I found the cause of all my problems. The torque converter had been loose and had been scrapping the tranny case as well as the scatter shield. So now I am going with an aftermarket converter as well as a transmission cooler. The shop told me that they have had really good luck with b&m stall converters and reccomended that I go with one(comes with 1 year warranty). I am now just thinking of what stall to go with 2000 or 2400???? I will have 3.73's put in at the same time, read the sig for the rest of the mods. please reply with the stall speed, feedback, or tell me if you reccomend something else.

 

What happened to my help

 

Just a technicality, but all converters are stall converters, if they didn't stall they wouldn't work.

So what you are looking for is a higher stall. Stock is 1600, a 2000 stall is a waste of time and money IMO. 2400 is the minimum I would suggest. I would recommend a 2800 however. That is what I have and it is VERY easy to live with. Its not really that much stall.

I'm not a big fan of B&M. There are better built converters out there. But B&M's are affordable. I'd recommend a Vigilante but if price is a big issue I'd get a TCI before a B&M.

 

I'm puzzled about how the TC being loose is gonna make it scrape the case and scatter shield.... .... guess I'm having trouble picturing that. Seems like the thing would have to be completley unbolted from the flex plate.

What does the shop mean about "good luck" with the B&M?

You don't want to go with a 2000 or a 2400. The very least you need is 2800.

I would recommend the PI Vigilante over anything else. Some guys here would recommend the YANK. You will pay a lot, but remember... you get what you pay for.

If I had it to do over again I would go with the 3200 Vigilante instead of the 2800. I am sending it back for a 're-stall' which is gonna run me about $275.

oh yeah...by the way... all converters are "stall"

 

Yank builds a good converter but their customer service is horrible. You are just taking your chances with getting screwed if you buy from them.

I'll just say I am happy as hell with my Vigilante

 

WURD

 

Save up and buy a real torque converter. I've seen low HP cars tear up a B+M in less than a year. You get what you pay for.

 

any loss in mpg going with the 2800 or beyond?

 

Seems like I lost a little mpg, but my car isn't my daily driver so I haven't really checked to see how much.

 

I've got the TCI Streetfighter (part # 243105) in my Stepson's '94 Formula. It flash stalls nearly 3000 and is comparable to the Vig2800. Jegs and Summit sells them for $450. The gas mileage on the highway is the same as with the stock converter since it is a lockup style converter. It weighs a lot less than the factory 298mm converter too. I highly recommend it!
Kevin

 

I don't get it though, I hear bad things about tci, b&m, Yank, and some other brands and only the positives are about PI vigilante. I am thinking that the holeshot 2400 has to be better than oem! Don't you all agree that it has to be better than OEM torque converter too, as well the tc comes iwth a 1 year warranty!

 

Well... if you want me to take a sh it in a box and stamp a 1-year warranty on it... i'd be happy to.

Like everyone has said... you get what you pay for.

Don't listen to any old "shop". Nobody.....anywhere....PERIOD.. can provide you with better information and suggestions than the guys that work on these cars and browse this forum every day.

By the way... OEM is not crap. It may not be the stall that you want.. but it's not crap. I would compare OEM quality to B&M quality any day. The TC you had did not come lose because of a bad TC.. it came lose because someone has been in there before dikin around with stuff and didn't tighten the bolts properly.

Just my 2 cents.

 

See that is the kind of feedback I need. I will check out my funds and see if I can go ahead with the vigilante. The only problem with that is that I do not want to use that high of a stall converter!

 

I just bought a Yank SY3500. I only went with Yank because I know a handfull of people and all of them have seen no less that .5 sec gain in thier ET. Good enough for me. How many mods can you do to your car for 900 that will give you a half second off? Not to many I can think of. IMHO.

 

did you know that a bad TC can destroy your tranny in just few hours?

I didn't I bought a 3500 stall TC from torco www.torcoconvertes.com ( around $300) it came with 1 or 2 year warranty and all that crap.. and it was my first aftermarket TC.

Few months later, all the suden the bearings from the TC gave away and filled my tranny with metal.
Did I mention that the TC felt real lose down in the lower rpm? it made my car feel like ****.. honest, I started to hate driving it... I though it was normal with a high stall.

Now that I got Vigilanti (and had to rebuild my tranny again), I can tell you that there's night and day difference between TCs.
My new Vigilante 3600 stall TC feels alot more tight in the lower rpm... almost as the stock stall I can finally enjoy driving in the city.

Good luck, just don't get anything generic.
(they will promess you the sky, and once you eat the dirt, they will tell you "we got some bad bearing from our surpplier.... sorry")
leo
Better pay $720 now, than $$$$$ later !