Converter recommendation 70 Lemans.

[4dblnkldude]

Asking for my neighbor, he has a 70 Lemans street strip car we did over the winter. The engine is a 455 .030 over, e heads, rpm intake, 870 holley, hyd roller 236/242 520/540 lift with 1.5 rockers. 515 horse with 560 tq, turbo 400 trans, 2.73:1 rear one legged wonder[for now]. What say ye?????? Thanks in advance.

[craigs69]

I would contact Cliff Ruggles at Cliffs High Performance. He is a member here on this forum who has done extensive testing with Continental converters. Im pretty sure will spec out a 10" custom converter. He recently quoted me $607 (if memory serves me correctly) plus shipping with a 2-3 week lead time. Cliff is an excellent resource and very knowledgeable guy.

http://www.cliffshighperformance.com/

[Mikes455Wagon]

Spend the money on rear gears and a posi unit then buy a converter. Continental or PTC should be able to get you what you need. I will say that my PTC that is going in my car was softer on my wallet than the continental.

[thadeal4real]

X2 gears
if you have a converter shop local to you have them build an "L88" style stock converter should be under a hundred bucks

[400 Lemans]

I just put in an ATI 10 inch super streetmaster 408330. Very nice quality right out of the box with thick threaded lugs and adapter ring for strength. Bolts included also. Night and day difference in performance from the stock 13 inch. Very good manners and flashes to about 3000 with my 400 and 3.73 gears.

[ta man]

Tell him to switch the gearing first..then spec out a convertor.I've had the same 10 inch Continental behind three different 455 builds for 10 years..even though my gearing and stall aren't ideal for quickest et..it still runs mid 11's at 118 with a 3.08 gear.They do work well for a heavy street car with taller gears.

[firechickenman]

I'll throw my 2 cents in here since I just went through the same thing. First, I'll say that Continental builds a very good converter as I've had two myself and can say first hand they work very well. If a Continental is in his budget, go for it!

If that's more than he wants to spend, I recommend giving Michael at Freakshow Performance a call. His number is 325-701-7830. After reading all the great comments on his converters here http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=407030&highlight= I ordered two converters from him. The first few pages and last few pages are full of reviews. The middle is full of a lot of BS. I haven't received them yet, but I can't wait to get them in and try 'em out!

Most importantly, don't buy a "shelf" converter. Have something built for the combo. Oh, and the 2.73's have to go. 3.73's should work great.

[Chris Petersen]

Asking for my neighbor, he has a 70 Lemans street strip car we did over the winter. The engine is a 455 .030 over, e heads, rpm intake, 870 holley, hyd roller 236/242 520/540 lift with 1.5 rockers. 515 horse with 560 tq, turbo 400 trans, 2.73:1 rear one legged wonder[for now]. What say ye?????? Thanks in advance.

I agree with one of the posts above about spending the $ on the rear gear and such first.

Being you listed HP#s, I am assuming you have dynoed the motor?
If you have, with that information, and the true weight of the car and all the details of the car, I would call the places mentioned. With the correct information, and realistic goals(street or strip/both), they can hit the mark pretty close the first time.

I have had good converters from Continental, both were custom units, and were spot on the first time.

I would use them again and/or PTC.

[4dblnkldude]

Thanks guys, yes the engine was dynoed. OK so what converter should he get just to get him by for the time being. He does not have the cash to do the rear right away.

[BruceWilkie]

Any upgrade in convertor now will be defeated by a lack of traction from the peg leg rear... Get a posi in there!

A torquey motor like that isnt going to mind much not havin enough gear... It WILL calm the launch even with a higher stall and at the track it will be more like running a glide with 3.7's in first gear OR 4.0 rear gear in 2nd. He'll be well past the 1/8th before he gets in 3rd but that combo should still pull even with 2.73 gear. It may not "sound" fast and it wont be optimal but it wont be too far off from more optimal gearing.

A good street/strip convertor wont slip much at light load but be sure to run an auxillary trans cooler because it will still slip more than with a 3.42-3.73 gear.

I gained more from a 3000ish convertor vs stock than going from 3.23 to 4.10's with a 400 combo.(went back to the 3.23's for awhile just to see) A convertor is great bang for the buck but without traction it cant help your launch. At this level any improvement in 60 ft time usually nets 2.5-3 times as much improvement at the other end!(ex... 0.1 improvement in 60ft= near 0.3 in 1/4)

Posi then convertor then gears IF budget only allows one at a time. If he can do posi and gear at same time he'll save some labor costs... If thats the case then convertor comes last.

BTW I should mention depending which rear you have, going to posi may require a gear change due to carrier differences. May not be a new posi available that will fit the 2.73 gear!

[02Hawk]

If it's a 8.2 10 bolt , be better off putting a new rear end in. Putting a posi to fit those 2.73's would be a waste of dollars.
With or without a new convertor, he will be in dry dock very quickly running that peg leg . Not an "if" scene rio, only a "when"