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suggestion's on a torque converter

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Old 10-10-2015, 09:23 PM
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Default suggestion's on a torque converter

I recently bought an 01 z28. Unfortunately I bought it from someone who had no idea what performance work was done to the car. So this is what I know is done to it.
1 7/8 speed eng headers
Ls6 intake with 80mm tb
Ud crank pulley
243 heads with yellow springs unsure if they are ported
And I'm assuming it has a z06 cam or some kinda small cam

This car will be dd. And some days 50+ miles
I was thinking about a converter in the range of 3700-3900 with a lockup option. What do you guys think? And what brands do you guys recommend? BTW I'm not wealthy so bang for the buck is what I'm after.
Old 10-10-2015, 10:10 PM
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Yank SS3600
Old 10-11-2015, 08:09 AM
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That looks like a nice converter. But I can't afford $800.
Old 10-11-2015, 09:35 AM
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CircleD has a very good converter for $500; FTI a good converter for around $450.
Old 10-11-2015, 10:57 AM
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I'm having a hard time finding dealers for the fti converters.you happen to have any links for the $450 converters?
Old 10-11-2015, 11:06 AM
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I would not suggest the fti street brawler..the bearing in them go out real fast and ruins the transmission ask me how i know lol just had one come in last week..how ever i have yet to come by this problem with circle d as theres has a custom made retainer and better bearing to prevent the bearing from coming apart..well worth the money and there customer service is top notch..btw if your really set on the fti ger it from summit they have them for about 300 bucks
Old 10-11-2015, 11:40 AM
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Originally Posted by GMCSIERRA5.3
I would not suggest the fti street brawler..the bearing in them go out real fast and ruins the transmission ask me how i know lol just had one come in last week..how ever i have yet to come by this problem with circle d as theres has a custom made retainer and better bearing to prevent the bearing from coming apart..well worth the money and there customer service is top notch..btw if your really set on the fti ger it from summit they have them for about 300 bucks
I'm not set on anything at the moment. And I don't want to buy converter with known bearing problems.the circle d less expensive line doesn't look like they offer a high of a stall as I'm wanting.
Old 10-11-2015, 11:51 AM
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Summit does have a 9.5" fti billet converter for $705. Even though that's $100 less than the yank it still might be to expensive for me. But so far that looks like the best bang for the $$. Does the fti billet converters have the bearing issue too?
Old 10-11-2015, 11:59 AM
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Did you look at the classifieds on this site? I often see the yank ss3600 posted for around $450
Old 10-11-2015, 12:02 PM
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with converters, probably more so than other parts, you get what you pay for.
Old 10-11-2015, 12:03 PM
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I did look. But honestly I would rather not buy a used converter. You never know the amount of abuse or neglect it could have seen.
Old 10-11-2015, 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by farmington
with converters, probably more so than other parts, you get what you pay for.
So what exactly separates an expensive converter from a cheap one? When I read how they are built it looks like most of them are built the same or close to the same. Also I see different size converter's. I feel like I would like a smaller one just because I think it would weigh less for the engine to turn. Lol sorry for being such a noob about this.I've always had stick shift cars
Old 10-11-2015, 12:52 PM
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Most budget aka 400 dollar units are just reworked factory converters from other vehicles. So they use a lot of modded factory parts. The higher end stuff is a completely 1 off deal. The backs are billet machined steel and the innards have larger lockup clutches along with larger bearings and a more efficient fin design.

If you really want a 3600 stall then you sort of have to go billet. The reason being is that to increase stall speed you have to change blade angles and other things inside the converter, there comes a point where that can only be done so much before the design becomes inefficient. 3200 seems to be the cutoff line with modded factory budget converters, they're good units but companies usually limit them to 3000-3200 because after that the design is inefficient. Above that it takes a "new" design aka the billet series in order to make the converter efficient.

With that said any of the companies FTI Yank Circle D etc are great options. I do feel circle d is a little more on the expensive side seeing as they used to be priced right with yank and FTI but have since raised prices. I would honestly call all the companies and go with what you feel best. You can't lose on any of them. Greg at FTI is a great guy and has built some of the fastest 4l60e converters.
Old 10-11-2015, 12:58 PM
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Thanks for the explanation.
Old 10-11-2015, 11:26 PM
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Circle D 5C hands down!!!!


OP, i would not put anything budget or used/cheap in a tranny..

Spend the money and get a good quality converter.
Old 10-11-2015, 11:43 PM
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Circle D 1E or 2E or the 5c. Best mod you will do to the car with lockup. Do not cheap out on a Converter or you will be buying trans and converter again.

Now saying that ,,,,a buddy of mine has a Revmax in his car and has not had any problems with it,, its in a 3 speed though not 4speed lockup.
Old 10-12-2015, 02:23 AM
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Originally Posted by TXZ28LS1
Circle D 5C hands down!!!!


OP, i would not put anything budget or used/cheap in a tranny..

Spend the money and get a good quality converter.
I can't spend money I don't have. I'd love to be able to spend $1000 for a converter. Just don't have it.
Old 10-12-2015, 02:39 AM
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Revmax then.....Cheaper or you can put the CircleD 3200 278MM in it but after a month your gonna be saying I wish I had put the 3600 or bigger in there.
Old 10-12-2015, 04:58 AM
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rev max converters are reliable but as I said earlier they're modded factory converters. look at the trap speeds of the guys running the larger ones, most are lower than a bolt on auto. the converters are much less efficient than their counterparts from yank fti etc.

op I would either say screw it and get a good budget 3200 converter from the big 3 and be content with it. the next option would be buying a used billet one but I understand your concerns there. other than that you could hold off a bit and save for what you want which is usually what I do in most cases.
Old 10-12-2015, 07:23 AM
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The ss3600 won't be much different than a ss4000 from what I've seen mentioned from yank. I picked up my ss4000 on classified for under 600 shipped.. it's the second ss4000 I've had in 2 different vehicles, it out performs the 3600 and isn't much looser.. honestly for a 4000 it's very tight and moves with under 2000 rpms.. 3000 to keep up with faster moving traffic and locks at 45mph.. once it locks it feels stock.. most that get the 3600 end up wanting more from what I've seen from the hours of seaching I've done. Your converter just depends on what you are looking for on results.. as long as you don't do a ton of city driving you'd be fine.. and even then it's not that bad. Just get a big Trans cooler and a Trans go hd2 kit.. if you have never had a converter and don't care for max gains for a DD you'd be happy with the 3600. YouTube drive videos of each to give you an idea.


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