I'm having a hard time figuring out what makes one converter company better than the other and i'm also having a hard time finding people who are putting down serious power and ET's who have used multiple converters, so I figure I'll post the question here....

I'm building an 8000rpm 383 putting down 650ish hp + 250hp of nitrous, Ford 9" 4.30 gears, stripped down car, 12pt cage, custom race cam with duration in the 280 range with over .730" lift, 10 gallon fuel cell, 10.5" tire. Need around 5000 stall 9" converter, I want it launch like a bat outta hell, I want consistent repeatable results and I want high efficiency without lockup (since the TH400 doesnt have lockup).

I'm liking what Hughes say about their GM95 converters, the Pro-V series, hard hitting, consistent, $939 thru Summit. I like the reputation Yank has but they strike me more as a 4th gen street/strip company rather than specializing in all-out race, their Ultra Yank 5000 is $1100, I like the fact that Neil Chance Bolt Together converters are easily restallable and servicable but $1450 is more than my transmission is costing me, and I know that alotta people use Coan converters, haven't even started looking at those. I was also thinking Midwest Converters but $550 seems a lil cheap, questioning the quality, I hear mixed reviews, and people are telling me their build quality is inconsistent so some people get a great converter when others get a so-so converter.

Any reccomendations would be much appreciated, as well as any experience with the above listed brands. Thanks.

 

Coan. They will work with you to get it right, which is very important. Converters are often not right the first time.

Rich Krause

 

Just filled out their tech sheet form on their website. Thanks

 

I've been building automatics for 14 years. For the first 7 years of them I worked at a shop that did all their own converter rebuilds, so I had the luxury of seeing what's inside alot of "racing" converters.
My 3 top choices after seeing this are: ProTorque (PTC), A-1, and ATI. I can't say I've ever seen inside a Hughes or Coan, so I can't steer you either way, there.

http://www.protorque.com/shopping/sh...&cat=350%2F400

Frank
All-Trans Transmissions

 

I have also been able to open up the two popular brands(yank and Persicion) and can say were both full of good parts and built well. Hughs and Coan also build a nice unit with Quality and good parts inside

 

12SCNDZ, do you know what the ATI TH400 tranny's are like? $690 for forward pattern manual valve body competition series - sounds like a nice transmission and thats a good price. I was originally considering a Mad Dog Transmission (company here in Florida, I believe MadDogTransmissions.com) they are $1100 and claim the strongest TH400 you can build but not sure if my setup would warrant a $1100 transmission.

 

I am not sure how much tranny you need, but an $1,100 TH400 is not going to be the "strongest TH400 you can build". That price can get you a decent tranny, but far from the strongest possible. An all out TH400 is going to be in the $3,000+ range.

Rich Krause

 

Im looking to put down around 900hp and around 750tq on nitrous and I don't wanna replace the transmission every season I believe the guy at Mad Dog says he guarantees the $1100 build up to 1500hp but if the ATI will hold up to 1000hp then I should be fine with that one and save some money in the process.

 

room mate has an ATI competition th400 that was bought in early 99. We just puled the trans this winter to go to a Transbrake and freshen it up. high gear clutches were burnt (nothing uncommon).
Trans held up great,Dynamic Conerters/ProFormance Transmissions did the rebuild and was impressed.
The car is a 87 Formula,406/afr 210/solid roller/F1R Procharged setup. last year it was running 9.2's@150+ with traction issues.
We also run a PTC converter and have been VERY pleased,it is a 9.5" converter.

 

I'm leaning towards ATI, still need to speak with Coan and see what I can work out with them, but I'm liking the ATI pricing and what I hear about them. I also find it amusing that Summit sells ATI parts for about $100 more than the ATI website says you can buy direct for. I suppose at the end of the day, for my needs its not worth spending $500-1000 more to pick up 1 or 2 tenths so as long as it holds up to the power I should be good to go. 5 years on the same transmission in the low 9's is impressive too. Ofcourse additional feedback and advice is always welcome

 

sorry,i should of cleared that up some,4 years in the low 10's,as in 10.0-10.2 then a year in the 9's,although the year in the 9's was limited in track runs due to other reason,but it still held much abuse.