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I just picked this up with a bunch of olds parts. He swears its an olds t350 converter yet I'm used to the bigger fatter ones. Anyone have a clue what this bad boy is for? Thanks
Joe - thank you! Pardon the potentially dumb question- I'm used to the bigger fatter torque converter that came originally came in my '68 442. Do you think this is a direct swap for that? Just trying to figure out if I can use this thing. There were Hughes stickers in the crate so.....you are correct again
Joe - thank you! Pardon the potentially dumb question- I'm used to the bigger fatter torque converter that came originally came in my '68 442. Do you think this is a direct swap for that? Just trying to figure out if I can use this thing. There were Hughes stickers in the crate so.....you are correct again
You can use it, but it has a higher stall speed than the original. If that matches your engine and gearing, great.
Unless you trust the person you got it from, or know for a fact what the history of the converter is, I wouldn’t use it. Whatever trash is in the converter (either from prior transmission failure, improper storage) will get pumped into your new transmission.
You could have it cut open and rebuilt, most converter shops charge around 100 bucks (plus parts) to freshen a converter. Considering that’s a 200 dollar converter, unless you know someone local who rebuilds converters it’s probably not cost effective.
Most stock GM converters like that are around 1800-2000 stall speed. That’s basically a stock converter with a few performance upgrades.
Unless you trust the person you got it from, or know for a fact what the history of the converter is, I wouldn’t use it. Whatever trash is in the converter (either from prior transmission failure, improper storage) will get pumped into your new transmission.
You could have it cut open and rebuilt, most converter shops charge around 100 bucks (plus parts) to freshen a converter. Considering that’s a 200 dollar converter, unless you know someone local who rebuilds converters it’s probably not cost effective.
Most stock GM converters like that are around 1800-2000 stall speed. That’s basically a stock converter with a few performance upgrades.
It appears to be unused from the photos. No scrapes around the bolt holes, no scrapes where the pilot goes into the end of the crank, etc. The Sharpie "GM-20" is consistent with how I've seen other Hughes converters marked from the factory.
The bolt pattern should be the same. The smaller diameter is to increase the stall speed. The flanges for bolts (as opposed to the bosses on your OEM converter) are due to the smaller diameter. The GM-20 should be a 12" converter.
The only issue (if you can even call it that) is the converter has bolt hole flanges as opposed to the threaded lugs typically used on BOP converters. Just make sure to space the converter appropriately when using bolts and nuts to attach it as the weights on the flex plate may interfere with the flange contact.
There was just a thread on these, this is the new "GM" 20 converter, only one part number now. Apparently the older converters are harder to find for cores so they went with new smaller style and are now bolt and nut. That should only be a few hundred higher stall than stock. Here is the whole thread, the Classic Oldsmobile transmission expert matt69olds straightened us all out and explained the change. https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...fusion-160713/
Last edited by olds 307 and 403; January 24th, 2022 at 05:49 AM.
January 23rd, 2022, 12:33 PM
