Well i am tring to decide if i want to go with a 2600 12" stall converter or a 3000+ 9" converter

What i have now is LT headers, Cai, 3:73 gears,and the normal free mods and new sensors.

What i want the car to be is a high 12.9-12.7 very streetable car.

next mods will be a hot cam kit (i dont think i will do heads anytime in the next few years)

Before gears i was running 13.9-13.8

 

With my old bolt on motor/nitrous setup I ran a stock converter "restalled" to 2500 RPM which brake stalled to 3,000.

On ET Streets my best 60' was 1.71

My new 396 I went with a 9.5" stall originally setup for 3500 and found it unusable on the street as it flashed to 4,000+ which allowed too much HP to the wheels even at 60MPH and I would spin. I have 335/30-18's on a 4400+ lb car so you can imagine what would happen in an Fbody.

For a weekend racer go 12" 2500 RPM, I had to have my 9.5" restalled to 2500 RPM to allow me to actually move forward instead of just spinning the wheels under 60.

Mike

 

tnk for the info

That is the best Imp i have ever seen!
My next car is going to be a caprice (my last one i taded for a Bike and a friend wrecked the bike a week later)

 

Thanks for the compliment.

Mike

 

any one else has a sugestion

 

If you get a 9.5" with a high STR drivability can be great. I have an Edge Racing Converters 2800stall, with me in the car it easily hits 4400lbs., stock 2.93s and she still creeps at idle, I drive this thing all winter and tow a small boat in summer. The drums out back will hold it to 2650 but it flashes higher. The even more amazing thing is I have no external tranny cooler, just the in radiator one and this TC with a special breww of fluid from my builder stays cool, I only got it to hit 190degrees once.


I had a 2600 stall 9.5" from Level 10 before this and the drivability was extrememly poor and it generated more heat.
I can't say enough good about Edge, and they don't build it till you give them all your cars specs, these are built for you and are several hundred dollars cheaper than the other popular 9.5" TCs.

Another benifit to the 9.5" is you drop a whole lot of rotating weight(I have seen guys lose as much as 26lbs) which helps acceleration greatly.

 

I agree Dwayne my converter did change massively once I had it restalled HOWEVER for the initial cost is it really worth it?

My times/60' on my old restalled stock converter were a class record at the time so it was no slouch.

$200 shipped vs $500...

You tell me?

Mike

 

I daily drive my 9.5" Vig 3200. Gas milage kinda sucks; but you gotta pay to play.

 

Love my 3600 vig. 1.52 N/A 60fts with great street manners. It still wants to go at idle.

 

I'll start out by stating that maybe I got a bum converter from Edge Racing (sometimes that happens).
But I destroyed the one I had (9.5" 2800 stall Street Edge) behind a 310RWHP N/A and 420RWHP juiced '96 Vette.

Naturally it took out my tranny. When rebuilt (again) by my local shop (they originally rebuilt everything but the converter which I supplied from Edge) they found the culprit to be a bunch of missing metal from the Edge converter's stator. The stator was apparently a cast unit from some foreign make auto. There was also some assembly tolerances that were way off from normal (which accounted for the slimy feeling lock-up I experienced).

To make a story short, my local shop said it was a piece of junk. They were able to salvage the front shell of the converter and built the remainder to produce a new converter for me.

I have to say that the unit my local shop built is much more to my liking. There is a noticeable difference in torque multiplication in the lower rpm range (to the detriment of my rear skins). Overall power delivery is much better. One has to keep in mind that I may have originally had a bum Edge Converter to begin with.

I did hit the dyno after the converter swap and peak dyno numbers were close enough to call the same. So there was little to no difference in the peak power delivery.

I do have to say that Edge Racing is a very pleasant organization to deal with. They'll answer all your questions and deliver their product on time. The only reason I didn't take up my converter failure with Edge Racing was that it was too convenient to have my local shop fix the problem and that I wanted only one place to point the finger at if a failure happened again. Fortunately I've been unable to destroy my current converter with several bottles of N2O @ 420+RWHP.

 

Has anyone had a 12" converter, care to share your likes and dislikes?

 

10" or smaller is better. Why would you even consider a 12" converter?

 

well a local guy makes them, said a 12" 2600 stall would be best for me. and it is only $200

He said it would lower my times by about 3-4 teenths

 

Damn look at the replies from B-Body owners.
I have a 9.5" 3000 Edge in a daily driver/weekend racer, and love it.
I went from a 2200 12" stall to the Edge and would never go back.
My car will still move forward and driving is not annoying.
I would say get a 9.5" if you are going to do it.

 

12 inch coverters are heavy, sloppy, don't lock up, and generate to much heat. To obtain stall speed the fins are moved at a negative angle, this requires more engine speed because the fluid has to go out around the fins, after a certian point, it takes so much energy to go around the fins, you loose efficency, and buy the time the fluid gets to the tranny, it doesn't have any power, so to speak. That's why big high stall convertors feel sloppy.

Now, with a small diameter convertor, it takes more engine speed to create the same amount of pressure as a large convertor, so it has to spin more, the great thing is, the fins are at a very positive angle, and makes insance pressure, that's one of the reasons the STR's are so high 2.2-2.5+, a small converter will rev faster, run cooler, is much easier on the tranny and will out perform a 12 inch every time. With a 9.5, driving around you can't even tell it's there, i'm talking stall such as 3000-3200 and below, you get higher than that you will be able to tall its there somewhat. I have a 2800 in mine and you i forget it's there most of the time, untill i smack the gas. The rpm's jump up and when it gets to 2800 the bastard locks in, HARD, it's like popping the clutch on a car with a stick.

My friend went from a high stall 12 inch converter in his car, to a good contentinal 10 inch, and picked up 5 tenths in the 1/8 mile.
And it's nicer to drive, you can't tell it's there unill you smack the gas.

This is what I think I am going to do, I still have my high stall 12 inch convertor, i had to send my 9.5 ACT back because one of the welds were leaking. I just bought a bunch of stuff for my car, so I think I am going to put the 12in. back in this weekend, do my suspension stuff, and take it to the track and see the times. When I get my 9.5 back, i will put it in, and will show exactly how much difference between the two.