My BUDGET 451 build... finally

[HT413]

I know I mentioned it before but it bears repeating. Frank Lupo and the gang at Dynamic converter know what they're doing. the car idles at 1050 and in gear at maybe 800 and just barely wants to start moving. yet feather the gas and it gets moving like a stock converter. It brake stalls at 2900, and when I'm cruising at say 2500 rpm in second or third and I nail it, it flashes to just shy of 4000 and takes off like a rocket. Same with a full throttle shifts. Yet with all of this, the converter produces no excess heat above a stockish converter and under light throttle you would think it's an 11" stockish converter. This is the street / strip 9.5".

It's refreshing when a shop lives up to their reputation and keeps their word. Couldn't possibly be happier.

 

[CoronetDarter]

I know I mentioned it before but it bears repeating. Frank Lupo and the gang at Dynamic converter know what they're doing. the car idles at 1050 and in gear at maybe 800 and just barely wants to start moving. yet feather the gas and it gets moving like a stock converter. It brake stalls at 2900, and when I'm cruising at say 2500 rpm in second or third and I nail it, it flashes to just shy of 4000 and takes off like a rocket. Same with a full throttle shifts. Yet with all of this, the converter produces no excess heat above a stockish converter and under light throttle you would think it's an 11" stockish converter. This is the street / strip 9.5".

It's refreshing when a shop lives up to their reputation and keeps their word. Couldn't possibly be happier.

I got my 9.5" converter from Dynamic too. Can't wait to fire up the new build and try it out.

 

[69 GTX]

Sounds like just what I need.

 

[747mopar]

That's great to hear, I've always bought off the shelf B&M converters and wondered how much I was sacrificing? I'd bet a lot!

 

[HT413]

I got my 9.5" converter from Dynamic too. Can't wait to fire up the new build and try it out.

If you're like me, you'll love it.

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Sounds like just what I need.

With that beast Jim's building, this might be just the ticket.

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That's great to hear, I've always bought off the shelf B&M converters and wondered how much I was sacrificing? I'd bet a lot!

My last converter was one of theirs, a holeshot. After all was said and done, it was really just a stock converter - with a decen cam in my 413, it was a bear to hold back at a red light, even if I cranked the idle down to 500-600. But it was an efficient converter and drove great. But hey, I got it for $100 and sold it for the same!

I doubt the 9.5" would play nicely with your overdrive.

 

[HT413]

Just took it out on a nice 60 mile cruise among the hills of norther NJ and at around mile 50, it suddenly developed a noticeable shutter at all rpms, as if it is suddenly out of balance. Not too crazy but it's a very noticeable vibration. Any ideas?

I stopped when I felt it and went over everything and all I noticed was the #6 plug boot is a little scorched from the header. Didn't seem too toasted, but just in case I rotated it a bit away from the header and readjusted the fiberglass insulation sleeve that I have on it.

Everything on the front of the motor looks good - fan, belt, clutch, all pulleys and bolts... and I didn't hear anything crazy like a converter bolt backing out and shearing off.

Also, I came home and checked the timing, it's at 18* initial (thought I left it at 16*), but it doesn't seem the balancer slipped (440 source unit).

Any ideas?

Thanks!

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I should add that the vibration is the same in gear, park and neutral and increases in frequency with rpm. Seems worse from idle to maybe 1800 rpm, butting is definitely there at all rpm regardless if I'm stopped in park, neutral, sitting in gear or driving down the road. Seems to rule out u joints.

 

[pentahead]

Broken flex plate, lost a crank bolt for the flex plate, lost tone weight of the converter, lost a converter bolt, or the converter is dorked....

 

[pentahead]

Do a compression test too for a fead hole.

 

[pentahead]

Dead hole

 

[HT413]

Interesting. Tomorrow I'll swap any suspect wires, then plugs and will do a compression test then. I'll also look at converter bolts then. Thanks for the help, I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[69 GTX]

Can you tell if the engine is missing?

 

[HT413]

Can you tell if the engine is missing?

The #6 wire was definitely torched, so that's my first guess, though I never had a shudder from that before. Eh, either way, I'll figure it out and keep you guys posted. I've been super gentle with her so far so I'm sure it's something simple, even if it is a cracked flex plate - no worries. I'm not the kind of guy to get too worried about something like this - it will all work out in the end... always does.

 

[747mopar]

I'm leaning towards ignition, bad plug, wire, etc. I had a set of MSD wires that wouldn't stay on for the life of me.... did the same thing as you described, needless to say they're in the trash. I buy nothing but Taylor now and no more problems. Good luck

 

[pentahead]

Also....i chased down a similar issue for weeks.....ended up being fan clutch....changed it and waterpump...gone

 

[HT413]

Ok, seems like it might be TWO wires. I pulled the 6 wire while running to see if there was a change... no change... so looks like #6 isn't getting spark. Oh, and just touching the boot gave me a hell of a wallop; that 6AL packs a punch!! I also noticed the 5 boot was just as toasty, so I pulled it and again no change (this time I shut her down before pulling it lol).

So looks like after 50 miles of cruising, the 2 boots melted through and I limped home on 6 cylinders. Makes sense because it definite felt down on power.

Just to check, I pulled the fan belt and started it up to rule out the fan/clutch/pulleys, no change, so I'm guessing they're ok.

I figure I'll be pulling the headers again to ding them for more clearance (fun fun!)

 

[69 GTX]

Do you have the Kevlar socks for the plug wires? Might save you some header work.

 

[747mopar]

Ok, seems like it might be TWO wires. I pulled the 6 wire while running to see if there was a change... no change... so looks like #6 isn't getting spark. Oh, and just touching the boot gave me a hell of a wallop; that 6AL packs a punch!! I also noticed the 5 boot was just as toasty, so I pulled it and again no change (this time I shut her down before pulling it lol).

So looks like after 50 miles of cruising, the 2 boots melted through and I limped home on 6 cylinders. Makes sense because it definite felt down on power.

Just to check, I pulled the fan belt and started it up to rule out the fan/clutch/pulleys, no change, so I'm guessing they're ok.

I figure I'll be pulling the headers again to ding them for more clearance (fun fun!)

LOL, I did the same thing! Turns out just because your holding the boot doesn't mean it won't come all the way out to your hand.. Lesson learned

 

[66chargerpat]

I had the same thing with #5 and #6. I changed the boots out on #5 &6 to the high temp. straight MSD boots. They hold up for a few years.

 

[HT413]

Do you have the Kevlar socks for the plug wires? Might save you some header work.

Yep, i have them on both 5 & 6. i noticed on these flotech headers, the tubes turn down from the exhaust ports a hair closer to the block than my old headmans. Maybe 1/4" closer to the spark plugs, so on both 5 and 6 the boot is so close the ceramic sleeve is actually wedged between the boot and header.

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I had the same thing with #5 and #6. I changed the boots out on #5 &6 to the high temp. straight MSD boots. They hold up for a few years.

Thats the first thing i did yesterday - picked up 2 of those and installed them on 5 and 6. I tweeked them a bit to clear the headers, then they immediatley melted when the engine warmed up the first time. can't win!

So i just ordered the accel 9045c wires with the ceramic boot. They'll be here by thursday, so soon enough I should be past this issue for good.

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LOL, I did the same thing! Turns out just because your holding the boot doesn't mean it won't come all the way out to your hand.. Lesson learned

Best part was it was maybe 38* out, so that felt really good with seriously cold hands. Reminded me of getting jammed while hitting a fastball during a cold spring night in high school. That's just one of those feelings that you can never quite forget.

 

[HT413]

Fixed !! I decided to stop fooling around and bought the accel 9000 wires with the ceramic boots. Melted boots are a thing of the past. I'll post some pix later, they actually look pretty sweet.

Incidentally, when changing the wires I noticed the copper was super oxidized on the #5 and #3 distributor sockets. So it looks like I may have been limping home on 5 cylinders. I deodorized them with some salt and vinegar solution just to start it up and test it but plan to buy a new cap ASAP. I also decided to change the plugs out just for the hell of it.

Incidentally, anyone know which caps fit the firecore?