Hi I am trying to pick a torque converter hopefully you guys can help.A few months back I bought my truck.Its a 1986 Chevy k30 cucv.The previous owner pulled the 6.2 and put in a 355 sbc. He left the diesel torque converter in there and as you can imagine I have no take off power.OK info on the truck,6" lift,Dana 60 front,14 bolt rear,4.56 gears.Np 208 transfer case,Th400 trans.Some of the engine mods are. 350 .030 over so I believe a 355. Edelbrock 600 carb, Weiand action plus manifold idle to 6,000 rpm. Roller rockers stock ratio 1.5. Heads are stock iron 76cc.Now the bad part is he didn't remember the cam spec only that it was a .488 lift.I contacted TCI but they wanted the duration and I don't know it.Its a mild sounding cam not really noticeable to the ear.Truck will see a lot of street use mostly city and country and some offroad.I am thinking about a 2000 stall converter does this sound about right?Truck currently has exhaust manifolds but will be going to hooker competition headers soon.Hopefully I provided enough information.Thanks Jason
CK5
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Stock torque converter or higher stall
- Thread starter olivedrab
- Start date
Id rock a 2000 with that.
I have a 2500 with my .444/.466 cam in my 408 sbc, and really its not even that noticeable as far as driving around. But super sweet when you wanna get it
I have a 2500 with my .444/.466 cam in my 408 sbc, and really its not even that noticeable as far as driving around. But super sweet when you wanna get it
Whats strange is GM used the diesel 6 bolt torque converter on some heavy duty gas engine powered trucks too--like 292 straight sixes ,a G-30 van we cannibalized for the TH400 tranny and flywheel to convert my brothers 78 van ferom a 3 speed to an automatic had the 6 bolt torque converter and flex plate--van was a school bus...I've also seen them in C-60's and a C30 crew cab with 427 and 454 engines..
I kind of like lower stall speed converters better,I never liked the feeling you get with higher stall speeds on a street driven vehicle,to me it felt like the tranny was always slipping...I suppose if a motor has been over cammed and has weak low end torque you might need the higher stall speed..
I kind of like lower stall speed converters better,I never liked the feeling you get with higher stall speeds on a street driven vehicle,to me it felt like the tranny was always slipping...I suppose if a motor has been over cammed and has weak low end torque you might need the higher stall speed..
I don't know if it was just the CUCV's or all of the 6.2L trucks, I just remember them shifting EARLY.
Is it by any chance just a matter of it shifting too soon vs. getting the RPM's up before it starts to move from a stop?
Is it by any chance just a matter of it shifting too soon vs. getting the RPM's up before it starts to move from a stop?
74K5 355 th350 4:10's 35's 268adv/218@50/454L. 2000 stall, brake stalls at 2200.
Just right for me, gets up and goes just fine.
I have a extra trans cooler with a fan in line with the alum radiator cooler.
The fan will come on if idrive it hard on a 70 degree day.
As long as you can keep the trans cool with Stop and go driving like wheeling and normal cruising that you do, your rpm's need to above your stall speed to prevent excessive heat.
At 55 I'm at approx 2250 rpm with a 2000 converter.
Just right for me, gets up and goes just fine.
I have a extra trans cooler with a fan in line with the alum radiator cooler.
The fan will come on if idrive it hard on a 70 degree day.
As long as you can keep the trans cool with Stop and go driving like wheeling and normal cruising that you do, your rpm's need to above your stall speed to prevent excessive heat.
At 55 I'm at approx 2250 rpm with a 2000 converter.
I've read that a locked up stator in the converter can cause that symptom,it'll feel sluggish until you reach about 35 mph..with 4.10 gears its not due to it being too high geared I would think..a TH400 doesn't have the low first gear ratio like a 700r4 does,so if your used to one of those,it will feel doggy on take off in comparison..
Do you happen to know what the stall would have been on a stock th400 converter in 1986? I was thinking 2000 stall shouldn't be to much more than stock or am I wrong? I'm not looking to hot rod the truck,(Wouldn't mind doing the occasional burnout though.)
I just want to be able to flow with traffic better as of right now everyone's waiting on me to speed up. Sometimes when I'm speeding up I imagine the theme to jeopardy.
I just want to be able to flow with traffic better as of right now everyone's waiting on me to speed up. Sometimes when I'm speeding up I imagine the theme to jeopardy.
Stock stall speed on the diesel converter was about 1400 rpm, the 88-91 Chevy pickup with V-6 used a high stall 400 converter that would work great in this truck, giving you the stall speed and get up and go needed without too much heat as it is a full 13 incher like the converter you have now. It can be identified by it's smooth cover as opposed to the other converters dimpled cover. I would tend to agree with Robert that you may have a stator issue, it will feel like you have engine braking to a degree when coasting and will be hard to rev even when power braking.
If you are in Ohio, there are several Transtar parts outlets in the State, with headquarters in Cleveland. The part number for the high stall V-6 unit is GM3H if you want to get one, it is a lot of bang for the buck in an application like yours.
So that convertor is probably a good pick for stock 350 and 454 applications then too?
Yup! Makes a huge difference in driveaqbility with big cam and EFI!
Lot's of guys use a 4.3 TC in later E trans, not sure if that is possible with what you have.
Not as much, I would want a lower stall speed with a stock cammed engine
Was the governor in the transmission swapped out? The diesel one sets the shift points a lot lower than the gas one.
Stock cam = stock stall speed. As you go bigger with the cam, the powerband moves up and that's when you increase the stall speed to match. For around town driving, it's hard to beat the stock stall converter. If you are just running sand or mud then a higher one makes sense.
Stock cam = stock stall speed. As you go bigger with the cam, the powerband moves up and that's when you increase the stall speed to match. For around town driving, it's hard to beat the stock stall converter. If you are just running sand or mud then a higher one makes sense.
As far as I know the governor wasn't swapped out.Only thing previous owner told me was he left the diesel torque converter in.The biggest issue seemed to be the sluggish start.When I bought the truck it shifted late but that was because there was no line running to the vacuum modulator.I added the line and the truck seems to shift on time or really close to it.It definitely lowered the shift point after I added the line. I was thinking after I change the converter if need be I will change the governor. I did order the torque converter today that Greg mentioned. Its has a 1700 to 1900 stall so that way I'm not way over stock. I will also add a new trans cooler and flexplate.
That converter will flash over 2000 stall in your truck but that is a good thing with your combination
