I'm getting alot of conflicting info on what converter to use I have a trans king now that with my old setup stalled at 4500rpm but now it kicks up to 6700 rpm. I have 970 fwhp and 965lbs of torque @15lbs of boost. setup is built to go up to 30lbs.

 

I would recommend Precision Industries Vigilante

 

Get a '0' or a '4' pump Vigilante.

 

Call Coan or Neal Chance. You are going to need one hell of a converter as it is. And if you up the boost??? Better also have a hell of a tranny!

http://www.coanracing.com/
http://www.racingconverters.com/

I doubt PI has anything beefy enough.

Rich

 

NOT! I've been there with them. I sent my converter back three time to get it tightened up, they eventually told me that they couldn't make it tight enough. (1000ish rwhp)

At the level you're at, you need to talk to people who build race converters. I use Neal Chance, but I would recommend TCI, they have a reallly good converter program going right now, and there are some SUPER fast cars running TCI converters for 1/2 the money of Chance... IMHO

 

Definitely agree about PI. There are only a few people who can do a converter right for this kind of application. It's not only the hp, it the tremendous torque at relatively low engine speeds. It doesn't sound like Cody's car is going to see much street time, but if it is it will be even more of an issue to get the balance right. I went through a couple of converters before I found one that was anything near right and mine is "only" around 1,000hp.

Brady: Are the TCI cars you are speaking of turbo cars? Are they street driven at all?

Rich

 

I may eat my words tomorrow, buy I really like my Vigilante "0" pump. It's pretty tight for street use. On motor alone, it flashed to 3000 rpm. With the supercharger at 13 psi, it flashed to 4000 rpm. With the turbo at 19 psi, it flashes to 5200 rpm at about 850 fwhp. I could break tomorrow, though. . . who knows. . .

 

Rich, when you have a 1000+ rwhp car (as you do) you know that unless you're a complete idiot, most of the street driving is very "tame". A high horsepower car (again 1000+ RWHP) cannot be fully utilized on the street, it's just not feasable, let alone safe. That being said, these converters work very well on the street because they are very tight (for normal driving). The TCI converters I speak of don't have street usage as a priority, maybe 10%, because who can plant that kind of power on the street..

Mike, Precision makes a great converter and I was happy with mine for years, but when I switched from the blower to the twin turbos the "flash" wasn't the problem, the converter just wouldn't hold the power, the slippage at high rpm was like 20%+ It just didn't work out for me, hopefully yours will work and you won't have to buy a different one like I did..

 

Oh, Rich- they're all turbo cars..

 

A turbo is going to be more difficult to get a conveter "right" than a centrifugal which is in turn harder than for an NA setup. I can't exactly explain the technical basis for this, but it based on observation. I went back to a T56/Street Twin and retired mine from the track. If I still wanted a dual pupose car with that kind of power level I would bite the bullet and get a Lenco. My buddy has one in his ~1,100hp Mustang and it is a hoot to drive and basically "bullet proof" at this hp level. Not cheap, at ~$7,500 in it for the whole setup though. Still, I will be the last tranny he ever has to buy.

Rich

 

So you're saying you would advocate a lenco for the street?? hmmm I don't have any experience with one on the street, but that sounds, well, intriguing.

 

They make a "street" transmission called the ST1200. Good to (at least) 1,200hp, very wide choice of ratios. Top gear is always 1:1. What I have thought of is getting a 5-speed ST1200 and running a 2.73:1 rear. Using 1-4 as regular driving gears with 5th as an "OD". A 5-speed ST1200 would be over $5,000 and it would require a custom clutch setup of some sort. Obviously, a tranny mount would have to be fabbed up, tranny tunnel modified, etc. My fab skills are fairly limited, so I estimated close to $10K to have someone competent do the whole job. Seems like too much. But the TH400 just sucked ***** on the street, even with the tightest converter I could get for it. Tranny issues are one of the two reasons I went back to making the Camaro a pure street car. I also did not want a full cage.

Based on my experiences, I would have to say the Lenco would be the only acceptable (to me) solution for a mega HP true dual purpose car. One that would stand up to the track and also be fun on the street. When I had the first converter in the TH400 setup, it stalled at close to 6,000rpm and was incredibly noisy on the street, generated huge amounts of heat in stop and go driving, and really was annoying to drive in traffic. It would creep forward or lunge forward (and light up the tires) but very little in between. The lack of OD on the highway was also a royal pain. The last converter stalled at ~4,200 with just the blower and not too much higher with the N2O. It was better, but still very much a compromise.

I also considered the GV OD, that might have worked out. The 4L80 is also out there.

Rich

 

Im not at youre power level yet and i have tried a 9,5" vig, lt stalled way to high so i called them and asked for a restall, it came out that the couldnt tight it up to match my combo so they sent me an 10,5" multidisc converter insted of the 9.5" singeldisc (no extra cost for me) and it works good, maybe a little tight but thaths good if i decied to add nitrous . for PI service...
I estimate oure car to be around 800fwhp and its a heavy pig whidh a 4l80e (2.48 1th gear) and 3.42 in rear, so the converter has a tough jobb to get it off the line.

 

Thanks for all the great info. Bad news is I have a race built th350 which i dont think is going to hold up. I havent contacted Presision Industries yet but I have sent my info to racing converters.com

 

Cody, I haven't personally tried my own converter but I have only heard the best from Marty Chance. I've spoken to him and have only understood half of what he is telling me but I have seen his converter work on friends cars and they work wonders. He explained to me his converters will get tigher and tighter with more power you can push to them with no horsepower limits. The bolts togethers allow you to change the stall as well by changing out the stators.