Lazy feeling Hi stall converter

[Kern Dog]

Have you ever had a Hi Stall torque converter that makes your car feel too lazy?
I have a 70 Charger with a 493 mill. 10.8 squeeze, '509 cam, Edelbrock heads, 850 carb. The 727 has a 9 3/4" converter rated to 3000 stall. I have 3.91 gears in the 8 3/4" axle and just for fun, I added a Gear Vendors overdrive.
I've had this converter in the car since 2006 and have never liked how loose it feels. I have a 2007 Ram truck with a 5.7 HEMI. I like how it feels tight right off of idle. My brother in laws 72 Duster, 360/904 also has a stock converter that pulls right off of idle. This Hi stall converter though...
It feels tight when the converter reaches 2500. It will start to move the car right off of idle, but I can feel the slip. I feather the throttle to speed up, but the car doesn't speed up in direct proportion to the engine speed. I talked to the guy that built the converter. He said that he might be able to cut it apart and swap in a different stator or something to reduce the stall. I wonder if it is possible to reduce the stall by 500-700 rpms?
I have a few 12" converters here, but I suspect that they are the super low 1200-1400 stall units, spec'd for a Chrysler Imperial or some other land yacht. That would obviously give me another set of problems.
What are your experiences?

 

[70rr-brian]

I run a 4000 rpm stall on the street....that is just how they are. Especially if you are at a low speed in second gear and try to get it going without a kickdown. If I kickdown... I fry the tires off. If I don't kick down it is painful to get up to speed as the engine churns away around 3000 rpm just to get it rolling at something other than a snails pace.


Converters are usually recommended based on the cam and its peak power range. Its a downside to running a "race" engine on the street. Did you get that stall recommendation from the TC manufacturer?

If you don't have a column shift consider a manual valve body and control the gears to make it more responsive...If you have a column shift....yeah...higher gears or lower stall.

 

[Kern Dog]

My engine makes great power at all rpms, so I'm curious about if a 2000 stall rating may be more to my liking.
I understand some of the theory behind the higher stall: Bypass the low rpms which are low on power and skip quickly to the midrange where the engine is in its power band. What if the engine makes decent power below the stall? Isn't that wasting energy? All the slipping HAS to be affecting economy while generating trans oil heat.

 

[Greg Ducato]

If the converter is based on a GM 245MM converter there are many stator and bowl combinations to select from that can tighten up the low speed stall while still retaining a higher "flash" stall speed. A 380 stator combined with a 25 degree positive fin angle will make for a tighter low speed stall and still flash over 3000 rpm in a Big Block B-body.

 

[robinsonwr]

I am building a 440/512 with the primary duty as street use. The stroker makes so much torque down low that unless you are looking for the track a lower stall would probably more suitable. Most converter companies base their factors off of base engine variables unless you get into highend companies. These guys will ask for specifics and build a converter comparable to your requirements. Hypothetically a base 440 making 450ft lbs tq will not act the same or have the same characteristics as a 493 making 550ft lbs tq at the same RPM. I have settled on a 2500 stall for my application which the camshaft has advertised duration of 280 I/286 E. Should make a fun to drive 66' Satellite with 512 and 3:23 gears, right.

 

[Kern Dog]

If the converter is based on a GM 245MM converter there are many stator and bowl combinations to select from that can tighten up the low speed stall while still retaining a higher "flash" stall speed. A 380 stator combined with a 25 degree positive fin angle will make for a tighter low speed stall and still flash over 3000 rpm in a Big Block B-body.

Sounds good. If a new converter will cost me $500 or more, maybe having my Converter guy modify the one that I have may be a viable option.
Thanks everyone, Greg