i was going to get one of these three converters for my 89 iroc with a stock 700R4, which one should i get? any problems with any? i know i heard bad things about the B&M holeshot (are the rumors/bad things true?), but not the tork master, well take a look:

TCI Break-a-way Lockup
B&M Tork Master 2400
B&M Holeshot 2400

thanks!

 

honestly I wouldn't run any of those in my car even if they were given to me.

 

are they THAT bad?! whoa, any recomendations?

 

Straight to the point eh ODB? LOL..you're right though, I'd look into a Precision Industres Vigilante. Recently, I've also heard good things on the Yank's converters.

 

isnt the vigilante or whatever like over 600$ and the TCI like 380$? is it me, or is the vigilant priced kinda high for a converter?

[This message has been edited by STL1994 (edited March 05, 2001).]

 

You get what you pay for. If you're willing to do the labor for a torque converter or pay someone to do it over and over, go with the cheap B&M or TCI.

Do it once and do it right. I believe the best choices are ProTorque (www.protorque.com) and Precision Industries (www.converter.com). I have run both.

------------------
Willie

Supercharged 1987 305 IROC-Z, Daily-Driver, Emissions-Legal.
Paxton (6-psig): 12.57 @ 111 mph.
Paxton (6-psig) & 50-hp nitrous: 12.04 @ 114 mph.
ATI D1SC (10-psig): ?

http://willie.camaro-firebird.org/

1987 "20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition" Z28 Convertible -- Super Chevy Show Class Winner, 1998.

[This message has been edited by Willie (edited March 05, 2001).]

 

http://www.yearone.com/nextgenparts/...tml#converters

look at these two precision industries converters from next gen. I would probably get the "TC77" one, or the "TC88L" (item #'s)

what are the advantages of a custom converter over the TC77 one at this site?

 

TC88L without a doubt.
but you can get them for $695 from other sources.

they are worth it in durability, performance, and reduction in rotating mass.

You should never have to replace one of those.

 

Okay I'm here to tell you as a owner of a Holeshot 2400 not to waste your money. The lock-up clutch burned out after less than a year. First it started slipping and then it quit holding all together. It put lots and lots of clutch material into my tranny fluid which in turn trashed my tranny. I read that GM High-Tech Performance was having trouble with their trannys and it turned out to be the sorry torque converters killing the tranny. They put in a vigilante and it was cured. I have used TCI in the past and had no problems at all.

 

i am in the middle of a decision between the Precision industries vigilante and the other one from the link i posted above. where can i get the vigilante for 695? i dont feel like spending $800+ dollars on a converter, when i can get it for $695.

one more question: i have a fairly stock 305 TPI car.

IT HAS ALREADY:
-edelbrock TPI single cat headers
-Dynomax superconverter 2 1/2" in/out
-Flowmaster American thunder exhaust system, 2 1/1" cat, dual 3" outlet tip things
-TPIS Air foil
-custom (or should i say GHETTO custom ) cold air intake with K&N air filters
-Hypertech cap/coil/rotor
-MSD superconductor wires
-180º thermostat
-all the suspension mods/traction crap you can think of

GOING TO BE:
-Auburn posi differential
-Richmond 3.73 gear set

its not exactly a race motor, it should be labled as a mild 305 TPI. so... is this converter going to be overkill, or will a custom converter work with what i have?

thanks so much! (anyone have a HP estimate for my motor while its all listed above?

 

My personal opinion is that with the stock cam you are not going to see a huge improvement. You will however see a marked improvement. These better converters have a higher torque multiplication ratio than do the TCI and B&M converters so you will come off the line better. But the higher stall speed is most benificial to a modified motor with a lot of cam that needs to get into the power band quickly.

 

STL1994,
are you in St Louis?
Yes you will get a huge improvement in performance with the same converter that I run in my car, the 9.5" vig. With the converter you can save the money you plan to spend on gears because you will no longer need them. You will need sticky tires, but that is the case either way you go to get power to the ground.
I lock my converter @WOT on the bottle twice during each run and it performs perfectly.
you can get them here..

http://www.racenet.net/

go to the site and do a product search on vigilante.



------------------
*I do custom performance mods on Edlebrock Performer carburetors (dualplane intake mods in the works),
White 1986 Irocz, 305 with iron #416 heads,
383 with aluminum TFS heads,
Edlebrock Performer-RPM intake and Performer #1407 carburetor, +110hp shot of crack, 700R-4 tranny, Vigilante 2400 lockup converter, 3.25:1 Ford 9" rear, Mcreary Road-Stars, SLP-stainless 1.75" shortie headers & Y-pipe, single 3" Borla exhaust, Linginfelter-TPI camshaft part number 74216 pulls 17" vacuum solid. Cam specs 213/219 @.050 114-LSA, sometimes advertised at 216/219 @.050 112-LSA .462/.470 lift @1.5:1 ratio. Using Harland Sharp 1.65:1 roller rockers. MSD-6AL, billet distributor, multi-retard, blaster-3 coil, and RPM switch. SouthSide machine subframe connectors, SSM lift-bars, Moroso 4" underdrive crank pulley.

N/A runs 10.9 @124,
Crack-runs 10.3 @135
haven't run at track since Oct-99

 

I just ordered one from Darrell Young Racing Transmissions.It is a 10" unit,kevlar clutch,anti balloon plates,3500 stall for $585.This is the best deal I could find for the money,
The Tci streetfighter that is in Jegs is a 10" but doesn't have anti-balloon plates.

------------------
92 GTA(only 226 made)ort matched sportsman heads with 2.05 valves,64 cc,milled .015,.028 head gaskets,port matched Accel runners,port matched plenum,port matched edelbrock intake,flow matched injectors,jet hot headers and 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust,Flowmaster muffler,underdrive pulleys,slp cam,1.6 rockers,slp cold air induction,52mm throttlebody,performance resource custom chip,Dyna module,Screamin Demon coil,Accel 8.8 wires,Bosch platinum plugs,timing at 10 degrees,tb bypass,relocated map sensor,shift kit,Fairbanks billet servo,pump vane kit & 2400 stall,Torque converter lockup switch,3.42 posi with welded axle tubes,Zexel Torsen HD diff.,Summit rearend girdle,solid pinion spacer,& alloy axles.Boxed panhard bar,lakewood lca's & edelbrock strut tower brace,Jeg's torque arm,Jegs welded in subframe connecters.Performance friction pads,turbo slotted front rotors,stainless braid brake lines.Roh ZT 17x8.5 front wheels with 255/40ZR/17 tires. 17x9.5 rear wheels with 275/40ZR/17's on the street.Hoosier 26x9.5 slicks on the strip.

 

raised in st. louis, but not livin there now

i have my gears ordered and everything, and they are being shipped to me, so is this going to fu<k with my converter? when they custom make it, cant i tell them what gears i have and they can make them work together?

if i choose to put in a bigger camshaft and do some head work, change the compression, intake porting etc... a little later on, should i wait to get the converter after, or get it made now and will it work with my more extensive mods later?

thanks!

odb- i was reading your sig, you have the vigilante in your 383 with lots of mods, are your sure its going to work with my mild 305?

what stall speed should i run?

[This message has been edited by STL1994 (edited March 06, 2001).]

 

it will work without any mods.
with the converter you will NOT need gears.
the gears may slow you down.
my 383 is probably as mild mannered as your 305 is now.

a friend of mine is running a TransAm with 700R and 2.73 rear gears with M/T E.T. streets (26") and runs in the 11's N/A. It pulls low 1.6 60-ft times because of his vigilante 3600.
It is very mild and is his daily driver.

 

mild? 11's? daily driver? vigilante 3600 converter? heck, those 4 phrases together is enough to convince me enough to get it and return my gears.

what stall speed should i get?

thanks!!

dont worry, im not expecting 11's for me, im just pointing out that that is pretty good!


[This message has been edited by STL1994 (edited March 06, 2001).]

 

I just recently got a Vigilante 2800 stall which I haven't installed yet. This is the stall that was recomended for me. As you can see I have only some boltons.

Bob

------------------
350 TPI, 700R4(rebuilt), K&N's, MSD 6AL, Headers, Flowmaster, 160* stat, airfoil, MAF screens cut out. 13.88 @ 101.18 mph

 

My friend is Shawn from the midwest streetracers board. If you have any particular questions about what it's like just email him.
sbeach@postnet.com

I prefer to stay under 3000 on the stall and I think that he is considering lowering his stall too because it flashes too high on the bottle. I have the tightest stall rating they could make. Definately keep the lockup feature as it's worth some extra performance too.

vizit miy homepayge
http://www.geocities.com/trailerparkpage/

 

I dont know if anyone has ever heard of this company before cause i haven't heard of them since i got mine, but im running a 2,800 stall Draco converter. got it from US Trans Parts in illinois. Still working fine since i installed it in may. anyone here ever run a Draco or even hear of them?

 

I have a trans parts converter in my C4 in my mustang. It's good for the money but nowhere near the quality of a pricision and no extra performance gain either. I've never heard them called 'Draco' before. I got mine back in 1994 because I kept breaking the stock ones. I told them I just wanted one that wouldn't break and so far it hasn't.
honestly though Precision is the only converter that I'd buy in the future if I ever need another one.

ODB

 

Precison Industries all of the way!!!!!

Totally different performance over the stock convertor...

Well worth the money..

Try calling Dana at

www.pro-built.net

He will take care of you...

------------------
Sportsman II 72 CC heads, Pete Jackson gear drive, Performance Resources chip, Edelbrock 1 5/8" headers and Edelbrock cat back exhaust, hi-flow cats, Trans-go stage 3 shift kit, Vigilante 9.5" 2800 stall convertor, SLP cold air induction, SLP roller camshaft, 24lb ADS injectors, AFPR, 3.45 rear end gears, and other goodies...


raven