So even for a daily driver this must equate to a reasonable improvement in fuel economy if your wasting less power, so a TC should pay for itself in a couple of years as well as releasing some horses ??

 

depending on how much and how you drive...yes

 

Has anyone actually done this and gotten it dyno'd afterwards to show some real numbers? This seems like a good deal for the performance increase but I don't see anyone with aftermarket converters here.

 

As soon as I get my aps TC cleaned up I will be putting it in in preparation for my new cam later on. The TC im getting has a 2800 stall so its not to aggressive and very streetable specially with the new spartan cam. It should be in fairly soon too, I just need to find time to get it down to a trans shop to send it to get it flushed, after that it will be put on.

 

Im still a little confused about the stall speeds. Does that mean it wont engage the transmission or shift gears untill that point or is that the point where the engine makes the most torque? I read what hammer posted about the stall points and it thoroughly confused me

 

Truckin,
Back in the day it was fairly simple to figure which TC to use because we didn't have od. I would take my basic cruise rpm and use a TC that had a lower stall than my cruise rpm. A slipping converter generated a lot of heat and was to be avoided when at highway speeds. So crusing rpm had to be above the TC stall speed. Now our TC's actually lockup, I am assuming they use a electric activiated internal clutch. I think your 2800 rpm stall converter would be perfect for 4:10 - 4:56 gear set, but I'm wondering about where does it electrically lockup for crusing figuring a 1900 - 2100 engine rpm at 60 mph with our trucks. I am very interested in hearing how this setup works for you as I'm considering the same mod. Please keep us informed how it goes.
There also use to be a term "Converter flash" this was the amount of rpm you could push past the converter's normal stall speed. Mostly determined by the converter diameter, 10", 13". Smaller diameter allowed for a higher flash with a lower stall. Such as a 3800 stall that depending on the engine, weight of the car and gear ratio could be flashed to say 4400 rpm. I wrecked more than one Vega converter in my big block Nova learning the hard way. Didn't have alot of money, but speed was in my blood.

Good luck...

 

Animal,
Look at the converter as two fans facing each other in a bath of oil. One fan is connected to the engine and the other fan connected to the trans. Stall speed is the rpm that the driver fan and the trans fan turn at the same rpm without slippage.

Hope that clear..

 

It'll "slip" to the given stall speed which has a lot of pros...like being able to launch close to stall speed and being able to stay higher in the rpm band at lower speeds when on the throttle. Torque converters are called that for a reason...they multiply torque and you should see some gain from an efficient aftermarket one. Ideally you'll want a stall speed of a few hundred rpms below max torque (not hp)...but it also depends on what the vehicles main purpose is.

 

Ah okay thanks for dumbing that down for me haha

 

That's what makes forums like this so beneficial. We all have a chance to learn something.