converters vs bad track prep
converters vs bad track prep I originally put this car together as a street strip car that was a weekend cruiser and still wanted to retain the best drivability I could. now the car is primarily driven to and from the track and that's about it. I am 1/8 mile ET bracket racing the car and ready to change converters. I originally had a 315/30R18 drag radial on it, and it measured out right at 25.2" tall on 18x11.5 wheels. now I have a 27x11.5x15 hoosier QTP on 15x10.s and they measure out 27.3 tall. have a yank 3000 stall converter in it that is very tight and drives very nice, but the jump in tire size changed the way the car leaves dramatically, and I definitely feel like more converter is what I need. the car has a 4.10 butt gear in it. I was very consistently 1.68 60's with the shorter tire, then over the winter I yarded 320lbs off the car, and went to the drag race wheel setup and now its consistent 1.73 60's but picked up a full mph, and almost 2 full tenths in the 1/8th. my question is this. I want to go 4000 stall, and I am thinking I am going to go FTI, but I don't know if I should be going with the hard hit converter, or the standard converter, as my local track surface and prep isn't anything to write home about. I do have double adjustable Vikings on the car, a Midwest anti roll, the battery is in the back, and I got the majority of the weight off the nose of the car (except AC, I kept that) so I know the chassis will be doing its part. just looking for insight from guys that have run the hard hit converters. and drivability at this point isn't a concern to me.
I would send it back to be restalled, but I broke the trans 2 seasons ago and I had our local torque converter guy cut it open, make sure it was ok, had stuff it back together and I don't know enough about converters to talk about it but it's been way tighter ever since, and I would much rather start fresh. Some of the faster harder leaving cars at the track and guys that run them are telling me the hard hit converters are actually better for a bad track, as they will shock the tire and chassis harder and make it hook harder. I don't know enough about it to know, and wondering if anybody has any experience with that
A lot of variables here. What tire pressure are you running? I've noticed that my ET streets hook best at 22 pounds. I tried dropping pressure as far as 14 pounds and it just spun more the farther I went down with poor track conditions. I bracket race also and my 3200 Vig is tight too, I stage at 1750 rpm to cut consistent .015-.030 lights BUT if I flash it from idle the car hooks far better and runs quicker. I'm a firm believer in shocking the tires as hard as possible up to a certain HP when you run into tire shake. I also went from a 26" tire to a 28" and lost about .10 in the 1/8 but the car still pulls 1.58-1.60 60' times. I would try adjusting your tire pressure and flashing the converter and see how it reacts to it before restalling it. Might just be some fine tuning on your launch settings to pick it up. Once you find a sweet spot with pressure try firming up the shocks till it starts spinning then drop back.
If I flash it from an idle it defitnely hooks harder, but will run the exact same times in both the 60 and in the 1/8th. I've gone everywhere from 13psi to 19psi and it seems pretty happy at 17 to really wad the tire up and dead hook every time. I have been tuning shocks on it all season with a few stock eliminator guys and I feel they are working pretty well. I load it to about 1900-2000 to make it consistent and easy to cut a light, but the converter is tight enough that about 60ft out you can feel it climbing the converter as it gets out of the hole. I just don't want to shoot my self in the foot with the hard hit converter if it's going to end up spinning all the time with it
The only thing I would caution is that the change in converter is going to change how your car leaves. It may be a good change, or it may be a bad change, but it will change.
I've gone from tighter to looser wanting to go faster and lost the tree. Reaction times are critical, so it's something I wanted to add in.
If you have the right parts and a good tire I don't think you'd have an issue with a hard hit converter; I'd be afraid of a soft hitting converter for reaction times.
I've gone from tighter to looser wanting to go faster and lost the tree. Reaction times are critical, so it's something I wanted to add in.
If you have the right parts and a good tire I don't think you'd have an issue with a hard hit converter; I'd be afraid of a soft hitting converter for reaction times.
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The car is really easy to cut a light for a foot brake car. I'm used to leaving off the top bulb on a button but this car is no problem at the tree, and I stage the car really shallow so I'm sure I could roll it in a little if I lost the tree. I would like to see it in the low 1.60's to high 1.50's
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On The Tree
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 179
Likes: 2
From: So. IL
Call Yank and tell them you want to make your converter into a SS4000. IF your track prep is really that bad, get the PT4000. Talk to Dave about it and he will hook you up.
I bracket race a SS4000 in a cam only car an go consistent 1.5* 60's with mediocre track prep and 3.42 gears with 27x10.5 Hoosier QTP's
Best pass as of last year: 7.18@95mph - 1.51 60ft
I bracket race a SS4000 in a cam only car an go consistent 1.5* 60's with mediocre track prep and 3.42 gears with 27x10.5 Hoosier QTP's
Best pass as of last year: 7.18@95mph - 1.51 60ft