Fish-man

iTrader: (1)

Help me decide.
95 LT1. Longtubes/ORY&catback/cai/1.6RR/tune
will be getting a 3.73 gear to go in at same time.
Street driven only 1500miles/yr. (Weekends) Probably going to 305 or 315 rear tires soon.

Thinking about 3000 stall.
leaning toward vigilante... good rep/5yr warranty/2yr re-stall... though have not read up TOO much

Just looking to up the fun factor.

1-thoughts on stall?
2-luck on warranty work with vig or others?
3- STR? Do I have much choice

Thanks!

Fish-man

iTrader: (1)

Also, for consideration, is that I may install a mild cam in future... nothing wild, but I do like the idea of a re-stall. If I miss my 'free re-stall' by time, does anyone know how much it would cost to do?

LS-ONE_DAY

PI (the manufacturer of Vig converters) may or may not offer custom units. I don't think they do but I never really looked at their products to say for sure. I am a big proponent of custom units most of the time.

You have an LT1 so a "lower" stall would be better for a mostly street application to make better use of the LT1's better bottom end, I would say between 3000-3600 would be good for you as far as stall speed. 3000 may be a little low depending on the cam you choose, it's best to plan for the future so you'll have to consider that. Also, Vig's typically stall a little higher than rated so a 3000 may stall up to 3200 or 3300 or something around there.

Pretty much any sponsored company or big name non-sponsors will have good-great customer service and warranty work. If you miss your re-stall window they typically charge between $100-$250 to cut open the converter, and clean it and/or re-stall from what I have seen.

If Vig does not offer custom converters then no is your answer for the STR. They'll only come in one STR. For example, Yank's SS series is 2.5 for an SS3600 and 2.7 for a SS4000 IIRC. I went with FTI for my converter since they do a lot of custom units. I wanted something like their 3600 offering (SRLS0082) but it only has a 1.78 STR and I wanted something a little higher. Greg custom made one (SRLS3391) that is a 3500 with 2.35 STR to fit between his two of his "off the shelf" type products.

I'd say depending on your future cam and how often you want to buy tires, a 3000 Vig could be good for you. As it sits will will be.

On a side note, if you're not too familiar with STR, it stands for Stall-Torque Ratio. It is the torque multiplication factor off idle when the converter flashes to it's predetermined stall speed. If the car makes 400tq it would generate 800tq through a converter with a 2.0 STR, 700tq with a 1.75 STR, 1000tq with a 2.5 STR, and so on. The higher the STR number the less efficient a converter will be on the top end (it hits the tires harder off the line but multiplies less in the upper RPMs) whereas a lower STR is easier on the tires off the line but will continue to multiply torque longer. STR also factors into how tight/loose the converter feels. This is just one factor though, it also depends on gear ratio and stall speed as well. My custom FTI unit drives pretty much like stock so it is pretty tight and I have 2.73 gears. Taller gears like my 2.73's usually make a converter looser, shorter gears like 3.73's would tighten it up. Usually a higher stall speed means a looser converter as well, but again, that can depend.

Finally, you should get a tune after the converter.

Blue85350

iTrader: (1)

I've got an ss3600 and honestly wouldn't go any lower on stall speed. It drives really good, to accelerate a little quicker than traffic is about 2300 rpm.

Fish-man

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the input!
Also, does anyone know if there is a limit as to how much higher on stall the companies will allow on a restall? In other words, if I get a 3000, will I be limited up to say 3300 or is that a dumb question? Not sure how much of the guts they need to change....

cookba

iTrader: (10)

go with an FTI 4000

LS-ONE_DAY

No there is no limit. You could go from a 3000 to a 3300 or a 4500 if you wanted to for some reason.

My custom FTI will crawl forward either just letting my foot off the brake or revving up to 800rpm from 650 idle speed. It'll shift under or at 2000rpm and keep up with traffic just fine.

Fish-man

iTrader: (1)

Ok, so higher STR for hard hitting off the line... sounds good... though too much of a good thing can be not good. Passing people at speeds between 30-60 is fun an hope to improve on that. I rarely have this car over 75mph. Needs to run in traffic on expessway at that speed on occasion. Will a company alter STR during a restall?

Also, what about lockup and multidisk options?

LS-ONE_DAY

1. STR can be changed. Not sure if it is more expensive or is included in a restall
2. Lockup speed is set by whoever tunes the converter. Usually it is set between 38-46mph
3. You don't need a multidisk for your application

Fish-man

iTrader: (1)

Converter vendors... any input? Feel free to post here or IM me.

Thanks

LS-ONE_DAY

I haven't seen vendors post a whole lot lately, they've been busy with Summer and Labor Day sales. Your best bet would be to contact them yourself to save time.

Greg at FTI Converters (use fticonverters@yahoo.com or call 386-736-5816 or 1-866-726-8358)

Just so you have ideas of other companies offerings you can fill out an Ask Chris over at Circle-D Specialties and he will respond with his input, or contact Dave at Yank.

FWIW I had a member, evilz99, text me about converters after seeing this thread. He asked for some explanation on them and then said he was getting rid of a Revmax and Yank was going to give him an SS3600 for $714 to his door for their Labor Day sale. I just told him to talk to FTI and 20 minutes later he texted me back saying he just got off the phone with Troy at FTI and he just bought an FTI 4000 and they beat the Yank deal. I never spoke with Troy, I only talked to Greg (who runs the place), but Mike said that Troy was an awesome guy too.

blk/slvr02ss

iTrader: (21)

Yank SS 3600 or FTI 3800

Fish-man

iTrader: (1)

I called FTI. He (Troy) thought between a 32-3600 stall would work well. I did the "ask Chris" @ circleD (actually some time ago when I was looking into cams) he said 3000. I need to call Yank.

FTI gave me a good price, but I think Christmas will bring better offers... and I wont be doing any install until then anyhow... so I have some time to study.

FTICONVERTERS

iTrader: (3)

We custom build converters as well as have shelf units. Yes the STR can be changed on a restall. We will build a converter around what your goals and future plans are!!! give me a call at the shop.1-866-726-8358 or go to our website and submit a spec sheet and i will make a recomendation.

Greg

Fish-man

iTrader: (1)

... I'll probably be buying end of year (hope there are good deals for Christmas... and plan to install over winter)


Here is what I've heard so far:

Yank says SS3200
Precision Industries (Vig) says 2400
FTI says 3200 to 3600
CircleD says 3000

2400 to 3600 is a pretty big range.

FTICONVERTERS

iTrader: (3)

stay posted for our annual Black friday sale coming up soon!!!!

Greg

Roarin_8

iTrader: (5)

Converters are great. I have an SS3800 and it was great off the line with a drag radial and the 2.73s. Once the cam went in though, the car is begging for 3.42s/3.73s. LT1s make torque down low so I'm sure whichever converter you go with you won't be disappointed with the accompanying gears, can't say the same for your tires though, they will beg for mercy.