3 speed auto. thanks, Paul
not sure, but $99 one, is GM hi stall , (like in corvettes, BBC chevelles, etc) will wake up the bottom end well! (shop for new tires now!)
Check with Jim Weise at Tri shield performance he builds custom converters dialed in to the specs of YOUR car not just generic of the shelf stuff. I just bought one from him and my car is a street car. I have the same set up as you minus my heads are stock.
All the ol timers Ol Schoolers used ATI. Treemasters. They all new i was Building my Buick for years. When it was done. They all said . Buy an ATI. And i did.
dont buy a cheap converter, you better off with a stk one than a 99 dollar one. you converter is a major key art of drive train, when wrong it can let alot of useful power get wasted away. it is the only thing that connects the motor to trans as far as power flow goes.
X10, you get what you pay for. Stay with the stock converter. Do not cheap out on something so important. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/tsp-9-5-street-strip-converters-lifetime-warrantee.147066/
that converter is a GM converter, that has been rebuilt, ( no idea by who) it is equivalent to the stock conv in your car now, (as far as quality/strength) no one builds an brand new lo dollar conv, they just use factory conv to rebuild or mod, Jegs says 500 hp for that conv, ( it does say small block) I find it odd.....every time some comes on here asking for advice, most recommend HI DOLLARS ITEMS. many of us ARE NOT BUILDING RACE CARS! just street cars, with LIMITED BUDGETS! your stock conv has worked very well, a higher stall conv will help with accel from a stop. that jegs conv was a stock conv at some point, so my point is why is a $300 -500 conv needed? when GM made a factory hi stall, (which this probably is) not trying to piss in some ones cheerios, but not all of us have unlimited budgets,
I've got a couple cheapie ($75 with work discount) converters in a couple of cars. I'm happy with them. The high stall version in my beater truck has 5 years and probably 60,000 miles of daily driver beatings, autocross, and drag racing on it. Still working like the day it was new. Now, in my high end stuff, custom all the way. But, its definitely not always necessary to go that route.
Are modern TH400 converters better or more efficient than the ones OEMs used in the 70s? Particularly one with 200,000 miles? Thanks.
I've been no stranger to "making due" with what I've had or could afford at the time and have gotten by. I saved up all winter and bought one part at a time in order to rebuild my trans. Six months and $$$ later I'm ready with all my parts. I have more time than money so waiting doesn't bother me lol.
With the current state of converter technology today, you can have your cake and eat it too. If it is done right, you don't even know you have a converter until you punch it. That doesn't come cheap. Yes, the converter companies start out with stock cores, but the insides can be WAY different depending on the actual application and power they need to deal with. Can you get by with an off the shelf converter? Of course, but if your engine is modified heavily and makes A LOT more HP and torque than the typical more or less stock engine, you have probably spent a fair amount of coin on that engine. Why would you cheap out on a converter in that instance unless you want to roll the dice, cause that is what you are doing. If you have ever driven a car with a converter that is too loose, you know it gets old fast in regular street driving, even if it goes like hell when you mat it. Not everyone needs a converter. Having said that, IMHO, the OP doesn't need a converter, the stock one should do nicely. I don't see any mention of a cam, and that is probably the main reason for a higher stall converter. A bigger cam that loses low end torque needs some help getting into the power band from a traffic light on the street. I am amazed by the feel of the little 9.5" converter that JW sells. It feels like a stocker until you punch it. You are unlikely to hit that nail right on the head with a 99.00 converter, and it might not stand up to 550+ HP especially if you race it at the track.
Aftermarket 400 converters are better. Just like everything else, technological advances make the converter more efficient while stalling where you need them to. The more you tell a converter manufacturer about you car/engine, the better.
It would help if we had a little more info on the rest of your configuration. You could get more targeted answers. Massaged heads: how much are we talking? Flow tested? Lifter ratio? Stage 1? Small valve? Aluminum intake: which one? Out of the box or did they have some work? Q-jet: Size? Anything done to the bottom end? Camshaft? Rear end ratio? Not a drag car but will it ever see track time? Stoplight action? Just cruising? Full weight car? A/C? Factory interior? You likely could get away with stock but I would think a 2200-2400 stall would be preferable depending on the answers to the above. Larry is 100% spot on. Tech has changed a lot. If you have the time to wait and save up a little more, maybe an off-the-shelf converter from a good brand would be better and not quite as expensive as the TSP 9.5" cusotm unit. That being said, if you ever plan on doing more, or even building a new engine to stick in front of that TH400 at some point, then spend a little more now and go with the custom one. I always look at these things like I did when I worked in a tire shop. You could by the $300 set that will last 2 years or spend $500 and get about 5 years. End up saving more in the long run by spending a little more up front.
Thank you guys. I didn't go into detail because it's not a Buick and I didn't want to completely derail somoeone else's thread. It's a 1975 Jeep Cherokee. - 4500 lbs - 3.08 gears and 29in tires - AMC 360. 9.5:1. Lunati Voodoo 262/268 camshaft. 1.7:1 rockers. Holley Sniper TBI. I rebuilt the TH400 and reused the same original 200,000 mile torque converter. I was wondering how much I'm missing compared to more modern offerings.
Mikel, I was directing that question to the original poster. Your situation, while different, would probably still benefit from a new converter. regards, Scott
