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How big of a converter is too big ? I have a th-350 with 4.11 gears . The heads and cam are to big for the short block , so it is not making the torque it probably should . I have a 3000 B&M holeshot that stalls around 2900 . I guess my question is will I loose street drivablity if I go to a 3500 stall or should I look into a overdrive with a lower first gear ?

Converters are tricky, mainly because they vary so widely depending upon application and manufacturer. I had a 9" 3500 converter from Art Carr that I loved. It stalled at 3500.00 RPM exactly.

Now I have a 10" 3500 POS converter that stalls at about 4200 RPM from a dead stop and never really locks up at any RPM.

Obviously, the lower stall unit was a bit better on the street, but even the high one isn't painful to drive around being that I have 4.56 gears and the truck is relatively light.

The lower first is another good option, as long as you don't mind spending big bucks to get your tranny to live.

What RPM do you go through the traps at? Do you have room for a step up in axle ratio?

And how come you haven't sent in pictures for our gallery?

When you sayin stall do you mean when it finally takes off. My truck has a 2500 stall supposedly and at a stop sign it wants to jerk. I have a 290 cam that really lopes. The truck will start to move around 1500 or 1800. Beginning to wonder about the converter

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Too much to do and not enough time or money!
Courage is the other side of fear!
Pain is the weakness leaving the body!

litemup , what i mean is foot to the floor at a dead stop what the converter "flashes" to . Not what it "foot brakes" to . Mine will flash to 2900 , but tries to push the front tires at 1700.

Ben , that's what i'm looking for something around 3500 . The dyno curve starts making power around 3200 or 3300 . Just wondering how much of a pain it is to drive it . I don't want to give up driving it if I go to "racey" on the converter . I also have access to a buick GN 2004r that has the hardened in and out shaft and sun shell upgrade for $600.

I go through the traps at 63 to 6400 rpm , that's with a 26 " slick I run a 27" street tire to take some gear out on the road .

I will email the pics coming up . I am on dial up at home as i'm out of the city limits and our phone lines arein't compatible . I got high speed at work

HMMMMMMMM,

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Too much to do and not enough time or money!
Courage is the other side of fear!
Pain is the weakness leaving the body!

litemup , my last car had a 268 comp cam in it . When i put the motor in it i reused the stock converter . It would jerk or the tail would jump up and down when oin the brake and in gear at the light or stop sign . I got tired of shifting from drive to nuetral as this was a true street car , 3800 #'s, A/C , 200 pounds of dyna mat , etc. I pulled the trans and put a tci saturday night special in . I t was about 2350 flash and just loose a little looser at idle . No more jerking , drove alot better and was faster out of the hole .

Hotrod80, the GN tranny bolt pattern is different. You'll need an adapter.

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If you are lucky the GN will have both bolt patterns. With the lower gears in the trans the car will want to move easier witch could help or make it worse and even at that there are two ways to go about this.You can use the 200R4 (2.84 first gear) witch you will benefit from the low gear and the over drive.The T350 you can get a low gear set for it(about the same money as the 200R4) witch i think is 3.00 and second is in the 2.70s in a light truck like ours with a V-8 and sticky tires would be a neck snapper on launch and you can use your existing converter.Just another path of thinking so you have as many options as possible. MY 2cents worth.

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1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

This one has both bolt patterns . I am also looking at one from a 89' caprice . this i'm told has all the updates and is strong as it came behind a 210 hp v-8 in a heavy car .

Is the Caprice a 200r or a 700r?

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It's a2004r for sure . No mistaking that tranny . It has got to be the uglyist tranny ever made . I drove this thing on the freeway yesterday about 3 cities away and could sure use an overdrive . i just don't care for the 700r4 . I have a friend that can't make one live behind a 300 hp 383 .

CONVERTER IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM YOU SAY THE HEADS AND CAM ARE TO BIG. BUT THE HEADS ARENT YOUR PROBLEM AS LONG AS YOU DONT HAVE HEADS WITH 208 INTAKE VALVES.YOUR CAM COULD BE TO BIG THE CAM MAKES HP AND TRQ. I HAVE A ENGINE SHOP I BUILD ALL SIZE ENGINES IF YOU NEED ANY HELP JUST ASK.
HOPE I CAN HELP THOMAS

Well welcome to the forum GA. RACER / Thomas . The valves are intake valves are 2.00 . Intake ports are 210 cc . The cam is 236/244 @.050 duration and .544 / .560 lift with 1.5 rockers that is on a 110 center hydraulic roller.

IT DONT SOUND LIKE YOUR CAM IS TOO BIG IT SHOULD WORK GOOD WITH THE HEADS YOU MIGHT WANT TO MAKE SURE THE INTAKE AND CAM RPM RANGE ARE THE SAME.BUT REMEMBER THIS 350 CHEVY DONT MAKE ALOT OF TORQE ANY WAY THEY MAKE A LOT HP.IF YOU WANT TORQE PUT SMALL BLOCK 400 IN IT.

Forged 396 sbc short block is being built . Ooops , did I say that out loud ?

Bigger...

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FIAA!

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hey hotrod 80 thanks for the heads up on what your doing, i'll be done with my sb soon and hope to see you at hmp some time.maybe we could do some good old luv grudge racing, not sure what i will be running this time out went low 7's last time on this motor combo.

Cool look me up next time your out , and welcome to the board . Is yours the silver stepside? I know there used to be a silver one with chrome smoothies on it up there . I can't run in the low 7's , but ya better not make any mastakes cus' i'll be right on your tail .

sounds good to me ,no mines not the silver one it's a primer fleetside with a purple hood, i haven't been out in a while and these last few weeks of assy are killing me!!! if you rush it it won't last long so i'm just taking it day by day.look forward to seeing you out at the track and hopeful i won't be asleep at the tree.

he needs to fire his trans builder