I need to buy a stall converter for my 71 Cutlass 350, my cam card says 1800+ so I was thinking 2000-2200, assault racing shows one for $101.00 which sounds really cheep compared to $190.00 from the Transmission shop that I deal with, has anyone ever used the assault racing or should I stay away from them, this is just a street car with 3.73 gears

 

Don’t skimp on converters. I worked at a well known converter/transmission company a long time ago, we cut open and rebuilt/repaired converters in addition to building new ones. Some of the crap cheap builders do to raise stall speed is crazy. Things like using a ball peen hammer to close off some of the vanes, cutting windows in the games, mismatched turbines/pumps,etc. Some of the “modifications” do nothing more than raise trans fluid temp, others can destroy the trans when the converter tears itself apart. Coan, Hughes, ATI, all make excellent stuff, and can custom build whatever you want.

 

Thanks Matt. It's good to have someone with direct experience be able to recommend suppliers. I've heard some horror stories about low cost specials. One fellow had a new Boss Hog convertor come apart in his freshly built transmission. At first, he said the stall was too mushy and then he started hearing noise. He had to eat the cost of a trans tear down and cleanup. The next convertor was upgraded to a Hughes.

 

I have a Hughes 2500 converter and I really like it.

 

Check this out. The TCI is right there with Hughes on quality. You don't want to skimp here. Ever witness a converter blow up? Not good for you or your car. The second link shows the Jegs brand for a 3rd of the price. I have zero feedback for you on that. Do check the country of origin. Its likey from you know where.
If you scroll down on the individual pages you will notice application charts that match the converter with general driveline parameters.

https://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/24090...276+4294828826

https://www.jegs.com/c/Transmission-...ear=4294829710

 

I don’t think anyone “builds” new converters, so the only way your getting a overseas converter is if it started life in a foreign car. The tooling and machining equipment would be too expensive to build everything new. Some of the internal parts may not even be from the same car company. It’s not unusual to use a pump from one make, a cover from another, and a stator from yet another company, not to mention the cams and sprays inside.The 8 inch converter popular in racing is originally a Opal converter, most 10 inch converters are from the 125 3 speed FWD converters. 11 inch converters started out as Powerglide cores. Most of the cost in a quality converter is spent to ensure the parts will handle several times more power than they were every intended. The same expenses that cheap rebuilders don’t bother doing. It may take some custom machining to get the best sprays, static’s, etc into a converter that never was designed to fit. When a cheap converter breaks and send shrapnel into your trans, the money you saved probably won’t be enough to cover the trans repair. Then you need to buy another converter.

 

The Jegs 2000 to 2300 stall converter has good reviews and is the same $100. Don't buy anything these days unless there are reviews to back it up. I think the Jegs unit is made by one of the known companies. If your trans guy warranties his converter and also your trans that is definitely worth something. Yah, the stock 1600 stall is worthless, a 2000+ converter will wake it up.

 

I second being careful with cheap converters. A brand name, like TCI, doesn't cost all that much more. I've used the TCI Saturday Night Special and had good luck. Hughes does a ton of parts but I can't speak to their quality. Once you get special, like high output or higher stall, then it's best to go with a small shop that specializes in the type of configuration that you want.