Originally Posted by
Stu Cool
Since your engine builder is familiar with your motor, the cam they put in it and your vehicle, I would ask them for a recommendation. You could get second and third opinions from a couple of the converter builders.
A literal explanation of what stall speed is: The RPM the engine will rise to when you apply the brake and throttle at the same time. A strong engine like yours will over power the brakes at some point and begin to spin the tires or slide the car forward. A transmission brake in a race application will enable you to give more throttle without this happening. A "high stall" converter will be looser as techinspector said, that will allow the converter to slip at lower RPM and not push the vehicle forward and will finally "Catch" at a higher RPM and give you a better launch. Compare it to a stick shift car, a stock converter is like dumping the clutch and flooring it at 1100 RPM. A 3000 stall converter is like dumping the clutch and flooring it at 3000 RPM. Of course there will be a little more slippage with the automatic, but that illustrates the point. Given your motor, I would think 4000 Stall would be too much for anything that you plan to drive very much on the street. Again, ask your engine builder what they recommend, and if you must error, I would suggest you do so on the low side.
Good luck with it, sounds like they built you a nice street fighter. Be careful!
Pat
Merry Christmas ya'll
Merry Christmas