tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83067729996215764912024-03-05T16:59:49.055-08:00From the desk of AllfastFor speed and reliability for your vehicle, whether it's your race or standard street vehicle, look no further!
Allfast Torque Converters specialize in the High Stall area of Torque Converters which makes us the experts when it comes to finding solutions for those High Stalls that have been deemed impossible to create or fix!AllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8306772999621576491.post-16202538103661525242012-06-05T22:52:00.001-07:002012-06-05T22:52:43.561-07:00What is a Hi Stall and why do I need one?<br />
Before we can answer what a Hi Stall is we first need to know what a Torque Converter is, Wikipedia defines a Torque Converter as a type of hydrodynamic fluid coupling that is used to transfer rotating power from a prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine or electric motor, to a rotating driven load. The torque converter normally takes the place of a mechanical clutch in a vehicle with an automatic transmission, allowing the load to be separated from the power source. It is usually located between the engine's flexplate and the transmission. <a name='more'></a><br />The key characteristic of a torque converter is its ability to multiply torque when there is a substantial difference between input and output rotational speed, thus providing the equivalent of a reduction gear. Some of these devices are also equipped with a temporary locking mechanism which rigidly binds the engine to the transmission when their speeds are nearly equal, to avoid slippage and a resulting loss of efficiency.
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Not a bad explanation to be honest, the only problem
is that most people wouldn’t understand any of it. Essentially the easiest way
to describe what a torque converter does is to think of a clutch on a hobby Go
Kart, as the engine RPM increases, the clutch begins to engage and drive is
achieved. Now a Go Kart uses a mechanical torque converter or a centrifugal
clutch while the torque converter in a modern automatic transmission uses
transmission fluid being pumped by the impeller and flowing through the turbine
to achieve drive.</div>
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So in your modern automatic transmission equipped car, the
engine is connected to the impeller and the turbine is connected to the
transmission which eventually sends its drive to the wheels. In between the
impeller and the turbine is the stator, once the oil has passed through the
turbine, the oil then passes through the stator and is redirected to the
impeller. By passing through the stator and having the direction of the flow
altered by the stator, the torque converter is able to work more efficiently
than other types of fluid couplings. </div>
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Another aspect that makes a torque converters operation
unique and far superior to a centrifugal clutch or a fluid coupling is the fact
that a torque converter acts like an infinitely variable ratio transmission and
thereby multiplies torque. What this
means is that an automatic transmission that is equipped with a torque
converter needs far less gears than a manual transmission with a clutch to
achieve the same performance. The amount
that the torque converter multiplies torque by is referred to as the Stall
Torque Ratio (STR for short). </div>
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So what is stall speed? Well if we mechanically locked the
turbine and opened the throttle wide open the engine would rev to the Stall
Speed for that given design of converter. There are several factors that affect
Stall speed but the essential thing that you need to understand is that the RPM
achieved on the foot brake while “Stalling Up” is not the stall speed and has
little to do with the stall speed of the converter and more to do with the STR
of the converter, your differential ratio and the efficiency of your rear
brakes. </div>
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So what does the stall speed do that makes having a Hi Stall
so important in a high performance car? First and foremost, drivability,
engines that are equipped with larger than factory camshafts tend to make very
little vacuum at low RPM and this will tend to make them stall as soon as any
load is applied. In a manual car you simply depress the clutch at a higher RPM
and the effects of the low manifold vacuum are overcome, but in an automatic
car, as soon as the gear shifter is moved to drive and the load of the torque
converter is felt by the engine, the engine may (or will) stall. A higher stall
speed will correct this ailment. </div>
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So to stop your car stalling when you put it in gear is one
reason to fit a Hi Stall, but we are just scratching the surface. As I
explained earlier, the true stall speed is the RPM the engine achieves when the
throttle is wide open and the turbine is mechanically locked, the most common
time you will see this is when a Trans Brake is used. A Trans Brake locks
forward and reverse so that the vehicle will not move, Trans Brakes are not for
the faint hearted and are certainly not common on the street but they are
almost a necessity in a serious modern drag racing automatic. </div>
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Every engine has an optimum operating RPM
where the engine will achieve its best average HP, the<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span>key to optimizing your
performance on track is keeping the engine within this RPM range. The dyno
sheet shows a typical 550Hp small block that makes its peak Hp at about 6300
RPM. If I was setting this engine in a car with a 2 speed (Powerglide)
transmission for drag racing use, I would best looking for the best average
1200RPM. With a 3 speed car we could go as tight as the best average 800RPM, in
some instances we may even use a tighter sweep again.</div>
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In the above example the engine seems to make its best
average HP between 5800 and 7000RPM, so I would recommend a Hi Stall with
5800RPM stall and advise the driver to shift at 7000RPM. This will guarantee
the best average Hp and in returns it will guarantee the quickest
acceleration. </div>
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A lot of you are probably thinking that a 5800RPM stall
means that the car will not move until it reaches 5800RPM, well you’re
completely wrong. As I mentioned before the drive line needs to be completely
locked and the throttle needs to wide open to achieve 5800RPM stall. When you
launch the car (at the drags) and assuming that you have 100% traction, you
will notice that the tachometer will go directly to 5800RPM and then on the
gear shift it will drop back down to 5800RPM, but when you drive the car around
with light throttle the car will move at a much lower RPM.</div>
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The amount that the car moves is determined by the STR for
that given converter, the STR also has to match the weight of the car, the
differential ratio and the tyre size. For example a heavy car with 3.0 : 1
differential ratios and a 28” tyre will need a very high STR or the engine will
make a lot of noise but not go anywhere and the oil in the torque converter
will eventually boil. A light vehicle
with 4.11 : 1 ratio’s and a 26” tyre will need a very low STR or you will not be
able to stop the vehicle; as I explained earlier, a torque converter has the
ability to multiply torque, the amount that it multiplies torque in called the
STR (Stall Torque Ratio) and if the converter multiplies torque too much for
the weight of the vehicle and the differential ratio and the tyre size, it will
feel very pushy and hard to stop, in some cases you won’t be able to stop it
once it is in gear. </div>
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If your car has had modifications including differential
ratio change, larger camshaft, extractors, exhaust, tune etc then it will more
than likely need a Hi Stall, if your car is standard but you read in a magazine
or one of your friends said you need a Hi Stall (in these scenario’s the magic
3500 or three and a half seems to be the common Stall that is asked for) then
you probably don’t need one!</div>
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See you on the street</div>AllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8306772999621576491.post-38102457465620232742012-06-05T22:01:00.000-07:002012-06-05T22:23:06.347-07:00Modern 6 speed automatic transmissions, how strong are they?We are one of the only manufacturers of Hi Stall converters for the modern 6 speed automatics and we see a lot of interesting things and hear a lot of interesting stories about what you can and can’t do with them, so I thought this would be an interesting topic to discuss. <br />
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Firstly the GM (6L80E) and Ford (ZF6HP) transmissions are very similar, it appears that in usual style for the two marquees, Ford has opted to by the transmissions outright from ZF while GM has chosen to only buy the design and manufacture their own. In reality they are essentially the same transmission wrapped in different cases. The converters are totally different with GM sticking to its proven design philosophy’s in the torque converter and Ford choosing to use the ZF unit which is like most German units in that it is difficult to work on, hard to get parts for and expensive to fix.<br />
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Now most people don’t appreciate what is happening inside the transmission as you are driving down the road and this is where these modern 6 speed transmissions are totally different to any of their predecessors. These transmissions are a “Clutch on Clutch” type transmission, this means that for every gear change, one clutch needs to release as one clutch engages. This principal is employed on several sequential manual transmissions such as the latest F1 cars, the new R35 GTR and the new Lancer EVO 10. <br />
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The theory seems great but making it work correctly isn’t that easy hydraulically so the engineers employed electronics. Each shift is controlled by a solenoid that is controlled by the central ECU, sounds great but it’s not. You see manufacturers are really good at cost cutting and engineers are really good at making assumptions so what is missing from these systems that would make them nearly infallible is some sort of fold back so that the computer knows that the transmission has done what it has been commanded to do. The way these transmissions work is that the ECU assumes that the transmission has done what it has been commanded to do. This assumption poses a problem. <br />
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If both clutches are on at the same time then there will be a shift “Overlap” or “Bind” this is the most common cause of failure in these transmissions, if the clutches are both off at the same time there will be a shift “Flare”, once again a common cause of failure. All of these events are controlled by the ECU and when you have your ECU re-mapped or “Tuned” these parameters are quite often changed and the shift quality is often changed. In modified cars that have been tuned, most of the failures are caused by a bad tune, but a lot of failures are caused by factory faults that are built into the transmission, for example 3rd gear clutch clearance is usually not correct on either of these units from new and the factory parameters for the 2-3 shift is not correct so premature wear in 3rd gear clutch pack is a factory fault. <br />
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I have driven cars that have had transmission tunes done by various workshops across Australia and there is a vast difference between the ones that are tuned correctly and the ones that aren’t. When the vehicles are tuned correctly, at light throttle, it almost feels like a seamless shift, when they are not and even in some factory un-tuned vehicles the shift can be quite harsh and feel as though the vehicle is slowing down before it starts speeding up again. This is why fold back systems would have been a smarter choice by the manufacturers so that the ECU could constantly monitor pressures in each clutch and keeps tabs on if the transmission was doing what it is being told to do. <br />
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None the less one thing that you can guarantee is that at some stage or another you will need to have your transmission rebuilt and it is very easy to get ripped off, I have heard of people spending over $10,000 to cure a $100 problem! <br />
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Firstly, beware of “Buzz” words; we hear them all the time, “Cryogenically treated”, “Hardened”, “Aftermarket”, “Special”. Chances are that if you can’t find the manufacturer for the part that you’re about to pay $1000’s for on the internet then it probably doesn’t exist and the only thing that is special is the bus you should be riding on for believing the crap that you have been fed. These transmission are expensive to rebuild if you are doing them properly and if you have to replace a lot of parts but if your car just lost drive, chances are that only one part has broken. <br />
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There are two categories of parts within any automatic transmission, “Hard” parts and “Soft” parts, Hard parts are the shafts, drums, etc while soft parts include the clutches, the steels, the seals. Not much goes wrong with the hard parts unless there has been a catastrophic failure or the transmission has got a million miles on it and has just pain worn out. Most of the common ailments in the modern 6 speed transmission stem from the factory 3rd gear clutch pack clearance being too loose, this can be corrected in the tune and actually be fixed that well that the transmission will last longer than it will in a stock car, or fail in 5 minutes if the vehicle is tuned by an idiot. <br />
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So the bottom line is be careful, make sure you’re not being conned and use some logic when you’re making a decision. If you call ten shops and they all tell you that the transmission you’re using isn’t strong enough for the power you’re making, but the 11th shop says that they have a “Special” part that makes it stronger, the 11th shop is probably lying to you. If your trans was fine and failed immediately after the tune, then the tuner may have caused the problem (not always, I mean if the car already has 100,000k’s on it then it was bound to happen anyway!). If the shop they send you too to get the work done on the trans promises the world to you, chances are you’re about to be getting the trans built more than once. Use your common sense, if a deal is too good to be true, it usually is! <br />
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Lastly, be realistic, most OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) transmissions will handle about 30% more power than factory, so if your car makes 300Kw factory and now it makes 390Kw, the factory trans will probably take the power if it has been tuned correctly and if you don’t abuse it, but if your car is now making 500Kw then the trans will probably break and keep on breaking; the smart guys will change to a transmissions that is designed to handle that kind of power from day one. Powerglide and Turbo 400 transmissions are the 2 most common transmissions when your engine exceeds 500Kw not much else will handle the power, the components used in these transmissions (when built by professional race transmission shops) have been developed over the last 40 years to take the extreme punishment of modern drag racing and can be built to handle over 1000Kw. <br />
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See you on the street.AllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8306772999621576491.post-43550540582700237312011-04-21T02:25:00.000-07:002012-06-05T22:26:30.942-07:00Hi Stall Scam No 4: The USA Factor Gen III, Super Stock, Supercharged and budget convertersDrag Racing started in the US and they have lead the way from the beginning, I mean they invented the sport so it would make sense that the they would be the best at it. Like wise the most of the hard core components come from the US (notice I didn't say they are manufactured in the US just come from there!), but that doesn't mean that they make all the best parts. <br />
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Torque Converters have a kind of mystical flavour about themselves, partially because they are usually a sealed unit and you can't really see what you are paying for. This makes it hard to compare one to the other, if you did cut one open to see what you just got, you would then need to weld it back together. Both cutting it and joining it back together are jobs that you need special equipment to do so most people assume that they got what they paid for.<br />
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Because of the fact that you can't see inside a torque converter it makes it easy to scam someone, this is the dangerous part about buying a Hi Stall, you can't see inside it so it is easy to get ripped off. A lot of people (I mean a hell of a lot and usually by local companies) have been ripped off over the years, usually because the person that they have purchased the Hi Stall from doesn't know what he is doing and as such he can't make the unit that the customer needs. People that have been ripped off in the past don't want to go through it again so they smarten up and look elsewhere when they purchase their new Hi Stall. This (especially when the dollar is as high as it is now) has led to a lot of people buying converters from the US of A.<br />
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There are some excellent converter builders in the US but there are also some really bad ones, the bad ones are usually the ones that spend the most amount of money on advertising and they are usually the ones that take credit for other peoples achievements. But good and bad aside there are some other factors that people don't consider when they are buying converters from the US of A.<br />
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We get a lot of Gen 3 converters that we didn't build come through our shop and a fair share of those are from the US, the combination of parts that they use always seem to be way outside of the parameters that we build (and for that matter, any other Australian converter manufacturers build) I use to wonder why there combinations were so wrong. Now I'm sure some people reading this are saying, "How do you know that they are wrong, they might be better." No they are wrong, because we have tested every possible combination on the track, on the dyno and on the street. Most of the US combinations have a very high STR and a very high stall speed but slip like a bald tyre on a wet oily road. It gives you a converter that won't hold a lot on the brake, heats the oil like a chip cooker, and never drives positive, they just make a lot of noise and never get anywhere. A lot like the owners of the workshops that sell them!<br />
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So on my first trip to the US I decided to investigate the great Gen III mystery, our cars are heavy compared to theirs and they run lower gears compared to us. That was it, it was as simple as that, so the you-beaut US converter is designed for a car that weighs 1000lb less and runs 4.56 instead of 3.9's. I still wasn't convinced, I mean it just sounds like an excuse, I went away and did my calculations. It didn't add up, the lower diff ratio and the lighter weight won't work with a high STR, so I got back on the phone and with the help of my US buddy's proceeded to get into a few arguments with a few converter builders about the combinations they were building, then finally I got an answer that made sense.<br />
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Most of us use the 245mm converter for most of what we do, they are a great design from factory and the fact that GM made so many different variations allows us to chop and change parts to achieve the best combination for your vehicle, we still use other designs like 8", 258mm and 265mm but a bulk of what we do is 245mm. We might have to wreck out 3 different converters to make one, as such we might end up with 1000's of parts that we have paid for but can't use because the combination won't work properly. We have a clean out every so often and send them to the scrap man who sends them to China. But some companies don't; they use the whole converter even if the combination of parts won't work as good as another combination. Why? To save a buck, that's why!<br />
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Our cores come from the US and they cost us a lot of money to buy plus the freight and customs and then we throw half of them away. These guys, even though it's in their back yard and it's cheap, they will use the whole converter to maximise their profit and if it's going to Australia, well even better, I mean would you really bother sending it back if it wasn't right? Even if you did, is the guy in the US really going to fix it? Does he really care when your on the other side of the world? Now don't get the idea that they are all crooks, because there are some good guys out there but if we have so many crooks here and our population is ten times less than them, it stands to reason that they would have ten times as many crooks? Right?<br />
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It doesn't stop at Gen III converters, guys that run Blowers and Super Stock racers also head state side regularly, now I have seen some really good Super Stock converters (usually 7" converters) from the US, but guess what, we all use the same parts, my 7" stators come from the same factory that everyone that builds 7" converters buys them from. There are some little Vo-Doo tricks that you can do inside those 7" converters and we do them just like they do. So if you ask if can I build a 7" as good as the US guys, I know I can because we have tested them back to back and a sensible person would know that if you use the same parts, the same combination and the same clearance then it will work the same way.<br />
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On to my favorite breed of racer, the Supercharged racer. We have a lot of Blown customers and recently a couple that are right up their with the quickest in Australia, including our own car that is way over weight and has already run low 6.40's, but that doesn't mean that people are going to buy our product. Blown racers are probably the most US biased guys out there, they are also the guys that get ripped off the most by US companies. We have worked on brand new converters that have had to be modified just to fit the trans they were built for, we have them come in with broken legs, smashed sprags and the insides turned inside out, and we have heard all the stories. <br />
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My favorite was a local Outlaw racer who has since stepped up to Comp, he broke a sprag every pass and I told him from day one that he didn't need to run a sprag. We have tested (back to back) spragless v's sprag type in Blown Drag cars as well as aspirated ones, for his application there was no gain in having a sprag. Every time it would break the converter would go back to the US. In the end he had 2 converters and they were on rotation! One in the car the other getting repaired, finally the US company suggested that he might want to try a spragless converter.................<br />
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But the guy who gets ripped of the most is the guy on the budget, our converters are probably the cheapest around when you compare the parts and workmanship that goes into them, combine that the the after sales service and the knowledge base that we have and your getting a pretty good deal. Now a while back a heap of B&M converters hit the market for as cheap as $200, our cores cost us more than that before we even start making a Hi Stall, I was in a state of shock, how would I ever compete with a $200 Hi Stall?<br />
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I purchased one of each and began to cut them open and have a look inside, the first thing I noticed was that they were painted black instead of blue, very strange. The next thing was that they came in white box instead of the usual B&M livery, also strange, and these converters came with a single piece of paper for the instructions rather than the manual that I had seen so many times before from B&M, I had to ask the question, is this even a B&M converter? B&M converters are generally a well built converter, so it was a surprise to see something that bad being sold as a B&M.<br />
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After I had cut them open, the distinct aroma of a RAT was present in my workshop, there is no way that these could be B&M converters, they were not furnace brazed, there was no anti ballooning plates, the spline was not hardened, the bearing were SECOND HAND!!!!!! There was no base bearing, just a thrust washer, I had seen some bad converters but never anything quite this bad (not even locally let alone US built), this was the worst Hi Stall I had ever laid my eyes on. To get the combinations right they had taken 45 degree negative lids and bent them to 45 degree positive, the root angle of the vein was going the wrong way, it was a really really really bad converter, and I don't mean bad in a good way!<br />
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Well all you can do is tell people to stay clear of these time bombs, but the budget guys brought them and they failed one by one, some taking out the gearbox at the same time, it was a sad, sad story. I rang B&M and spoke to a guy there who told me they were an "EXPORT" converter ordered by a wholesaler in Australia! Send it Australia those idiots will buy them! I can tell you those converters would have cost about $100 each and I know of people that paid up to $1000.00 for them. Can you imagine how much money the wholesaler and the retailer made from that scam! <br />
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So the budget guy still has to buy another converter and fix his gearbox at the same time, a couple of guys went back to the shop the got them through and got the, "No warranty on performance.....", which by the way is total crap, in Australia if you sell a product for performance use or not it has to be, and I quote, " Fit for the purpose", if you get told the no warranty lie, don't believe it. My advice is small claims, don't waste your time with the Motor Vehicle Board because the haven't done a single thing since they were established, small claims is the go. Every person (that I know of) that has taken a shop on with a genuine claim has won. The budget guys budget gets blown out of the water and he ends up spending 3 to 4 times what he planned, remember this: "THE SWEET SMELL OF A CHEAP PRICE IS LONG GONE AFTER THE BITTER TASTE OF A POOR JOB SETS IN!!"<br />
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Now like I said not all US companies are crooks and not all US converters are bad, some are really good, but don't believe what you see or read in advertising, one company in particular takes credit for customers performances that haven't run that companies converters for years. I was at the track in Fontana California watching a guy peel this companies stickers off his car, it all looked a little fishy to me at the time. I spent a couple of hours chatting to the owner to find out why he was peeling the stickers off the car. He told me that the converter had been back to the manufacturer and modified so many times he was over it, he showed me a box of stators and told me that they had done their dash, to make matters worse he went to another (local) converter shop and had a guy build him one the night before (over night) that had cost less than a third of the fishy one and the car went from non qualifier to top qualifier!<br />
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Now if you get on the web site of the original converter manufacturer (the one who's stickers were being peeled off) you will see photos of this car with the stickers on it and a rave about his race wins etc. These race wins were after he changed his brand of converter, but that won't stop the fishy converter people from telling you differently. It is false advertising but who is going to do anything about it? Besides that the way he words the advertising, he doesn't always say it was with his converter he sometimes leaves it to your imagination.<br />
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The bottom line:<br />
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1. Some US gearbox guys will make you buy a converter from them, it's a good idea too (buy one from them) if you want that brand of transmission. Some gearbox guys (not just US) will deliberately cause the Trans to fail and make it look like it was the converters fault. Hard to believe? I saw a brand new trans that had a converter feed hole blocked with a grub screw to create too much converter pressure because the guy didn't buy a converter with the trans. We log all sorts of pressures when we are doing a R&D converter, I saw a problem in the gearbox even before we put it in gear. He knows (the builder) I know because the owner called him and explained that he had no problem flying to the US and sorting it out face to face, the trans builder said and I quote, "Yeh we do that sometimes, get the converter guy to call me and I'll tell him which grub screw to remove," I already knew which one to remove thanks! <br />
I have even seen a local trans builder put the pump gears in the wrong way so that the converter would bottom out and appear to have ballooned. He didn't know (as I snigger thinking about it) that I was fitting the trans and made the point of telling the owner that the converter would probably balloon!!!! I still laugh about that one to this day, I saw there was no end float, pulled the box out, stripped the pump and put the gear the right way around and put it all back together without telling anyone except for the owner (who needless to say never went back to that shop) That car won the championship that year, I wonder what the builder thought!!!!! I would love for him to read this now!!!<br />
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2. Don't buy on price, buy on spec. Just because it is cheaper doesn't mean it's the same, just because its more expensive doesn't mean its better, is it furnace brazed? Is it heli arched? Is it triple bearing? Does it have 4340 splines and pump drive? What sprag does it have? Did he ask you all the right questions he needs too to build you the right converter?<br />
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3. Don't buy a converter from a wholesaler buy it direct from the manufacturer. As much as I like Jegs and Summit, the chances of getting the right converter from them are slim. The chances that the converter was built to a spec and not to a price are also slim. You are far better off chatting to the manufacturer, if you can't deal direct then steer clear of that brand.<br />
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4. Don't buy a converter just because the website says they are the best or because some guy apparently uses one, with Facebook etc you can usually get in touch with these guys and ask them what they are really running. Does the converter shop run a car like yours? Are the performance figures for that car good for the mods they have done? Can they back up their claims? <br />
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5. Don't assume that the US product is going to be any better than the Aussie product. One of my buddies has 16 US built converters and is not happy with any, If our car was on weight (every 100lb is one tenth of a second) we would have run as quick as him on our 3rd full pass, we only have one converter! That converter was built here in Malaga. Its our own design and seems to work just fine.<br />
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6. Last but not least. Don't buy a US converter from a parts shop in Australia, if it's a Torque Converter shop or Transmission shop that deals directly with the US company then your fairly safe, but what is the parts shop going to do if it (the converter) fails? They can't do anything other than send it back to the US, at least an Australian shop that is the authorised repairer can fix it for you there and then.<br />
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Happy RacingAllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8306772999621576491.post-61157257019094026582011-04-20T23:21:00.000-07:002012-06-05T22:26:40.853-07:00Hi Stall Scam No3: Sling Shot ConvertersAbout 11 years ago, not long after I took over the R&D side of AllFast I decided that we need to create a new name for the new model of converter that we were building. Jim (the founder of AllFast) had names for all his different models, Street Launch, Super Street Launch, Pro Street Launch etc. We were still using a number of these names but the designs had slightly changed since I have been involved.<br />
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Better components, furnace brazing, stronger sprags, better Stator designs, it's an evolutionary process, you take an existing design and make it better. But all these converters were based on old technology. I devoted the first 2 years to creating a new design, the 9.5" converter. It was based on the 245mm GM converter and GM had released many different combinations (world wide) of the same basic design. The lids (or pumps as the US guys call them) ranged from 45 degrees negative right through to 55 degrees positive. There were 5 different stators, they were modern and they were designed using the latest available technology. To me they were the best available basis for building new Hi Stall converters at the time.<br />
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It didn't take long to crack the code for the 245mm combinations and it didn't take long to locate stock of each variety so that we could offer numerous different combinations using the same basic design to achieve different stall speeds. I did a Trade Mark search and no one was using the name Sling Shot (at the time), after using a couple of combinations at the track and seeing how well the formidable 245mm design worked I felt that the Sling Shot name was appropriate in describing the way the car launched. I should have registered the trade mark for automotive use, I should have!<br />
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So years role on and our Sling Shot converter with it's vibrant colour and it's even more vibrant performance began to get a following all over Australia, customers out there are referring to them as Sling Shots, not 9.5" converters or 245mm converters or even quoting the stall speed, just Sling Shot. I was very happy with what we had achieved, the converter worked well and just like another renowned Australian brand, the model of the converter had become the name that everyone was calling us. Unfortunately we aren't called Sling Shot converters, our company is called AllFast!<br />
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Then I got <u>that</u> phone call; you see there was a little converter company in Sydney that is called Sling Shot converters, it's a father and son team and I believe they are into off road racing, on the up side at least they race something! Anyway so the son of the owner rings me and tells me that we are infringing on his trade-mark and that he will begin to take legal action if we do not stop. I explained that we had been using the name for about 10 years and that I did a trade-mark search before we started using it and I asked how long ago he had registered the trade-mark. He went on to tell me that Sling Shot converters had been around for years etc etc. So I asked again how long ago he had registered the trade mark, after a few goes at the question he finally told me that it had only been a couple of years ago.<br />
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Now I could have challenged the trade-mark but I didn't, why? Well to quote Shakespeare's <em>Romeo and Juliet, </em>well at least Orson Welles from the Cannon adds "Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?" Well would a Hi Stall with any other name work just as good? As Orson put it "What's in a name." In this case, free advertising! So that is the saga of the 245mm Sling Shot converter and why our converters just have a size (11", 10.5", 10", 9.5" 8.5", 8") written on them instead of a name.<br />
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So if you've been told to get a Sling Shot converter make sure you know which one they mean!! Because all Sling Shots are not the same!!!!! <br />
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P.S. We don't build purple converters!<br />
Happy RacingAllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8306772999621576491.post-49051831646862845052011-04-19T21:38:00.000-07:002012-06-05T22:26:49.420-07:00Hi Stall Scam No 2: The VE 6 speed Hi Stall Scam!When GM released it's new 6 speed transmission (6L80E) fitted to the VE Commodore, I was chaffing at the bit to get my hands on a transmission and converter so I could design the first Hi Stall for it. It was a very different transmission with different splines and a different pump drive. It needed some big investment in tooling to be able to make anything to fit the trans. <br />
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I have always worked in with Sonnax and Tri Components to design better converter parts, their design guys hate me because I will call then 10 times a day until they fix a problem or start thinking about a solution. I am constantly trying to push the boundaries of designs to get the best value for money, best performing converter parts. Now some people say I'm crazy because after I do all the hard work Sonnax finally decides that there is a market and then everyone can buy the same parts to build their own converters. Well I don't care if other companies copy our designs, I mean I sell a lot of other Australian companies my parts, I care more about the parts not failing and the customer not getting ripped off. <br />
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Sonnax opted out of getting involved with the design of the new 6 speed Hi Stall. But I don't keep all my eggs in one basket. I deal with a lot of US companies, so eventually I found someone that would make the parts we needed to be able to go into production. So 4340 splines, pump drives, billet bases and other parts were soon available for converter manufacturers to start building the new 6 speed Hi Stalls. <br />
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And then I realised how much of a bunch of tight arsed idiots we have in this industry, particularly in Perth!! You would think that if the parts were available then the companies would buy them and everyone would build a similar converter not the same but at least similar. You see the reason I have never been phased about selling our parts to other companies has always been the fact that the combination of Lid (pump) Stator and clearance is the key to making the converter perform the way it needs or the customer wants it too. I have spent over 10 years so far (doing R&D) and will probably keep doing research and development till the day I die. You can't make a better product unless you keep trying new stuff.<br />
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I can sell my splines, pump drives, billet covers to any converter shop in the world but still make a better performing converter. What I never imagined was that these tight arses won't pay for the quality parts. Like I said earlier, anyone can call one of our suppliers and buy the exact same parts we use to build our products, but these idiots choose to re-use second hand parts so that they can make more money. Not only that, but because of their lack of knowledge they end up making a converter that is that heavier than standard and the combination is so wrong that it performs worse than a standard converter! They are more than happy to charge the customer the same price (as a quality product) but give them a crap product, they are crooks and because they spend so much money advertising with certain magazines, they get glorified and you the customer gets ripped off!<br />
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Now everyone that knows me knows I'm right into my maths and physics so here is the equation: <br />
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(Shit parts + Shit combo + shit workmanship) / High Price = Large profit for the manufacturer + shit converter.<br />
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We use a different equation:<br />
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(Quality parts + Calculated combination + excellent workmanship) / Median Price = Happy Customer + Quick Car.<br />
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So a few years have gone by and we have a few hundred VE 6 speeds spread out all over Australia and our design kits are sold world wide and then I read in a local mag that someone has released and I quote "The First VE 6 speed Hi Stall". Now even if they had of put the "The First CRAP VE Hi Stall!!" they would have been wrong. So the local guru converter company designs the first "Tight Arse" VE 6 speed converter. This converter is so bad that your car will actually go slower than a standard converter!! To top it off they charge more than we do!!!<br />
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So how did they make such a bad converter, easy, follows these easy steps:<br />
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1. Hire the delivery driver from a rival converter company to be your chief converter builder, a man that uses a eastern states brand converter (not his own) in his own race car. A man who was not allowed (by his former employer) to do anything to any converter other than load and un load it from the back of the delivery ute.<br />
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2. Buy a converter balancer that doesn't have a supported centre shaft so all your converters end up out of balance and you can't figure out why because the readings keep changing. But advertise it as the latest in technology and make sure everyone knows you have a balancer (even if it doesn't work) because you have to make the most out of the money you have spent.<br />
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3. Send your turbines off to get furnace brazed and then mig weld them as well so that you change the way the oil flows through the veins, you do this because you are too lazy to do it the right way which is spot bronzing or heli arcing (which you can't do because you don't own a tig welder).<br />
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4. Don't buy any parts from the US, none at all! This way you are limited to a 4 possible lid and stator combinations (instead of 45) using Australian parts, including, wait for it, parts from a Camira? Yup use Camira parts, because the converter in the Camira worked really well just like the whole car did!!!<br />
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5. Because your so much of a tight arse (see point 4), and there is no way your going to buy any parts out of the US, cut up the original torque converter (from the customers car) and use the standard base (instead of a billet one), the original spline (instead of a 4340 one) and the original spout (pump drive, also instead of a 4340 one) for good measure use the old bearings and old lock up plate (instead of a billet one) as well. This should bring your parts cost down to nothing.<br />
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6. Because the 9.5" lid and the 13" base now have a huge gap around them, get a 1" thick piece of steel plate and cut it into a circle and use that to fill the gap. This will ensure that it weighs MORE than the standard converter and also ensure that it performs worse than the standard converter. Note this style of converter WILL work well on a diesel!!! <br />
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7. Finish your converter off by balancing it on the dodgy balancer and there you have it, the biggest piece of shit VE converter that anyone could ever have built. Total parts cost: About $100.00 Profit: about $1400.<br />
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8. Get a equally dodgy magazine with a notorious reputation for supporting inferior products to do a feature story claiming that you were the first company in the world to make a 6 speed converter for the new VE range and remember the age old adage, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!!" and also remember if you read it in a magazine it must be true!<br />
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So if you are thinking of building really crap converters for VE 6 speeds then follow these 8 easy steps and you will be up there with the worst converter manufacturers in Australia, even Perth! You will become very rich very quickly and you'll never have to worry about a warranty claims because within a few weeks of the customer driving around with your Crap Converter and being blown off by cars with stock converters, they will have it clinically removed and it will end up at the bottom of a rubbish bin where it can't harm others. <br />
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The moral of the story, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!!!!!!<br />
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Happy RacingAllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8306772999621576491.post-27555777774230857552011-04-18T21:47:00.000-07:002012-06-05T22:27:01.057-07:00The Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and 1000Hp GM and Ford 4 speed transmssionsDid you stay up late on Christmas eve trying to get a glimpse of Santa when you were young? Ever go searching for Drop Bears? What about chasing the rainbow trying to find the pot of gold at the end? Ever try to trap a Leprechaun? Seen any Yeti or Loc Ness Monsters lately? If you still do now then you should probably stop reading this because reality is not for you.<br />
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I get these phone calls at least once a week, "I've got a twin turbo 1000Hp Gen 3 and I want a hi stall for my 4L60E, the box is built and will handle the power." Sure it will, for how long? 5 seconds? Till it comes on boost? Or maybe it will handle the power while it's sitting on your workshop floor not bolted to the engine because as sure as my arse is pointing to the ground while I write this blog, it's not going to handle 1000Hp!<br />
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I have heard of these mythical 1000Hp T700's, 4L60E's, LE 85, 93, 95, 97 and BA 4 speed boxes but to this day I have never seen one that actually handles anywhere near 1000Hp, the fact is that at even half that power (500Hp) you are pushing the friendship. The story always starts the same way, the newly cammed up (LS) or boosted (Ford 6) smokes the gearbox and the phone calls begin. Most shops will advise the customer that the box will not handle more than 400 to 500Hp but then you ring Merlin the magician that can turn lead into gold.<br />
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Merlin will start by telling you that he "Cryogeniclly" treats the shafts, and Merlin uses special clutches and special "Billet" servos, and Merlin will do it cheaper and he will warrant his transmissions. Merlin is full of shit, he can't perform miracles but he can cast spells! What Merlin will do is cast the "Empty your pockets and give me all the money" spell. So what happens next? Please read on:<br />
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Step1: You go to pick the car up and the price has gone up from the quote over the phone. Merlin will tell you that he has built you a special gearbox with exotic parts from lands far away, that your trans was in worse condition than even he expected because your engine is so much more powerful than all the others. In reality he just told you what you wanted to hear to get the job, now hes going to charge you what he wants to because he's got your car and you need your car back. Now Merlin won't always pull this trick, if he thinks your dumb enough or proud enough he might quote you more than everyone else because he knows you think quality cost more. Reality is that there are no mystical special parts that exist, especially for the Ford trans. Just Smoke and mirrors!<br />
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Step 2: If you do really have more than 600Hp and drive it hard, the new cryo billet unbreakable trans will fail. How long it takes will depend on how hard you drive it, what diff ratio you have and how much traction it has. On average most fail on the second pass with slicks, some take longer but it will fail. If you drive it soft, run low gears (3.9 or 4.11) and never put sticky tyres on it or push it with a full car load of passengers, then it might never fail, but neither would a mild or standard trans that would have cost half as much from a reputable trans builder!<br />
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Step 3: You have warranty, I mean you were promised that it would never fail and that if it did you had warranty. Second and Fourth gear are the ones that go, it could be the band on either the Ford or the Holden trans or the 3-4 clutch pack on the Holden box. Either way it's usually second or fourth that goes first, usually both. You pick the car up and there is a bill, you ask, "Whats the bill for?" Merlin points to the sign on the wall that says Electrical Components are not covered under Warranty. Merlin softens the blow to your pocket by adding that your car is super fast and that he made some more modifications to make it even stronger. He has just cast another spell on you to loosen a few more dollars out of your pocket and managed to convince you again that he does these all the time and that it is super strong. He's only half lieing to you, he does do this to customers like you ALL THE TIME!!!!<br />
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Step 4: Repeat Step2 and Step3 until you either do one of the following:<br />
1. Stop beating up on your car (third most common)<br />
2. Change the box for one that will handle the power<br />
3. Run out of money (most common)<br />
4. Sell the car (second most common)<br />
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This is what really happens: Merlin gets richer and your car gets parked up. There are no Easter Bunny's, No Santa Clause, and No 1000Hp Ford and Holden factory 4 speed transmissions. Merlin has friends in the Motor Vehicle Board, so forget consumer protection, he has cast his spell on them; once he realises the heat is on he shuts shop, moves or changes his trading name or buys another shop. He will get richer and he will always be there to take your money. Merlin does not care how much power your car makes or what you want to do with your car, he just wants your money and he will do whatever it takes to get it. Unlike his mythical bullet proof boxes Merlin does exist and in Perth we have many Merlin's!<br />
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How do you avoid having a spell cast on you? Easy, use one of the following transmissions in your car:<br />
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Powerglide: 2 speed transmission, they are rated at 850Hp with a standard V8 planetary gear set and 1150Hp with straight cut gears. Higher output versions are available but usually require an aftermarket case. Excellent choice for Turbo or Supercharged engines.<br />
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Turbo 400: They are also rated at 850Hp with standard planetary gear set but must be fitted with 34 element sprag , 3 speed transmission, works great with naturally aspirated combinations. We recommend FORWARD shift manual valve bodies that retains engine braking in all gears. Reverse shift valve bodies create excessive load on the sprag. You can (and we have) used T400's with turbo and supercharged combos but the low first gear (2.48 compared to 1.76 in a powerglide) can make them difficult to hook the car up on the track but some people like the 3 gears on the street.<br />
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4L80E: Once again rated at 850Hp with the Heavy Duty sprag. 4 speed GM trans that was fitted to Big Block Suburbans and trucks, also used by Allison in diesel applications. Very heavy trans, basically a 4 speed T400, it is electronically shifted so it needs a computer to run it. It will work with the 4L60E computer and Hughes makes an adapter harness. Very expensive to build and tricky to tune with the factory GM computer. Not my favorite choice but if you want 4 gears and a lock up converter than this is the trans for you. You can avoid all the complication of running the factory style computer by using a controller from shiftkits.com.au. Jamie has solved a lot of the problems associated with various electronically controlled 4 speed transmissions and we use shiftkits.com regularly when we do conversions so the factory computer doesn't give us any problems. I can vouch for his products, they work!<br />
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There are a few others that we have used and made work but I like to keep things simple, as far as street cars go these are the best choices available for engines that make more than 600Hp. Proof is in the results so think about these cars:<br />
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Rod Sammut XR6 Turbo 8.7 seconds full weight street car POWERGLIDE.<br />
Eddy Tassone Holden Monaro GTO LS Naturally Aspirated 9.3 seconds full weight street car T400.<br />
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As I have said we have used some other tranmissions especially for Japanese cars but for your Aussie V8's and Turbo 6 these are the simplest most practical ones to use. If you are a Ford V8 owner (BA onwards) don't buy a US built trans with a US belhousing. The starter motor is totally different and hits on the steering, you then need to get someone to redesign, modify and do their head in to make a bracket for the starter. Or you can do this is you feel that you need to spend 3 times as much to do the same job, that's up to you!<br />
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Merlin also builds T400's and Powerglide boxes, take note Steps 2 and 3. Make sure whoever you go too knows what he's doing, don't be fooled by smoke and mirrors, do your research find out who uses that companies stuff, compare prices and compare specifications, DO YOUR HOME WORK!!!!!!! <br />
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Lastly, don't assume that the US companies build better transmissions, some build very good transmissions but some build junk. If you order a box direct from a US company, what are you going to do if it fails or doesn't even work? If you are dealing with an Australian wholesaler at least you can go back to them, but before you hand over the cash make sure they will look after you if there is a problem. A parts shop can't help you if you have a problem, they normally drop the "No warranty on performance products" line. Then you will be back at Steps 2 and 3 again!!!! DO YOUR HOME WORK!!!!!!!<br />
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Happy RacingAllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8306772999621576491.post-4358849234893514672011-04-17T21:17:00.000-07:002011-04-18T17:08:45.246-07:00The Hi Stall Scam No1 Stall SpeedYou call a converter shop and ask for a price on a 3500 rpm stall, he answers with a price; you have just been scammed! 100% no ifs no buts, he is a scammer and he has just conned you. Why? Because unless he knows how much torque your motor makes and at what RPM it makes it there is no way he can tell which converter you need.<br />
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Have you been down this road before? Well if you think you haven't then you probably have but you just haven't realised it yet. Stall speeds are something that most converter builders don't even understand, let alone the people purchasing them. A torque converter of a particular diameter with a particular angle on the lid fins and a particular stator design will have a natural reaction to the torque that the engine is making. <br />
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In Australia there are very few torque converter manufacturers that have ever owned a race car, torque converter dyno or even done testing with their own vehicles. Most take a stab at what the customer needs and then worry about it if they ever return and complain. A hell of a lot of converter shops, some that even call themselves "Performance Specialists" get a marker pen and write the number that you want to see on the converter and that's their way of making a 3500 rpm stall. Sound hard to swallow? Well that's how a lot of them operate, they don't care if it works or if it maximises your performance, they just care about how much money they have made, or at least how much money they have just scammed you for!!<br />
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So I want to arm you all with some information so that you know if you have been had or not, so here goes:<br />
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Stall Speed: Most people think that Stall Speed is either how much RPM they can hold with one foot on the foot brake or how hard they have to rev the engine before the car moves; it is neither. Stall Speed is the RPM that can be achieved with the engine at wide open throttle and the input shaft locked solid. If you have Trans Brake then it's is an easy test, Tran Brake on, foot to the floor, what the engine revs to is your stall speed with that engine with that tune on that day. Remember it's the engine torque at that RPM that makes the converter go to that stall speed, if the engine makes more torque, it will stall the converter higher and visa versa. You can see this effect on turbo cars, they will go to an RPM and then as the boost increases the RPM will increase till it holds a stable boost and a stable RPM. Please don't do this for more than a couple of seconds because you will brake your converter or transmission or both. 8 seconds at 6500 RPM in a 8" converter will melt the stator, how do I know, because I have done it!<br />
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Foot Brake Stall Speed: As the name suggests, this is the stall speed that the car will hold on the brake; now there are a lot of factors that effect this, what type of brakes, what condition they are in, the diff ratio, the suspension set up, and the list goes on. As far as the converter goes, the STR or Stall Torque Ratio has more of an effect then the Stall Speed. STR's is something that most converter manufacturers don't understand, not just here in Australia but world wide, some can modify a converter to lower the STR to give you more Foot Brake Stall Speed but they don't know why they are doing what they are doing, they just know that if I do this, it will do that.<br />
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What Stall Speed do you need?: For drag cars, the idea is to keep the motor where it makes it's best average Hp, in the old days people would go on about peak torque etc, that's all B.S. Physics tells us that the higher the average H.P the quicker and faster the car will cover the quarter mile, no ifs no buts. It's simple maths. Off road cars and circut cars are different, they might need to use peak torque but in-liners want average HP. If you have an Engine dyno sheet then it's easy, look at the curve and work out where your best average is, if you don't you need to work out where it's going to be. We do this with dyno simulation software, it's not perfect but it's better than a guess. Either way the more info you have the closer to perfect it will be. I won't tell you how much RPM the average spread will be, but I will tell you that it depends on how many gears you have.<br />
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What about STR?: If you have a foot brake launched car then STR is very important, if you don't (have a foot brake launched car); than as much STR as you can get. Too much STR will pull the motor down, and you will see that in your data logger or on the tacho. Not enough STR will just make the 60' times slower than they could be.<br />
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The bottom line: If you ring a converter shop and they don't ask you a million questions your going to get scammed. What questions should they ask? I'll let you think about that, they need to know how much torque your motor makes at every RPM so what should they ask you? EVERYTHING!!!!!! After they finish they should be able to tell you what diff ratio you need, what tyre size and how quick and fast your car should go, they should also be able to pick up on flaws in your combination. If they can't then you rang the wrong shop!<br />
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Happy RacingAllFast Torque Convertershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529722050914704089noreply@blogger.com