Ok here is the deal I am getting ready to buy a converter and I want to know your guys' opinion. I am wanting to help get the front wheels up as much as possible for traction here is what I have and please tell me what you recommend, I have talked to 6 different converter companies and they all have said about the same thing, but I want to here from guys that run them not build them and hopefully someone will have a comparable combo as mine to help me out thanks in advance!! Heres the specs.....

406 sbc
Herbert Solid Roller 244/244 @.050 .555/.555 lift 110 lobe sep (pretty torqy)
400 turbo w/ Transbrake
4.33 Gear
28x9-15 Slick
750 DP Carb
Vic Jr intake
dart iron eagles 205/160's 64cc 215 runner
12:1 compression
3500 with me in it.
Current Converter Trans Specialties 3500-3800 10 inch XHD
Car Runs high 7.50's-low 7.60's in the 1/8th MPH 88-89
60' 1.58-1.60
330 4.80's

Please give me your opinions on converters!! Thanks in advance!

does the car have a trans brake, if so don't go to big or you won't get those small tires to hook. but generally i like one that is just below max torque so you can get to the sweet spot faster.

8" ATI treemaster

Yes I am using a transbrake, What stall speed should I be looking for?? Wont an 8 inch slip and cause loss in ET and MPH??

Also if someone has Desktop Dyno could you run to give me approx, HP and TQ numbers, thanks!

Come one guys dont be shy, just give me opinions.

I recently had some trouble with my TH350 and needed to have both the trans and converter gone through. So rather than take the car down for a few weeks I opted to get a second trans and converter.

I called Coan and they recommended a custom converter. I bought it on Monday and had it on my doorstep on Friday. The paint was still tacky on the converter when I pulled it out of the box. LOL

Anyway, I installed the trans and converter the next day and raced the following Saturday. While I couldn't cut a light to save my life during eliminations, the car went a new best (1.45) in the 60' carrying the wheels far enough that they quit spinning :D

Every time I've bought a converter from Coan they have nailed the stall speed and I have yet to break anything they built so I would highly recommend them. I would suggest that you call Coan and get their recommendation -- they will probably do better than we can here on this board.

I called them and they recomended a 4500-4800 8 inch, I just wanted to see if this sounded good to you guys with my combo, my cam is a small roller with an RPM range of 2500-6500 I just thought it sounded a little big but that is why I am not a converter expert I guess.

Sounds about perfect to me. That is a couple hundred tighter than the 8" converter they recommended for me and you have about 8* less duration.

By the way my new Coan footbrakes to 3200-3400 and flashes to 4900 in my car. (I asked for 4800-5000 RPM) It seem great on the street so far.

Holy Crap! I just talked to stock /superstock guy and he told me I needed a 5500 stall with a 5.57 gear, is this possible? My cam range is only 2500-6500.?????????????

No, you do not need a 5500 RPM converter and a 5.57 gear. Superstock is a whole 'nother world. A 4500 stall and some 4.10's sound about right to me.

SHOOO WEEEE, thank god! Thanks Eric

Eric68, Did you get the trans and convertor from coan? If you don't mind my asking, which ones did you get and what was the price.

I'm going to need a trans and convertor soon and am struggling with what to do. I don't know of any good local builders and coan seems to have a great rep but man the prices are high. I guess you gotta pay to play.

I'm thinking I'll need in the 4800-5000 range and am leaning towards a full manual th350, no transbrake though.

Sorry for highjacking the thread. Thanks for any info.

Mike

I recently had some trouble with my TH350 and needed to have both the trans and converter gone through. So rather than take the car down for a few weeks I opted to get a second trans and converter.

I called Coan and they recommended a custom converter. I bought it on Monday and had it on my doorstep on Friday. The paint was still tacky on the converter when I pulled it out of the box. LOL

Anyway, I installed the trans and converter the next day and raced the following Saturday. While I couldn't cut a light to save my life during eliminations, the car went a new best (1.45) in the 60' carrying the wheels far enough that they quit spinning :D

Every time I've bought a converter from Coan they have nailed the stall speed and I have yet to break anything they built so I would highly recommend them. I would suggest that you call Coan and get their recommendation -- they will probably do better than we can here on this board.

That's good to know. I recently bought an 8" from Coan that's supposed to stall at 5,500 on the bottle and I can't wait to try it out! :D

As far as converters go...if we are talking max performance forget about the advertised rpm range of the camshft for the most part. Your not picking the converter to match a street car, and your not exactly looking at the entire power curve...your picking something for the best wheels up launch to 60 like a drag car should. So, your looking at a much more limited rpm curve and there are only a few important areas that really come into play as far as converter stall rpm, shiftpoints and all that jazz.

When talking about max performance from a converter, drag cars do best with a converter that stalls just above peak torque(thats right, a little after peak torque most often). The torque peak ought to be right in the middle 4000 RPM range with those specs. The torque below that to an extent ought to be good too, but forget about what it does at 3000 revs. PEAK ought to be around middle 4K and thats what they are thinking about. That converter ought to flash right above that.......and once again, this is what you want for a drag car. You want that converter to get up just above the peak torque. This makes em lanch.

As far as slip goes.....any converter(unless its a lockup) will slip. Good ones will not slip a lot though. A budget, lower quality 10 or 12 inch can easily slip waay more than a good 8 inch. So no, dont worry about that cause we are talking about good converters here.

Just like Eric, I am not surprised with the reccomendation either based on your combo and what you want the car to do. You will find both ATI and Coan widely used among drag racers. More people know of ATI, but Coan is also top notch.

Eric68, Did you get the trans and convertor from coan? If you don't mind my asking, which ones did you get and what was the price.

I'm going to need a trans and convertor soon and am struggling with what to do. I don't know of any good local builders and coan seems to have a great rep but man the prices are high. I guess you gotta pay to play.

I'm thinking I'll need in the 4800-5000 range and am leaning towards a full manual th350, no transbrake though.

Sorry for highjacking the thread. Thanks for any info.

Mike

Mike, sorry don't have part numbers for you but you need to talk with Coan or whoever you work with to get the right stall speed for YOUR MOTOR. Different motors will make the exact same converter stall differently.

Converter was $900 'ish and the trans was $1200 'ish.

Thanks Eric, Yeah I know I need it configured for my application, I was more wondering to check the prices on their site but you answered that for me. I've emailed them with my setup but haven't heard back yet.

I assume you're really happy with the service and product. It might be a little harder to nail my setup since it's all new, actually still in a million pieces. Hoping to get it all together in the next 2-3 months. Maybe before the end of the season so I can at least get to the track.

Thanks again for the info.