Advice sought on torque converter please

[Justasgood]

1973 Charger
505 mild stroker
Holley 750
Roller cam, lifter and rockers
727 auto slapstick
3:23 rearend
Purpose: Street cruiser maybe a trip to the track on occasion
Less concerned about track performance
Currently has stick converter don’t want to put it together try it and then take it apart.

Thanks in advance and let me know if more info is needed.

 

[Black_Sheep]

Since you didn’t include any cam specs, any responses you get will be a wild guess. If you look up your specific cam on the manufacturer’s website it should list a recommended stall speed and gear ratio for the camshaft.

 

[Doorkicker]

TC's can be such mad science. There is no "perfect" calculation. There's a lot that can go into it. Probably the top things are car weight, cam specs [especially LOA, duration, and lift (helps to determine power band)], rear gear and wheel size. You take all that and decide what you want the car to do. You're saying cruiser, may be some track time but not the focus. The car is 3400 lbs., you have a fairly tall rear end. But a decent motor. I would guess you have a great torque and average RPM (again, no cam specs, so can't tell). In short, it's kinda like my 72 and I have a 2400-2500. There are a lot of calculators out there.

 

[440Coronet500]

Cam specifications would help. 440'

 

[Justasgood]

Voodoo retro fit hydraulic roller
#20230711Lun

Duration (Int/Exh) 270/278
Gross valve lift (In/Exh) 513/530

Range 1800-5800

I’m looking at a Hughes 2000 stall.

 

[Justasgood]

Voodoo retro fit hydraulic roller
#20230711Lun

Duration (Int/Exh) 270/278
Gross valve lift (In/Exh) 513/530

Range 1800-5800

I’m looking at a Hughes 2000 stall.

TC's can be such mad science. There is no "perfect" calculation. There's a lot that can go into it. Probably the top things are car weight, cam specs [especially LOA, duration, and lift (helps to determine power band)], rear gear and wheel size. You take all that and decide what you want the car to do. You're saying cruiser, may be some track time but not the focus. The car is 3400 lbs., you have a fairly tall rear end. But a decent motor. I would guess you have a great torque and average RPM (again, no cam specs, so can't tell). In short, it's kinda like my 72 and I have a 2400-2500. There are a lot of calculators out there.

I do have a 3:73 sure grip I can put back in.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Give PTC Converters out of Alabama a call. They make excellent converters and are nice helpful knowledgeable people. I run one of their 2200 stall 11 inch converters in my car and it's excellent.

I'm no expert (only my experience), but I also recommend if you want a street cruiser with a well matched converter to stick with an 11 inch diameter. I tried a 9 inch and didn't like it at all on the street. Way too loose for my combo. Switched to 11 inch and all was good.

I'm curious to hear what you end up with and if you like it after real world driving. For my mild cam 451 with automatic I finally ended up with a 2200 stall 11 inch converter. Prior to that I ran a 3200 stall (too loose), then a 2000 stall (just a tad too tight where when I shifted at idle from Park to Drive the motor would shut off), then loosened it up a bit to 2200 and all is good. My motor for street driving could probably be just as happy with a 2400 stall. I think a 200 RPM range is acceptable and nothing will necessarily be exact. Some people automatically tell you to install a 3000+ stall converter no matter what the combo. Lot of people have good success with that, but some of the milder engines like mine and yours could maybe do better with a stall less than 3000. Others please correct me if I'm wrong here, but that was my first hand experience with my car.

 

[440Coronet500]

Based on your information provided, I'd suggest a 2500 stall converter. I believe a 2000 stall would be too tight IMO. 440'

 

[BSB67]

Is your stock converter a 12” or 11”. Either way, I’d use the stock converter, or use a trustworthy stock replacement. You don’t need anything special for what you have going on.

 

[Justasgood]

Is your stock converter a 12” or 11”. Either way, I’d use the stock converter, or use a trustworthy stock replacement. You don’t need anything special for what you have going on.

Current build(not sure of cam specs) engine kills and won’t stay running when put in drive with the stock converter. I would keep it as is if I don’t have to go over 2500-3000 stall.

The cam I listed above would be my alternative if I can’t make the engine behave as is with a 2500-3000 stall.

So if I change to a milder cam(listed above) I’m trying to figure out the best converter.

Sorry for any ramblings, on 900mg of Gabapetin for a pinched nerve, slipped disc and herniated disc and my mind is racing like I’m on Speed

 

[RemCharger]

Current build(not sure of cam specs) engine kills and won’t stay running when put in drive with the stock converter. I would keep it as is if I don’t have to go over 2500-3000 stall.

The cam I listed above would be my alternative if I can’t make the engine behave as is with a 2500-3000 stall.

So if I change to a milder cam(listed above) I’m trying to figure out the best converter.

Sorry for any ramblings, on 900mg of Gabapetin for a pinched nerve, slipped disc and herniated disc and my mind is racing like I’m on Speed

Make sure you have adequate initial advance.
May have to shorten it, to increase it. So it doesn't stall in gear

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Make sure you have adequate initial advance.
May have to shorten it, to increase it. So it doesn't stall in gear

great point. I run 17 degrees initial + 15 degrees mechanical for 32 degrees total (any more total and my motor pings because my flat top pistons have my compression at 10.2:1 - I should have gone 9.6:1)

 

[Justasgood]

Make sure you have adequate initial advance.
May have to shorten it, to increase it. So it doesn't stall in gear

Had initial set at 32 with advance at 36 idle at 1200 and still fell flat and killed.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Had initial set at 32 with advance at 36 idle at 1200 and still fell flat and killed.

initial at 32 must be with vacuum advance hooked up?
What is initial at idle with vacuum advance disconnected and capped off? Should be less than 20 and hopefully more than 10.

 

[BSB67]

Current build(not sure of cam specs) engine kills and won’t stay running when put in drive with the stock converter. I would keep it as is if I don’t have to go over 2500-3000 stall.

The cam I listed above would be my alternative if I can’t make the engine behave as is with a 2500-3000 stall.

So if I change to a milder cam(listed above) I’m trying to figure out the best converter.

Sorry for any ramblings, on 900mg of Gabapetin for a pinched nerve, slipped disc and herniated disc and my mind is racing like I’m on Speed

I’m so confused. So the cam that you listed is not purchased or in the car. Correct?

Do you want a TC recommendation for the cam you don’t have but you posted?, Or for the cam that you don’t know what it is?

If it’s the latter, we cannot make any sensible recommendation. Furthermore, W/o cam specs, we cannot truly understand if your problem is a cam size issue verses some other issue.

 

[RemCharger]

Had initial set at 32 with advance at 36 idle at 1200 and still fell flat and killed.

Well somethings wrong with the carb tune up

 

[BSB67]

Well somethings wrong with the carb tune up

My point. Or vacuum leak, or………

 

[Justasgood]

Here are the cam specs:

 

[Justasgood]

Those specs are for the current cam in the car. It would require a minimum 3500 stall converter. Not ideal for what I want.

So what I seek now is a good cam for the 505 with a 2000 stall and 3:23 gears.

If that in anyway helps the group help me

 

[Black_Sheep]

Here are the cam specs:

View attachment 1715736
View attachment 1715737

The crane catalog recommends a 3200+ converter, 11.5 - 13:1 compression ratio, and 4000-4800 cruise rpm for that grind number.