The Torque Converter Will Make Or Break Your Car! Here's What You Need To Know When Ordering One

Our test and tune with Slaghammer went great, except for one major issue. The torque converter we had in it was mismatched the to rest of the combination, leading to painfully slow 60 foot numbers.
We've already got one better suited to the car on its way to us, but here's how we arrived at this situation and what you need to consider when ordering one for your hot rod, including the difference between "nitrous" torque converters and ones that are better suited to the typical normally aspirated car.
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[tomfry]

I found out about 2 months ago my wife has lung cancer. She is getting a biopsy April 7 to stage it. Then its out to cancer doctor. Thanks for you videos and Sunday night lives
It helps me escape from a dark place everytime i watch your channel thank you so much. You guys rock keep up the good work tony and kat

[rdpig]

It's amazing to me how many people don't understand "having fun". When I saw you doing those burnouts I smiled and thought "He's just having WAY too much fun!".

[vincentenk]

You're entirely correct! It's about FUN! Life's too short not to have FUN! This is meant to be an escape from reality.

[DoktorJeep]

I recall back in the 80s some places sold packages that included a cam and the converter.

My gearhead buddies and I learned long ago that If you have to explain why burnouts are fun, they just won’t get it and it’s best to switch to talking about football or something more mundane.

[Moparornocar]

A video on wheel aspect of old mopars would be great. About when and why u need to shorten your rear end and the biggest common tire on a stock hot rod style car

[mikeeiben]

A very important part of dyno results is the low RPM information. As a converter builder I need to know the RPM that the begins to make power.

[dietervaloczky]

First off paint them headers white lol, I bought a Summit low stall 10" for my 3900 Nova with high torque 454 and 3.31 gears and it brake stalls at 2400 and flashes at 3200+ gave me a 0-60 mph of 4.75 seconds, going to hit Milan drags this summer for 60' times.

[kramnull]

4:57 That's the converter that is going into the classic '55657 junkyard build for DD'SS. You may as well load the mess on the car trailer and let DD SS finish the job; since UT already had it 95% restored on the floor.

[MaxNafeHorsemanship]

Kinda glad you brought up DD Speed Shop. Cool how Dan helped her put the glitter on even though he didn't like it. She did, and it was her car. Like low Buck Garage says, "if you aren't having fun, you are doing it wrong". Personally, I think roasting tires is a waste of money, but dang it's fun.

[tomfry]

I dont understand why ppl cant get what you were doing. You explained it in the video. I didnt even graduate high school and understood everything that happened. Some ppl just get your head out of your ass. Loved the content that you dont have. Keep up the great work and videos love your channel tony and kat

[bodeine]

This is a very good and interesting explanation of choosing the proper torque converter and more precisely a stall converter. I would have liked for you to touch on how the camshaft that you have is a big factor on where the engine starts making good power and also is a factor on what torque converter to consider but I realize that most of your audience most likely already knows this. I'm looking for a way to show my step son the relationship between an engine that starts making good torque way down low and why you wouldn't want a high stall converter in that case compared to an engine that doesn't start making power until it's higher up in it's rev range and why then a higher stall converter would be a benefit. The reason is is I installed a big bore kit on my step sons 49cc scooter(it's all he can afford at the moment) and he ordered a whole new top end. The kit came with a new cylinder, piston (much bigger), rings, assembled head, overhead camshaft and bigger carburetor and a few main jets. He also ordered a new variator with heavier weights (basically the front part of a torque converter you'd see on some mini bikes and go karts) and a new stiffer main spring and clutch springs (3). Now instead of coming off the line pretty much immediately the engine revs way high before the it takes off which isn't necessary with this setup because the new camshaft, from what I can tell, has a stock profile, it's not high performance at all from what I can tell. We ran it with the stock variator and clutch setup after I installed the big bore kit and it ran good but he wanted to put this new variator and clutch springs setup on it because he thought it'd give him better low end torque and performance but that's not the case in my opinion. I didn't see where it improved his top end at all but made the bottom end very mushy so I'm looking for a video to show and explain this. Still an excellent video and I learned a lot from it and hope to learn more from them.
Thanks for the explanation 👍

[craigjones]

I changed the converter and exhaust on my ‘71 LTD and it went from 16.1 to 12.7 second quarters. Money well spent.

[sackyhackMxO]

You gotta make sure to update the torque converter in mini Slaghammer as well

[cboy]

Tony. I own a 88 5.0 mustang notch Lx 5 speed because of you. Had it since 92. I was my dream car in 87 when I left high school. Today my daily is a 2011 Caprice PPV cammed with exhaust and a Camaro SS pumpkin in the back. 13 3s @ 106 all day on cop snow tires. You inspired me in the 80s. Thanks!

[OldcarsNmusic]

"There's lots of things to get serious about. Hot rods ain't one of them!" Truer words have rarely if ever been spoken.

[fredrichard]

Thank you uncle Tony for all the ways to help me understand

[SteveMagnante]

I've been digging your stuff Tony since your CSK / Harris magazine days. Im with you on the challenges and frustrations of torque converter selection. Without X-ray vision, you can't really tell what you've got until you have installed it and made some runs. I always request that the converter maker use as deep a converter housing as possible. Gotta have plenty of stack-width inside for deep vanes. Many shops that sell thin converters juggle low end stall speed and top end slip. It used to be that the old Ford Cortina automatic converter core offered an ideal blend of small diameter and thick body. But they're all used up now. The Chevy Vega core was an old standby but is pretty skinny. Now certain Japanese-sourced converter cores are preferred among the rebuild houses. Happy hunting!

[davidkeeton]

The guys at TCI are great. I was running a 408 ci big block Chevy with a TCI transbrake powerglide with a 5000 converter, on gas, I switched to Flying Toilet on alcohol and the stall speed went up 500 rpm. I called TCI told them this and asked if they could bring it back down to 5000. They said send it in and we'll adjust it and you will have it back in 4 days. They came through as promised and it was only about $250-300. I was very satisfied. With the stall being corrected the change to the Flying Toilet dropped the ET by 4 tenths. From 7.0 to 6.60 and deadly consistent. And no more cooling it down between rounds.

[davidanderson]

That's what building hot rods is all about, dissecting your combination and making it work for you. If you get all frustrated that it isn't perfect right out of the gate take your time and figure it out, it's a learning process.