i had been looking at a torco converter. very good reputation and the 2600 12" stall was 190 about 3 months ago. well art carr got a hold of em and today the exact same thing is 400. i hunted around on ebay and found a 25-28 12" for 190 from arlington automatic in oregon. anyone ever heard of or tried there TC?? there is another here in so cal called mojave. there 12" 2000-2500 is 239. both adds say heavy duty torringotn bearings, brazed fins, lock up, .......blah blah blah. i am really worried about getting what i paid for. any opinions please!!! thanks.

david

 

i dont think i put the question in there. has anyone been in the 2 to 3 hundred dollar range with a TC stalling at 2500 ish and been happy with it. i just dont want to sink 500 into a 9 inch to push the stall up to 3000. thanks.

david

 

There is only one that I would recommend for street/strip duty and that's a PTS Xtreme 9X11. It's not cheap ($650) but you get what you pay for. It costs about $200 to R&R a TC so don't skimp or you'll pay again later.

Tranny shop link

It really woke my car up and made a HUGE difference.

 

There are only a relatively few place that manufacture the internal parts for TC's. What most "manufacturers" of TC's do is to buy components and assemble them to their own specifications. Consequently, if you buy a $2-300 TC, it probably will not have the same quality as a more expensive one. That's not to say that just spending more will necessarily be better, but I'd be leery of a really cheap TC unless it was just a stock replacement. I am partial to Coan converters. They sell a "Street Performance" converter for the 4L60E that you might look into. They go for the low $300's.

Rich Krause

 

I would recommend one of the more high end converters. The old saying you get what you pay for that everyone uses is true in this situation. Based on my experience anyway. Getting away from that I would also recommend going with the smaller diamiter converter. Example would be the PI 9.5 inch. Take that one vs a 12 inch or something and the rotating mass difference is huge, probably not to mention the weight. Less rotating mass equals better performance and better production of what it's intended to do. Keep that in mind.

 

i went with a high 300 dollar 12". HD torrington bearings, furnaced brazed fins, blah blah blah..... the guy on the phone really knew what he was talking about. even told me how a 12" just cant stall above 2500 because of weight and size of parts. he also told me the 9 was about 10 pounds lighter than the 12 but again we jumped up to the 600 dollar range. i am going to use the 200 i saved here for a better differential. one of the 190 dollar specials was a guy and his wife at home. sounded like they were doing dishes in the kitchen in the background. i like the idea of better performance than stock but i dont need to run the 11 sec quarter just yet. i was really leaning to the "you get what you pay for" in this department and your replies said the same. thanks again for the info.

david

 

Good point about rotating mass. Just one of the many reasons I recommended the 9X11. It has a 9" bowl for efficiency and 11" lock up disc for strong positive holding. The thing hits like a ton of bricks but that's not even the best part. PTS's irregardless warranty and free restall is the kicker. You can't go wrong with that. These are very popular and used almost exclusively in the turbo buick circle but it doesn't seem like very many f-buds have caught on yet. Look at my sig. I couldn't have achieved it without a PTS 9X11 TC.

 

i will keep these guys in mind when i do decide i need to leave at 3500. thanks again for the help.

david

 

My 9x11 is a 3k stall and is perfect for my current config. On the site there is a converter form that you fill out so your TC can be custom made to best suit you needs. Then if you make some changes just have it restalled for free. You won't find a better deal out there. I've been down the $300 TC road and was never happy with any of them.

 

i had already bought the 385 dollar mojave green from a local place near LA before i read about the restall for free. it was advertised as a 2500. the brake stall is at 2400. it kicks a$$!! i should have done this way sooner. from a stop it immediatly jumps to 2500 to 3000 and rips the rear's loose for a full throttle. damn now i have to go pick up some drag radials. thanks again for the info.

david

 

You may find that drag radials aren't enough. I run ET streets and still have traction problems. My car also gets crazy sideways on the 1-2 shift. And my engine has no power adders at all. Not even roller rockers.

 

Forgot to mention. A good converter can take about 1/2 second off your 1/4 mile times. The 9X11 I got was probably the single best mod to date.

 

As far as trans life is conerned, I'd imagine getting a stock converter 're-stalled' with lightweight internals would be pretty smart. Larger oil capacity should help with keeping the trans around longer...

So take the best of both worlds...large capacity converter + lightweight fins...

just my $.02