I know the standard 4l80 flex plate uses a 6 bolt torque converter pattern. Looking to get a billet stall converter or something similar and it seems that most aftermarket converters use a 3 bolt converter pattern. This being the case would I be able to use a regular 4l60 flex plate with the 3 bolt pattern for an aftermarket stall or would they still be different? Also how would a factory flex plate hold up to say 1000rwhp or would you reccomend upgrading to an aftermarket plate? Thanks

 

The 3 lug LS 4L80 converter is becoming more common than the regular 6 lug style these days. It does make swaps very easy. If you are aiming to hit 1K at the tires then I would definitely suggest an SFI flexplate. The reason I like the 3 lug LS design over the typical 4L80 is it eliminates the pilot extender, the converter pilot is longer to engage in the crank. You can also use the OE style 4L80 with the crank spacer, which is a good design but relies on the weak OE flexplate. The problem is I don't think anybody makes a flat SFI flexplate with the 4L80 bolt pattern.

Hope all that made sense...

Chris

 

So the Sfi flex plate has a dish to it that will allow it to reach the torque converter without the use of a spacer? And most aftermarket 3 lug 4l80 converters will still have a pilot shaft long enough to engage the crank without a spacer?

 

I think what Chris is getting at is that you can use any LS style flexplate with the 3 bolt converter. At least I was able to.

 

I found this one on circle D's website
http://circledspecialties.com/p-79-l...flexplate.aspx

And this one from tci
http://m.summitracing.com/parts/TCI-399754/

Just wandering what the difference is between these two other than the price?

 

I believe the TCI plate is a little more "beefy". That TCI plate is not the one you would use for a 3 bolt converter though. It would be the standard LS1 plate. FWIW, this is the plate I run.

http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...late-HP-4004X/

 

Okay, so that one you linked me to works with the 3 lug and you didn't need a crank spacer with a circle d converter?

 

The offset between the crank and converter mounting surface needs to be ~.575. You can achieve this with a .425 spacer and a .150 flat flexplate or with the dished style plate at .575. When you use the spacer setup it also extends the crank out so a regular style GM converter will work, which extends out ~.200 from the converter pad. But when you use the dished style flexplate you need the LS style converter pilot which extends out about .550 from the converter pad. So if you want to use a non LS converter with the dished style flexplate you need a converter pilot extender.

Hopefully my rambling is making sense......

Chris

 

Here is a chart I put together a while back, I think all the info is still correct.



Chris

 

And the Steel flexplate we sell is the hughes style 4004X.

Chris

 

Awesome, thanks for the help chris. Gonna just go with the hughes 4004x and get an LS style torque converter to keep it simple.

 

My pleasure.... Any more questions let us know.

Chris

 

Chris Is the flex plate y'all sell dished to work w/o the spacer and come out ~.575 ? I need one since I ordered the regular ls1 style flex plate for my 4l80...

 

Correct, both our steel and aluminum version has the offset built in - no spacer required.

Chris

 

Ah, the Reactor/CDS plate weighs more than the Hughes? Good info.