Thread: stall converter- house brands for the street?

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Hey everybody. Got a question about converters. Was looking at a stall from B&M-Torkmaster with a 2000 stall- and Summit also has one rated at 2000rpm. Would I be better off going with the name brand converter like B&M or would a house brand like Summit work allright on a street vehicle?Would be going in a old chevy 1/2 ton 2/wd with a 350 bored .060 over with Lunati cam-218* at .050 & .458 lift bumped up to .488 with 1.6 rockers. Have auto tranny- th350- stock and stock converter. Have truck 12 bolt rearend with 3.73-1 gears. Will be putting posi in before long don't want to get too wild on the stall as will be street only and has to handle stop & go traffic, too.Just looking for a little extra jump off the get-go Also looking at remote cooler for tranny fluid- like a 6 row cooler from flex-lite - 15in. long and 3/4 in. thick and 7 1/2 in tall. Would this do a fair job of cooling fluid with my cruise speed rpm of approx. 2000rpm at 40 mph and approx. 3000rpm at 60 mph? Sorry- know my ? are all over the place but I'm still sluggish from yesterday

I use to buy B&M torque converters . But they just dont build them like they did in the past . The B&M holeshot 2000 cost $191.99 I buy my converters from www.transmission-specialties.com They have 2400 or 2800 stalls for $184.00 . And they work great . I am sure there 2000 stall is cheaper yet .

Brand name converters cost is insane! If it ain't an all-out race vehicle with alot of HP or is being abused alot then go Summit,Jegs,or any that saves you money.

I used a Derale cooler, http://www.derale.com/

jc

Burrbrain,I have friends that have run B&M many times with much succes on the street,with setup's simular to your's.I would't put A car converter in A 1/2 truck if thats what you are planning, due to the extra work put on the stator in the coverter,most have a plastic stator and over time the fins brake off over time cousing the converter to work poorly.that is why you can buy A B&M/TCI and others 12in 11in converter so cheap.now in A race converter you have STEEL stators and other BEEFY stuff and thats the price differiance.I use COAN-Converters( www. coanracing.com)they sell steet stuff to, or send them a old one and they will build you a new one built to your SPECS.I just had A TCI-11in done with A aluminum stater VS plastic for A project $238.38 plus $12.00 ups.

Thanks for the thoughts. I don't know about a car tranny and torque not working in a truck as what I have in there now came out of late"70's" camaro and has run for the last 8 years without any real issues. Been thrashed a few times and has held up pretty good for me.
Also, the reason I was looking at B&M they have the torkmaster 2000 for around 110 bucks plus shipping. It is a 12 in. converter, also.
This by no means is a strip truck but just a daily driver that is getting some beefing up. I think that a mild street converter should do the job but if it gives out then it will be lesson learned and will have to up the ante for a more heavy-duty set-up.
On the cooler setup I like the idea of the cooler having it's own fan, thermostat operated? nice setup. Bypass the radiator cooler and just running that cooler? mounted up front to catch air better? Will have to look into something along those lines.
Thanks everybody.

I didn't say you can't put A car tranny in A truck,I wouldn't put A car converter in A truck.

Some of the truck converters are set up for towing . If he does not haul a lot of weight Then use the HP car stall . this is also why full size pick ups have truck tires on them .

well, the thing I was trying to say was that the converter also came from a car with the tranny.
Since you brought up tires, Tango, I'm running P295-50-R15 BFG radial T/A's
that are 26 3/4 in. tall and am breaking one loose without a lot of effort, hence the posi I mentioned. No, I don't do a lot of hauling, just helped sis move twice in last five years amounts to the hauling I've done.
Now if mother nature would be a little kinder with the outdoor heat I might get some more playtime before it is hibernation time

Go with the 2400 stall . And install that Posi . That truck must run real good ? Its in the 20s here . Real COOL!!!

Burrbrain point taken on converter,picked out A posi yet thinking of a locker unit???.

regular BFG tires are some of the hardest made .. i love running them on my hot rods for the very reason that they go up in smoke so easy .. i just cant find a set at the moment that fits my mustang correctly so i have mickey thompsons m50`s and they bite too hard .. takes the fun out of showing out ..i have found on some items that summit brand hardware is actually name brand hardware that did not meet brand name specs. ( rejects ) .. stay with name brands ..

Ya, I have the setup for the rearend. I got a good deal on a Powertrax no-slip unit for my 12 bolt and am waiting for the weather to cooperate- along with work which has been running us 6 day weeks for last couple of months- so I can get it installed and have time to make sure I get everything right on it.
At this moment it's right about freezing mark but 2 days before thanksgiving it was in 60-70*range for high temps!
Oh, not to be picky cause it works your way for me too, but it is spelled b r i a n- not b r a i n-, allthough that at least makes me sound smarter
Think I will go with the B&M converter as the price isn't that much off from the off brands I priced. If I'm real lucky maybe santa might get wind of what I would like for X-mas

OOOOPPPPSSS!!! sorry about that Burrbrian.some times my fingers go faster then my brain.