Stall converter?

[Pghstarsky]

I was wondering if/how you can tell if you have a stall converter installed on your car...When I hit a certain rpm the car will just take off, right? Thanks

[captjim]

Does it cut off when you stop at a light? If not, it is a stall converter. Seriously, though, all converters "stall" Stock ones at a very low RPM, around 1200-1500 and performance converters at a higher RPM. You can try and determine it by launching hard from an idle, see how high it revs before it hooks, but that is not very accurate. What kind of car? Any reason to think it is other than stock?

[Pghstarsky]

It's a 72 cutlass with the 350 rocket. The guy I bought it off of put an edelbrock performer rpm intake manifold on it along with a edelbrock 4 barrel carb. He also put in a new tranny, which makes me think he might have put in a higher stall converter. What do you think, maybe?

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by Pghstarsky

It's a 72 cutlass with the 350 rocket. The guy I bought it off of put an edelbrock performer rpm intake manifold on it along with a edelbrock 4 barrel carb. He also put in a new tranny, which makes me think he might have put in a higher stall converter. What do you think, maybe?

The stall speed of the converter is RPM at which the engine stalls out when you press the gas while holding the brake - hence the term. You can do this yourself with a tachometer. Just don't load the converter like that for any length of time. Note that published stall speed is really only a suggestion since engine torque changes the actual stall speed. Higher torque = higher stall speed.