hello, i have an 84 TA with the 700 tranny. later on i was planning on doing a rebuild for it and was thinking about a shift kit and maybe stall converter...one thing is i really don't know what it does, do any of u have them and what size do u have...my boss has a 3500 stall in his 99 TA and says it's too much for a street car. also what shift kit should i get. thanks

 

I'm running a 2800 stall converter.

 

First, the semantics: There's really no such thing as a "stall converter", except all automatics have them.

A fluid drive "torque converter" will "stall" at a certain speed depending upon the torque output of the engine. The higher the torque, the higher the stall. Most stock engine/transmissions stall somewhere around 1600 RPMs (some more, some less).

Now, you can get a converter that "stalls" at a higher RPM for your engine. What you are looking for is one that lets the engine spin up higher to get into its powerband. So, basically, the higher the powerband of your engine, the higher stall you need.

The general concensus around this board is Transgo makes the best TH700 shift kit. Dana at Probuilt will set you up. However, I talked to a local performance transmission shop here, and they don't like anybody's "kit". So, there you go...

 

ok so my car (from the tech at this site) has 190 HP @4800 240 Ft.Lbs @3200... i plan on doing headers but from that data i would go with a 3500 stall??? go by trq or hp???

also u sed "I talked to a local performance transmission shop here, and they don't like anybody's "kit" well if they don't use kits what do they do??

 

If your engine is stock I would not run a 3500 rpm converter. No more than 2000 rpm. If you just plan on bolt on mods to the engine, I would run the stock converter and focus on the rear end gears. If they are a 2 seriese look into getting a 3 seriese (3:23, 3:42, 3:73 etc).

That's just how I'd go about it.

 

When I was looking into buying my converter I called some of the TC manufacturers and everyone told me the same thing. You want a TC that stalls 300-600 less than where you TQ peaks. My torque peaks at around 3200 so I went with a 2800 stall and he works perfectly, so I guess they are right.

 

well i already have stock 3.73. i'll be getting a posi unit for it later, any suggestions there? i am looking at this one

and with a stall i probably shouldn't get one, but i should get a shift kit right? ya i'm gona stick with bolt ons for now maybe cam later.

 

i have a 2400 rpm stalll and its wonderful

 

The auburn unit you are looking at I believe is a "cone type" limited slip wich is not rebuildable. Spend the extra $100.00 and get the Eaton, it is a "clutch type" that is fully rebuildable and more durable (IMO).

I got a B&M shift kit and I wish that I had gotten the TranGo kit. From what I understand it is a better kit.

If you already have the rear end in the car with the gears in place (say they are original), and it is in good shape, you may want to look into the "PowerTrax" unit. They are very popular because they drop in with no modification, and no setting of the backlash or pinion depth is not required since you do not change out the carrier. But if your carrier is a posi and you are replacing it because it is wore out, you may not be able to use the PowerTrax unit and may have to get a new carrier.

After all that is done I would focus on the intake and a good set of headers (shorty smog type) and a Wieand or Edlebrock dual plane EGR type intake (EGR type if you are still using the computer and emission system). I am sure that you are aware of this stuff though, I just had to state it anyway.

I didn't realize that your 305 was an L-69. With that said a 2400rpm converter would be nice, but I would still do all the other stuff first.

Sorry, didn't mean to write a book.

Edit:When changing the intake, that would be the best time to change the cam too.

 

3500 stall would be too much for your engine, street or strip. 2500 would be much more reasonable.

As for the posi: I have a "thing" about both Eaton & Auburn - they don't want you using synthetic lube with their units. Since I won't use anything else, go with a factory posi, or Zexel unit (which will require 28-spline axles).

 

Go to SLP and get the Zexel unit. It's only $99 + the price of the 28 spline axles. I got mine for $100.

 

In these cars "factory" = Auburn; or = Eaton, if it's a Gov-Lock

I've never had any trouble with any posi unit, factory or otherwise, and synthetic lube. But, I've only got 2 posis on the road at the moment, one is a 8˝" 10-bolt with a stock one, and the other is a 7˝" with an Eaton. The one with the Eaton used to have an Auburn Pro. Synthetic fluid has worked fine in all of them, except that the 8˝" one likes to have more than one dose of additive for some reason, or else it chatters and groans.

I have no idea why Auburn and Eaton both recommend dinosaur squeezings for their products. Even talking to them on the phone, they can't come up with a reason why. I suspect it's because the bottles say "for conventional and limited slip", and people either forget or think they don't have to put in the additive, and then they get customer satisfaction issues. But that's just a guess, I don't know for sure, any more than they seem to.

I'd agree about the stall though; 2400-2600 is usually about right, 3000 is too much with a stock motor. The right one will make an amazing difference to how the car launches.

 

I always forget about these units! They would be the best buy.

I wish I had gotten one of the Zextel units vs. the Gov-Loc (don't know how long the Gov-Loc will last, I will find out soon).

 

Edit: stupid computer acting up again

 

I have a bud who's used both with Mobil 1 gear lube, both started slipping on him. He's ticked.

I talked to AMSOIL about Auburn/Eaton saying not to use synthetic. They said they know a lot of people are using those units with AMSOIL synthetic gear lube with no problems. So, it's a mystery to me, too. (BTW, AMSOIL puts the "additive" in their Series 2000 gear lube for you.)