Went to do a shake down on my car after the lengthy engine swap and it doesnt want to move in drive unless i'm damn near redlining my sbc 350. It seems to move ok when its just in first gear and sort of moves in reverse but thats about it. I'm running allegedly a stage 1 th350 with 3.08 rear gears and a mild engine and a 2800 converter. for added fun the engine decided to overheat after only driving it 30 feet up my driveway.

Any guesses as to why it isnt working? aside from the ludacris stall on my converter (that's on my short list once the car is roadworthy again.

 

The stall RPM of the converter isn’t the issue - my car has a 2500 RPM converter and it drives like factory at everything other than full throttle.

So some things to check are trans fluid level, and filter condition.

 

I checked the dipstick and it showed full. That said the dip stick is some generic one from summit and my driveway is pretty steep so it could still be low on fluid

 

Did you check the dip stick with the engine running?

 

I did it looked full. its hard to tell though because my driveway is at an incline(nose up)

 

Put the car on the street and check again. It sounds like you're low on fluid. Also might want to get factory tube/stick.

 

Hopefully the converter was fully seated in the pump before you tightened the bellhousing bolts. If not, you may have destroyed the pump.

Dump another quart or 2 of fluid in the trans. That should be enough to get it to move. If not, if the trans worked ok prior to the swap I’m betting the pump is messed up.

 

I will try that today. I didn't install this torque converter I bought both the engine and trans already assembled.