Hey guys, since i have had my car i did some bolt on's, full exhaust,EWP,1.6rr's,intake,4.10's, and i have a set of weld pro stars with ET radial's, my next step for now before i do some suspension is converter's. I know yank makes great stuff, Edge, circle d, and they are all nice converter's. Yet a little pricey so my questions are as follow's
1. what stall would you guys recomend for my mods
2. why do you guys not like brands such as TCI, Hughes, Boss hog, ATI, B&M and those brand.

I mean some of them are pricey, and i havnt seen anyone use one so i have no feed back from any of these brand's. So why are these converters bad, is it how they are built, do they break, what is so different about these. If anyone can help me out or give reviews about any of them that would be great, or give me solid facts why these are bad converters that would be great. I would love to hear facts, not just that there junk please. thaks guys!!

 

oh the car i have is a 1996 trans am A4, not my 1991 camaro XD

 

How much street time does your car see? A popular stall rating is 3600, but for often street use I wouldn't go any bigger than 2400. Some cam specs would help pinpoint a good flash stall rating as well. As for brands, I don't have much input other than I bought a Hughes TC once and it splattered before it left the parking lot of the transmission shop.

 

ATI can be very good, far as I know they actually make a lot of the equipment everyone else uses. I don't think they make a 9.5" lockup though which is what you want for a street performance or street/strip car.

The BEST you will hear anyone knowledgable say about TCI in a 9.5" performance lockup 4L60E converter is they are "hit or miss" That is the good end of the scale.

B&M and TCI IMO should be left to the old school 3 speed guys running mediocre musclecars.

Far as the guy saying 2400 for a street car I would guess he has never driven a good converter. My friend's WIFE daily drives a 3200stall cammed Caprice through wisconsin winters even.

Converter technology has really improved in the last 10-15 years and with lockup a high stall is just fine to cruise. My 3800 stall in my Caprice will creep more at idle than my wife's bone stock 2003 Impala. I would call it a bit much for daily use but when the car was a 20K mile a year daily driver I had a 2800 stall Edge and frankly a lot of passengers couldn't even tell there was a stall in it at low throttle even fellow gearheads who know the car was modded.

IMO pretty much anyone will be fine daily driving a 3200 stall so long as the builder is good like Yank, Vig Edge, circle D and the car has some rearend gear in it. 2.73s and a 3200 might feel crappy but there is NO reason to have 2.73s in a daily driver they are not better for mileage.

The quick bolton cars use 3400+ stalls I think most go around 3600 and we know the stock cam doesn't like a lot of rpm. So IMO suggesting a 2400 stall and then wanting to know cam specs is just an expression of outdated ignorance. There is not an aftermarket LT1 cam that will like a stall that low when the stock cam wants so much more.

 

On phone so keeping it short..

Yanks converters are off the shelf, everyone has the same ss4000..

Tci has horrible lock up problems because of the clutch used... To keep cost down. They perform averageish but are usually a pain to drive.. Not worth the money saved.

I personally recommend ptc.

Fwiw.. with converters you get what you pay for... But there is a difference between low quality high quality cheap and expensive. You can get a quality well performing converter for cheap.. And you can get a low quality poor performing converter for cheap... And everything between.

 

I used a tci 3600 stall for about a year. With boltons i was running 8.0s in the 1/8 with it. Then it took a crap and took the tranny with. Then Bought a performbuilt tranny and his 3800 stall. The car then went 7.7s and picked up 2mph. The tci stall felt loose and sloppy compared to the performabuilt. I would diff spend the $ on a good stall.

 

The price difference between something like Edge and Yank or Vig is Edge is a stamped cover where Yank and Vig are billet. Machining that chunk of billet cost money. I do believe the billet cover is technically better but at the same time I think the stamped will serve most folks just fine.

Those who have swapped from Edge to Yank fine subtle track advantages in Yank and say they drive better.

Far as "custom" I think there are only so many internal parts combinations, the "custom" part comes from talking to Andre at Edge or Mike at yank etc. and giving them specs and expectations for the car and they will pick what setup is best.

I am very happy with my $525 Edge, at the same time I know it hits the tires hard for a good ET but it does give up some MPH to a Yank. If I were to buy a new one tomorrow I think I would go Yank. Happy with Edge, no plans to replace it but I know it gives up a little MPH to a more efficient Yank. For a track only car I would be looking at an 8" ATI.

 

That depends a lot on the brand you go with.
If you're sticking with the stock cam for the foreseeable future and want a good street/strip compromise, the max I'd go is 3600, and then only if it's the Yank SS series. The SS converters drive better than anything else out there. With Vigilante, Edge, Coan, PTC, a 3200 stall will drive about like the Yank SS3600, but will not yield as good 60's. I hear good things about Circle D, but have no experience with them, so can't tell you how they drive.
Honestly, unless you're after that last 10th in ET, and you want to be budget-wise, look for used deals on any of these just listed in your stall range and you'll be happy.
Like was said already, avoid TCI, B&M, Hughes, for a 4L60E.

 

hey thanks guys, i was kind of set on the yank 3600, but was in a discussion with a buddy why people dis like them, and coming from you guys my mind is set. i ques if a company makes cheap converter's, and can get away with it they will. my friends point of view was if they were so bad they wouldnt sell them, but hey i wanted your guys opinions. thanks again guys!!

 

Did you really just put Yank (a company that builds a nice off the shelf converter, not tailored to your needs) in the same bracket as PTC and Coan?

So you're telling me a 3200 PTC/Coan will drive as lose as a 3600 Yank... But yet yield slower 60'?

Come on now, don't kid yourself.

Yank builds an extremely nice converter.. It is great for a weekend warrior type deal. There is a reason 95+% of your Yank "nut swingers" are H/C cars or less. The more serious you get into the drag racing world the more you will see people split off and use the top dog converter companies.

I'm not trying to put Yank on blast even though it seems like it..
They make a converter that will perform exactly how it should every time, not below or above average. Very few do you see being extremely fast for the set up.

 

Well, I can tell from those comments that you have little to no experience with Yank. Using "lose" (sic) and 3600 Yank in the same reference, unless you're not talking about the SS, tells me right away you've never driven one. I have a direct comparison between a Coan (very high quality converter) 3000 and a Yank SS3600, and they drove almost identically, so yes a 3200 Coan will feel a bit looser. and yes, a slower 60' from either of those.
I'm not kidding myself; don't you be swinging from those PTC/Coan nuts :p

Yank builds a lot of custom converters. If you're really trying to go fast and ever deal with them, you'd know that. Like I already said, PTC and Coan are excellent too, but no they're not on a level above Yank
Not a Yank nutswinger and don't even run one in my car right now. I was addressing the OP's questions. Did you notice he's a "heads/cam car or less"? For what he wants, Yank is the "above average" choice. Maybe you could help more in a thread better matched to your "serious drag racing" expertise.

 

I bought a 3200 stall lockup for my 94 Camaro Z28, i haven't installed the converter yet waiting til spring, the car is put away for the winter.. The only mods i have are a 3inch catback, coldair intake, and a transgo shiftkit in the tranny, and the car came factory with 323,s.. The converter i went with is a 3200 FTI, this converter is good for 450H/P, the only thing is that it's not recomended to use nitrious, turbos, superchargers, which i'm not planning on doing anyway.. Go under jeg's and you will find it there, i paid 379.00 for the converter.. I also used a FTI 3200 stall in my 81 Firebird, and i love it and customer service from FTI, is awesome they answered all my questions, without any hesitations i'm after recomending them to all my buddies, and i live in Canada.. Hope this helps you any..

 

Again, you get what you pay for. I have doubts (and you should too) about the performance of such a cheap converter.

 

So you have no experience with actually installing and using it? How exactly is this helpful?

This is what hurts the community so much all of you that have to give glowing reviews for parts based solely on your experience ordering them.

Far as the guy arguing with Pat, I saw your build thread about the incomplete car. Now it doesn't say what the old setup was but can we assume the 7.3s at 95mph were a 3500lbs heads/cam LS1 setup? If so you are telling a guy with a 300lbs heavier LT1 heads/cam car that is faster he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Also like I said if you want a custom converter from some of these companies you can get it you just need to talk to the right person and give them intelligent input. You get out of it what you put in. If you email them and say "I want a 3600stall for a heads/cam car with 3.73s" they don't have much to go on and sure they will probably just make an educated guess on which "shelf" converter will work well for you.

The single most impressive application of a 4L60E I know of uses a Vigilante, that would be Jeff Green's 4400lbs low 9s monster of a car, but I am sure Vigilante is just cheap stuff for heads/cam cars too right?

IMO Edge is as cheap a converter as I would run and I do run them happily but I understand there could be some gains with something else.
Far as getting what you pay for I bought a used "level 10" billet converter at one point in 2600stall I later traced it back to being built by someone else and to call that converter crap would be to insult crap. After the tranny blew I replaced it with a 2800 Edge that drove better, ran cooler and performed better. One of the issues with the level 10 when I considered having it rebuilt was the input was .1" off center, not a typo. New that was an over $700 converter 10 years ago. So lots of money can buy you junk but little money is unlikely to buy you something really good.

 

Sorry i wasn't more helpful but i will install this converter myself, like i installed the converter in the Firebird.. A friend of mine has a 93 Camaro he installed the same converter, with almost the same boltons as my car and ran a low 13, he has the same converter in his car now going on 3yrs, and no problems yet...I don't plan on racing my car it's just a cruizer so this converter is fine by me for what i want..

Another friend of mine built a 350 vortec motor in his 2nd gen Firebird, he boight a no name converter for 258.00 bucks he sprayed that vehicle all the time with a 150 shot and had no problems.. He is still using the converter, his best pass was a 11.5 not bad for a no name B&M for 258 bucks.. As soon as i install the new converter, i will post a thread about it to make people happy...

 

It's generally all hit or miss with the no name brand converters out there. With that said, you have the big name manufacturers with proven performance and reliability. Yank,CircleD,FTI,ATI,PI,etc., just to name a few. I myself, ran a no name brand 4000 stall in my 4L60E and sprayed it as well without a hiccup. It really depends who makes em'.

 

A bolton LT1 on a 150 shot should be low 11s. LT1 have a little better heads out of the box so they make better power than most "budget" gen 1 builds What works at 500fwhp might not be so good anymore at 600fwhp.

Low 13s is NOT good for a bolton f-body.

You are making our point for us.

Converters are also something that can degrade slowly, at one time "S-10" converters were all the rage for the b-bodies for a cheap 12" 2200stall. With time and use though the fins would lay over and the converter would get progressively less efficient so even a positive result on a "new" piece isn't a complete review.

 

Converter is a critical pc. in a race car

a street car...not so much can get away with alot more. I have used ati and others in OD trans before and they are very sloppy. I would go with yank

I have been through about 10 converters this year

 

RevMax verters are actually better than most think. Theyre built to your specs and are advertised to stall the exact stall speed you request in YOUR vehicle. Yea Yank, Circle D and all the rest are great products, truth is, not everyone ***** 100$ bills and some cant afford 700-1200$ verters. I have a 4l80e and all the verters for it are pricey as hell. RevMax has one for abt 350$ and they have a 2 year unlimited mile warranty. Plus they have options to beef em up such as anti-balooning plates, carbon fiber woven lock up clutches and sprag springs. Yea they arent full billet, and are only rated to 500hp (on the stage 3) , but they have a great warranty, tech support is awesome and i hear they have some of the same internals as Yank..hope this helps a bit

 

You got that right! A subtle change or error in building a converter can make the difference between winning races and not being able to get it down the track. A local 10.5 contender lost a good part of this past season chasing gremlins that turned out to be a converter issue. And that was a $3000 converter!