Torque Converter Opinion Aod

[Mstng93SSP]

My car is a street car only. I have gt40X heads, Comp Cam XE264HR cam, GT 40 tubular intake, exhaust, tb, etc. I have an AOD with a trans cooler, silverfox stage 1 valve body, 3:73 rear gears, I am looking to upgrade my torque converter. Now I know the custom ones are probably the best, and I have contacted a few tc builders and got quotes as well as the specs they recommend. I am looking for real world opinions on if the price for a custom converter is worth it for my street only car? (we don't even have a track here) If I go custom I am looking at $1000 plus shipping to Hawaii which is another $100+. If I go with an "off the shelf" converter like TCI Street Fighter it is half the price, and I can get free shipping with Amazon. Will I feel the additional $600 value in a custom converter or not? I don't mind spending money to get it right but if I am not going to notice anything substantial on the street I would prefer the budget route.

Thanks

Chris

 

[A5literMan]

Just my opinion...I second your thoughts on a "budget" tc. For your planned usage I would go that direction.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

A custom built converter More often than not is for race only applications.
Although I have a street car, and that's all it'll ever be, I did opt for a " custom" converter though.

Because I wanted a 10" converter that stalled like a 12" converter.

When you consider that the stocker is 13" in diameter, and weighs a bazillion pounds, it takes a fair amount of power to spin that heavy pig. Having somebody " build" you a converter can be beneficial when considering everything.

 

[Mstng93SSP]

Well, there is always this sitting on my garage floor.....

Not sure I want to go down that path though, even though I have done 4 5speed swaps in the past. I kind of like cruising with the aod.

 

[A5literMan]

Personally find autos boring. Unless it's a really fast car lol. At the same time, cruising around with an auto, is much easier on the leg.

 

[Mstng93SSP]

This may surprise some people but Honolulu has some of the worst traffic congestion in the entire U.S. I have spent 2+ hours merely going 22 miles during rush hour, I used to do that daily in my 03 Mach 1 with a heavy clutch. Doable, but not fun. I drive my convertible a lot and as much fun as a 5 speed is, with our traffic problems I like the AOD....for now at least.

 

[A5literMan]

This may surprise some people but Honolulu has some of the worst traffic congestion in the entire U.S. I have spent 2+ hours merely going 22 miles during rush hour, I used to do that daily in my 03 Mach 1 with a heavy clutch. Doable, but not fun. I drive my convertible a lot and as much fun as a 5 speed is, with our traffic problems I like the AOD....for now at least.

Can't argue with that

 

[A5literMan]

Besides I hate you! Honolulu ftw! Hawaii is on my bucket list to visit.

 

[Mstng93SSP]

Pro's and cons for sure. Pro's: Beautiful weather, beautiful women, drive mustang year round, etc. Cons: No track, lots of traffic, EXPENSIVE..!! But hey, who doesn't love a good old $7 gallon of milk......

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Pro's and cons for sure. Pro's: Beautiful weather, beautiful women, drive mustang year round, etc. Cons: No track, lots of traffic, EXPENSIVE..!! But hey, who doesn't love a good old $7 gallon of milk......

$7 gallon of milk!? That helps me to believe that I made the correct decision in drinking beer solely for my fluid intake.

 

[stykthyn]

$7 gallon of milk!? That helps me to believe that I made the correct decision in drinking beer solely for my fluid intake.

I'm on a booze hiatus. Drink one for me.

I would do a manual valve bodied 4r70w if I went auto.

 

[mikestang63]

FWIW I am running a TCI #433200 3k stall in my AOD with the same Silverfox valve body and a B&M cooler. Edge also makes a good converter. At your power level I don't think you will get the benefit of a custom converter.

 

[Mstng93SSP]

I have been trying to find a video of an aod fox with a tci converter street driving. Do you have one mikestang or know of any? Does your car drive close to stock around town with that converter?

Thanks

 

[JD1964]

I second the motion for a 3k stall. The small block has less tq and with an advertised 3k stall, you'll probably get a lower stall speed out of it. My son's vert is a 306 with xcam, AOD and 3k stall. No way it actually hits 3000 in stall speed. We put a Bauman shift kit in and that really helped performance. The way we set it up, in the D position at WOT, it hits near 6k rpm 1-2 shift and 5500k rpm 2-3 shift. When you set it up right, you don't need to manually shift. Just put it in D and forget about it.

My 92 LX is 5spd and fun to drive like you all know. But I like automatics too if they're set up right. Our 96 LT1 Vette is automatic and not too shabby at 12.88 @110 in the 1/4. Its great not to worry about what gear you need to grab when out of nowhere some millennial in a WRX wants to mess with you. Just make sure you get enough road in front of you and nail it! Perfect every time!

 

[mikestang63]

I have been trying to find a video of an aod fox with a tci converter street driving. Do you have one mikestang or know of any? Does your car drive close to stock around town with that converter?

Thanks

well with a V3 it's hard to tell,,, lol. I will say this, the car does drive close to the same as before with the stock 1800 stall converter until you hammer the go pedal. It will help you get out of the hole much better by matching the stall to your engine with the power moved higher up the rpm band. Here is a good primer

http://www.badasscars.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=78/prd78.htm

 

[Mstng93SSP]

Sorry, I meant does the trans act like stock when simply driving in town, not the actual car as I can tell your car is far from stock. Thanks for the link, that was a good read. I am leaning more towards the TCI converter now. There are a lot of things that extra $600 could go towards...like milk....

 

[Davedacarpainter]

I'm on a booze hiatus. Drink one for me.

Done and done

 

[mikestang63]

Sorry, I meant does the trans act like stock when simply driving in town, not the actual car as I can tell your car is far from stock. Thanks for the link, that was a good read. I am leaning more towards the TCI converter now. There are a lot of things that extra $600 could go towards...like milk....

Yes. the trans will act the same. The higher stall has no impact on normal driving.