Hey im kind of a noob when it comes to auto trannies. Ive got a couple of questions about a build i was thinking about going with. I think im going to go with a b&m 2400 stall and a b&m shift kit. But i was wodnering will this decrease the life of my tranny? Also will the stall hurt my gas millage horribly? And how much faster would it make my car in the 1/4 mile.


Heres the link to the stall:
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku


heres the link to the shift kit:
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

Put a Circle D converter in it I couldnt be happier with mine. Havent heard much good about b&m converters for these cars.

As far as the shift kit goes talk to one of the builders here, imo there arent any out of the box shift kits that actually do everything that needs done in one box. They all get part of it right but none of them get all of it right imo.

Get a big tranny cooler (plate style). If your fluid is still nice and pink and doesnt smell burnt then there is no real reason the stall would add any real stress to the unit. What kills a trans is a slow shift and slip going into and out of gear, heat, and low/impropper apply pressures.

 

i have a circle d converter, and no shift kit. would this effect my transmission life? i will be adding a transmission cooler when i get the hoses and such. I just put in the stall today so it has not been driven on yet, but usually they knock off 2-4 mgp and you usually knock off .5 on your et

 

If you add a stall it will increase heat, so you will need to get a good cooler. You will also loose a few MPG's. But if you want to go faster, nothing is a better bang than a well built stall converter. It will get the car in the power band and make it a totally different car. Depending on what stall you select, it can knock of .5 or more in your ET as mentioned.

The most popular shift kit is the Trans-Go HD II. But like kdavis also mentioned, just about every kit needs some fine tuning.

Watch out when you get a converter, going for the cheapest option is not recommended. The lock up clutch might/will fail and take out your whole transmission, costing a lot more than you just saved.

Chris

 

I lost no mpg with the stall. Just keep your foot out of it within reason and let the lockup do its job and it will stay the same pretty well, especially with the smaller stalls. My car keeps up with traffic in the 1500-2000rpm range no need at all to go over that unless i'm showing off.

Chris, thats JDavis but the letters are close on the keyboard so i'll let it slide . Not much chance of the Circle D lockup clutch going south, mine locks up like a bear. Feels like another shift. I can only imagine if I had taken the restrictions out of the input shaft!

 

Really, no mpg loss? What kind of driving do you do? Oh, and what stall?

I really want to do this to mine, it's really sleepy with the 2.73's, but I can't really afford to lose any mileage. I drive about 65 miles a day, so a few mpg's really add up.

I don't drive very much stop and go city at all, my drive consists of about 10 miles of 2 lane rural road with a few lights and a 40mph traffic speed, then 20 miles of highway. Under those situations would the converter be locked most of the time?

This isn't going to be a racecar, it's just a DD, but I want more punch when I nail it. I was thinking of going with a Circle D 3000.

Is it feasable for me to do this and not lose more than 1mpg?

 

Well I DRIVE my care a crapload. I drive 50 miles each way to school/work right now 5 days a week. Thats right 500 miles each week.

My drive takes me about 80 minutes each way. There are 36 stoplights between my house and my destination. The drive is almost exactly half and half city and highway. I spend about 30 minutes on the highway doing 65 with the cruise on. Then I drive through the city which has a speed limit of about 30-45, usually takes me about 30 minutes. Then there is various small towns with one stop light which takes for effing ever and people drive like retards because it goes from 60-45 about 4 times. usually takes about 20 minutes to complete that part.

Before the stall I would routinely get 20-21.5mpg on this trip. After the stall, I get 21.5mpg every time. I check and log my mpg meticulously because it alerts me to any tuning problems or sensors failing or anything else going wrong. I fill my tank until the pump kicks off twice every time and usually use the same pump at the shell station by the campus. All highway trips with the cruise on 65 I get right at 28mpg.

I wouldnt put that large of a stall in front of 2.73 gears because its going to feel sloppy compared to lower gears. The Circle D I have is a full size unit because I expressed to chris that I need lockup to work and be very durable. Mine is rated at 26-2800rpm but for me the tach shows more like 3-3200rpm. My car runs very good with, heads cam high compression and 3.73's.

The thing about the stall is, it will slip more in higher gears because its harder to push the car. The loose stall at highway speeds slips more because of air drag and gearing, thats why we have lockup because it eliminates the slip of the stall and will act like a manual car from that point. I'm not sure where stock lockup occurs, I havent worked on a stock car in over a year. Mine locks up about 45mph and that is just where it should other engines/combos may vary.

Honestly you really wont notice any big loss in gas imo unless you're nailing the car constantly. Your right foot is what will define your mileage more than the engine/stall/gears imo. They call it the gas pedal for a reason.

All that said, if money is tight and you're worried about a small drop in mileage you should reconsider modding your car. Almost any performance mod will hurt your mileage.

Now a word on how to change how a car feels. With the stall it will take a little more throttle to move the car, this will give it a somewhat heavy/slow feel under easy driving most especially with a gearset like you have. When you nail the gas all hell will break loose, it is slightly confusing to people. Alot of people I know who are not used to stalls will swear up and down the car slowed down driving it. Only to take it to the track and drop half a second off thier time. Imo, you also absolutely need a shift kit with a stall i have driven them with no shift kit... i hate it. The stall absorbs all the shock from the shift, they're just as hard as they always were but you cant feel it, just feels like ****.

Now about gears, gears will feel like your car is an absolute animal if you go from 2.73-3.73's especially with the stock stall. It will rpm and accelerate like mad in effect you will gain about 35% more torque to the tires. It will feel great, but your et will probably only improve marginally. You will take probably a 2-3mpg hit.

If you're more concerned with track times, go with a converter. If you just want the car to not be a lazy pos around town put some gears in it. If you want your cake and eat it too do both . The gears will make the stall feel tighter.

Just trying to put out all the info on it so you get what you want out of it, even if its a little long winded. I think you may be happier with the gears actually from your description. Put your car into D and drive it up to highway speeds and give it a little tap on the gas when you get up to 65 or so and notice the rpms you're running there. That will give you a good idea of what a change in gears can do for you.

 

first 2400 stall isn't even worth putting in(edit sorry didnt notice lt1). second depending on your miles the tranny shops may not want to disassemble your tranny and put it back together without rebuilding it, something i didn't know. mine has 100k. after my tuner got a hold of the computer it shifts way better with no shift kit. i would recommend a tune for a stall over 3000.

 

Sorry about that,

Chris

 

B&M stalls are crap nowadays. Stay away!!!

 

WS6t3rror, thanks for the great info. That pretty much answered my question.

Originally gears WERE my plan, but the more I read about stalls the more interested in that route I get. I thought it might be a way to get more performance w/out losing the highway mpg.

I was thinking of keeping my eyes open for a used 4 channel 3.23 or 3.42 rear and swapping that in. Maybe this is my best bet.

I need to stop driving so much, if I could take the car off of DD status I really wouldn't care about a few mpgs.

 

Glad that short novel helped you. I would just go straight to 3.73's though if I was going to do a gear change. Its really not as hard as it seems to set up gears, just read about the process until you're comfortable with it. If you have the tools it doesnt take long. Then again I do my own 4l60e rebuilds, so maybe take that bit of advice with a grain of salt .

Performance won't be a huge gain with gears but seat of the pants will be fantastic. Gears do take a little work with a tuner to get everything the way you like it so keep that in mind.

 

If you're running an LT1, which it states in your sig', maybe a 2800 is better suited. I've read many articles where PI Vig' 2800 net pretty close to a half second reduction in the 1320'. I'd go through that tranny first though.

 

i have an lt1 stall converter for sale. its a yank, pm me it your interested