I'm wanting to maximize the driveability of my car and have been considering putting a stock conveter in it, but I am concerned with ballooning the stock converter. Is this an issue with the stock converter or is the anti ballooning plate only necessary on the high stall converters?

 

A 12" torque converter can balloon too. What are you trying to accomplish?

 

My goal is to retain stock driveability characteristics with lots of power on tap. Thats why I kept a small cam, small heads etc etc. and just built the short block to handle a fair amount of boost. I am by no means wanting to end up with a race car, I just want a street car with good manners and plenty of available power. This car might go to the track twice a year, so a high stall is not very good for my application. It has a 4000 vig in it at the moment and I absolutely hate it, waaaay too sloppy during part throttle driving for my taste. I got a good deal from a board member on the converter and figured I might try it before sending it to be re-stalled just to see how it feels. My choices now are to send the vig in and have it changed to a 2400 stall, or simply put the stock converter back in and sell the vigilante. Considering my goals I think I might be happy with the stock converter, are there any issues with the stock converter living behind a high horsepower engine?

 

"send the vig in and have it changed to a 2400 stall" Yes, this would be the right way to do it. It will be much more fun to drive, much easier on the gear train (is about 15 pounds lighter), will still be 2-4 tenths quicker than the 12" TC, etc. I would not even consider the 12" TC for what you want.

 

How responsive are the 2400 vigilante converters at part throttle?