Ok here is my problem. I have done all of the mods that are in my signature and haven't improved in the 1/4 mile. I think what my problem is that I don't have much power below 3000-3500rpm. so if I get to that faster I'm sure I will be better. Last night I lost a race to an ALL STOCK 88 GTA. he lost me off the line and kept the car length on me the whole time. so I was just wondering if I should do gears or a TC? I plan on doing both but just one for now, thanks. Also if anybody else has any suggestions and to what else might help please let me know.

Josh

 

Take the stereo out.

 

A good torque converter is hands down going to be worth more than gears.

 

what stall speed would you recomend? I was thinkgin 2500rpm-3000rpm it may be a bit high for the rest of this year but this winter she is getting a new motor. about 450hp so.......

 

That's where your power is, and not much above that, TPI doesn't make power too well up high.

I'd say you can't go wrong with either choice.

Oh, and like F-Bird say, you'll drop a 1/10th by just takin out that system.

 

See I know that stock TPI's dont make much power above 4500rpm. Mine was stock when I bought it. pretty much before I did the mods it had lowend power which worked good for everything stock (gears and TC) I KNOW i have picked up a TON of power above 3000rpm its just unbielivable the difference. I just wanna know what hte best way is to get there off the line faster. Gears or TC. I guess that maybe would have been easier if I said all that from teh start. "I moved my power band up, what would be best to get it off the line." thats pretty simple uh? sorry should have thought of that.

 

Well, like said above, a rightly matched TC can be better than gears, the trick is matching it well.

I'd say either route you go, you won't be dissappointed.

One comment though, you'd notice a nice gain too with some headers to take advantage of those better flowing heads.

 

Personally I'd up the gear first.
If you install a high stall converter in a car that has a 2.XX rear
gear you'll always be " on the converter". It will never lockup
or become efficant through the whole quarter.
You really need both because you've shifted the power band up.

The increase in rear gear will have the least effect on gas mileage. Because you have an overdrive trans your cruiseing
rpm in OD will still be very reasonable. Probabily more usefull.
Don't be shy on gear. I'd use a 3.73 rear gear.

When you do get a converter, buy a good one with a consideratable higher stall speed and full lock up. these converter are not cheap but work well and retain the cruiseability of a "lock up" converter.

http://www.converter.cc/index.html

Consider a Yank Converter.

 

Normally I would say get 3:42s with TPI. But, since you plan on a new motor, maybe 3:73s would be a perfect match for that motor.

 

I was thinking 4.10's for the gears. The motor I'm building is all forged rotating 4340 crank,rods and pistons. so even if I run 3000-3500rpm down the road at 75 it should be fine.

 

Go for the 4.10s, not much differance from 3.73s. I used to have 3.42s, 3.73s, 4.10s are much better. They keep you in, or closer to the power band on larger cams. I cruise at about 2700 rpm at 70 mph. I'd like to find a nice set of 4.56s.

 

if you daily drive the thing remember 2 things:
even though you have lockup, around town from stoplights a HIGH stall converter is going to pi$$ away your fuel like nothing. Going from a Stock stall w/ lockup to a 3800 Stall w/ lockup (9.5" ACT) I lost over 8 MPG in the city! A High stall converter is a sorry excuse to offset the loss of low end torque on the street. you may fly, But you'll "Pass everything but a gas station". Dont get me wrong, a little stall goes a long way, but if your power band is 2000-6500 Dont get a 4000 RPM Stall converter! You know what I mean.

And gearing: for daily drivers; 4.11's might be the absolute best choice for your engine, but is it really the best choice for your wallet? Gas prices are going up, is going from 3.73 to 4.11 really worth the extra .05 in the 1/4 mile and the extra $5.00 at the pump? Consider how much you race the car VS how much you drive it around normally. make your decision NOT based on how FAST you want to go, but how fast you can AFFORD to go. A car cruising on the highway at 2700 RPMS will see alot more wear and tear than a car cruising at 1800 RPMS.

Cars with lump idles, carbeurators, big gearing, high stall and big engines generally dont like the street. And if they do its cause you dont mind the 2 MPG your getting and the powerband you never see from behind another car.

 

DO NOT GET A 10 INCH CONVERTER FOR THE STREET! I ran a 10 inch 3,200 stall converter in my girlfriends camaro, and holy ****, the mileage went to ****. We literarly got like 8 mpg as opposed to 14mpg in the city before we put the converter in. Stick with a 2,000-2,200 stall 12inch converter, if you want to bear it on the street. A 3,000+ stall on the street is really just too much, and usually I"m the type of guy that all my friends make fun of because all the parts on my car are full race but I daily drive em anyways.........but this is one thing that i can honestly say you need to go soft on. It also gets extremely annoying when you drive around town with steep gears and a converter because even though the speed limit is 35-40 in most places.....you have to run the car up past 50mph just to get the converter to get into its RPM range so it doesn't slip anymore.



P.S.--On a side note, her camaro was FAST AS **** off the line with a 10inch converter and 3.73 gears and would totally annialate my firebird for the first 100feet

 

Well, I do drive it every day back and forth to work. Mostly city driving, and get between 14/15 mpg using 89. I notice no differance between the 373s and the 410s. If I wanted to cruise at 1800 I'd a left it stock. I'm not planning on this engine lasting a 100,000 miles either. I sure hope this stealth ram helps my mpg, ta he ll with my et. Right!