[PAUL K]

Were the TSP converters junk before Continental went out of business? Or did the Continentals become not so good after TSP was discovered?....asking for a friend

[GTO JONES]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

Were the TSP converters junk before Continental went out of business? Or did the Continentals become not so good after TSP was discovered?....asking for a friend

That would be a question for Cliff but I think Continental wasn't hitting the mark at the end, I know they didn't with mine. He has done over a 100 converters through TSP with good results, My son put one in a firebird he is restoring for a guy and we like how it is handling it. So I will put one in mine and see how it will handle over 750 lbs of tq.

[TCSGTO]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

Or did the Continentals become not so good after TSP was discovered?

Maybe. Technology moves on, some people jump on the bus and some don’t.

[yahooskidoo]

Originally Posted by ponjohn

Lockup?

Yes.

[Cliff R]

Continental converters did well for us, sold them for nearly 20 years. Very, and I mean very few complaints or problems in all that time.

To this day every single time I drive the Ventura I'm amazed at how the 10" unit acts so much like a full size stock converter at light load, then provides race car performance when I go to full throttle.

When they went out of business I had no plans of going with another company, but a couple of jobs fell in my lap where I needed to do a converter change so reached out to Jim at TSP. We purchased and installed them, each one custom built for the application, the results were excellent, so we got together and are now offering them for Pontiac applications.

We've done a few others for non-Pontiac's as well, same thing Kris did for us at Continental.

The best seller is the 9.5" unit. Each one is custom built for the application, there are apprx 65 different combinations that can be used to build one, plus additional options like a mechanical diode to replace the sprag for full race and really high HP set-ups.

To date getting EXCELLENT feedback from them, and very pleased with the results from the ones we've tested and installed here.

The difference that I see between the 9.5's and the Continental 10" units are additional torque multiplication and slightly higher flash stall. They also allow just a tad more RPM's if you try to hold them against the brakes. Still very well coupled for normal driving and very little slippage above the stall speed on WOT or drag strip runs. '

I still remember the very first one we purchased. I opened the box and immediately called Jim, and before I could say anything he told me that I had the right converter, just go ahead and install it. I called because it wasn't much bigger than the bowl I had my soup in at lunch that day. We had ordered it for a 455 powered 1970 Buick Stage 1 car. It was a fresh build and restoration, and the engine builder had overcammed it a bit then backed it up with a stock 13" converter. It wouldn't spin a tire from a standing start unless you dropped it off a floor jack and took nearly FOREVER to get to 3000rpms in low gear. Then it would literally tear your head off to the shift point. The converter corrected all that and we ran it thru all the paces, load stall, flash stall, how well coupled for "normal" driving, locked up above the stall speed, etc. It passed all testing with flying colors so we got together with Jim and started offering them for Pontiac applications......Cliff

[Steve C.]

"... Yup, Cliff did one Buick here a while back, I set him up with our most popular BB GS 9.5 and he really loved it.. when his source for converters went away, he called and we have been selling Pontiac spec units since early this year, to that community. I even paint them Pontiac Blue....
That is an excellent product line, that I have virtually no issues with, a rarity in the HP business. I am lucky to have the sources to that product to offer to you guys... and now the pontiac guys..."

Jim Weise
Nov 8, 2017
Post #97

" I was skeptical of a 9.5" unit, when we first started on these, but Dick, the owner of the very large Converter re-manufacturer that does my stuff, talked me into one."
Jim Weise
2008

http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?thr...rantee.147066/

Updated Torque converter program!!
Discussion in 'Tri Shield Performance' started by Jim Weise, Feb 7, 2014.

http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?thr...rogram.278923/


.

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by GTO JONES

but I think Continental wasn't hitting the mark at the end, I know they didn't with mine.

We had the same experience more than once.

Originally Posted by GTO JONES

He has done over a 100 converters through TSP with good results.

Not sure if a hundred is a good number or not, or the definition of "good results".

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by TCSGTO

Maybe. Technology moves on, some people jump on the bus and some don’t.

Possibly, sometimes technology works....and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes this Board seems to hold back technology. For years it was the RAIV with Rhoads lifters, then it was the OF cam and next the OF 2. Every once in a while someone would suggest something might be out there that is better and the person was usually shunned.

Kinda reminds of the tooth paste commercials.... Buy Crest it's by far the best. Now buy new and improved Crest....it always made me wonder how good the original Crest was.

[Cliff R]

Well you've got to start somewhere. There are no magic bullets with any of this stuff. We try to bring the best parts available to the community. It starts by teaming up with folks who have a lot of knowledge and direct experience with this sort of thing, then applying it to what we're doing.

It was easy with Continental. Jim Hand and a few others had excellent results with them. We purchased a 13" unit, flogged it behind two different engines, upgraded to the 10" unit, went on to put over 1000 runs on it with two 455 engines, winning a lot of events along the way, and still using it today. My car is a "daily diver" but doubles as a strong running race car, so I was able to test quite a few converters from Kris and provide feedback on them. We helped develop the 4200 stall version of their 10" unit, we dubbed it the "poor-mans-race-converter" and have a LOT of those out there getting it done. I've never put much up here about it but we tested quite a few converters for them as I can swap one in less time than it takes most folks to make a trip to their mail box and back to the house!

It was a tough decision to go with another brand after they closed up, but it's working out better than we ever expected, with excellent feedback from our customers.

It's also interesting how every time someone puts up a post on converters, asking for advice, there will folks jump in and recommend converters from other companies when they haven't even ported their first Pontiac head yet, or built a Pontiac engine, let alone have a Pontiac powered car that moves. Needless to say with absolutely ZERO seat time, or track numbers, or even getting to ride in the passengers seat of a GTO or T/A using one of the converters, they highly recommend to the readers to contact such and such and purchase one.

I chuckle to myself every time this happens, knowing that at a minimum we've done research and tested the parts we are recommending and selling. What would you rather have here, DIRECT experience or 3rd or 4th hand information derived from not much more than what they found on a Search Engine?.......Cliff

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

The best seller is the 9.5" unit. Each one is custom built for the application, there are apprx 65 different combinations that can be used to build one, plus additional options like a mechanical diode to replace the sprag for full race and really high HP set-ups.



....Cliff

Thanks for posting pictures, that looks like the same core most companies refer to as a Metric converter (250mm" ish). They started using them when the true 9" and 10" cores started to dry up.

It looks like you discovered one of many other custom converter shops out there making quality converters... Glad you didn't "throw in the towel".

[Steve C.]

From what I understand three sizes...

245mm GM shell, 258mm GM shell & 293mm GM shell


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[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

From what I understand three sizes...

245mm GM shell, 258mm GM shell & 293mm GM shell


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Thanks Steve.....I always get confused with those numbers that don't have a decimal point in front of them.

[Steve C.]

Welcome.

There are a few real custom converter shops out there making their own quality converters. However many places buy the parts elsewhere and put them together at their shop, no big deal, this is very common within the torque converter industry from what I understand. John told me there are really only a few places that supply converter "parts", and many so called torque converter sellers get their stuff from these companies.


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[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

Welcome.

many places buy the parts elsewhere and put them together at their shop, no big deal, this is very common within the torque converter industry from what I understand.


.

You are correct about that. However setting the clearance makes a big difference if the converter will slip a lot or a little.

[Formulajones]

We were always happy with Continental. Ran 4 of them in our own personal cars. I still have one in service in my 454 chevelle that makes 600hp. That converter has been in there for about 15 years now and it does everything that you're looking for in a converter. It drives snug and behaves well, you almost don't even know it's there until you whack the throttle and it flashes to 3500-3600 rpm, after that it couples very nicely as it goes through the gears.

Dad has had 2 or 3 of them in his GTO and they worked well with various 455's he ran. When he stepped up to a 571 he had Kris build another 10". Kris was skeptical from the start and advised not to drop the rear gear below 3.50 as he thought this converter just wouldn't couple well enough. So we left the 3.73's in it. This converter missed the mark and drives like mush. Light throttle driving around town leaving a stop sign is 3,000 rpm and it stays there as it goes through the gears, can't feel the shifts. Eventually the car catches up. It's turning 3100 on the highway just to go 60 mph with a 28" tire, so it's slipping quite a large amount, as that rpm should be about 67 mph. At the track it basically drove right through the converter and the engine was up on the rev limiter constantly throughout the pass. This was one of the last converters Kris built before he closed the doors. I believe he was having difficulty finding the parts to build these as efficiently as he once was. I don't fault Kris, it's just the way these things go. I think it would work just fine behind a nice 455, it's just not working well behind 760 ft lbs. of torque.
So I got a hold of Cliff about these TSP units and just so happens I'm building a 72 firebird for a customer with a fresh 455 that just came off the dyno at 507hp/571tq. I figured a custom converter would be in order. This TSP unit doesn't disappoint. Very well behaved around town, and foot braking beyond 2,000 rpm pushes the car through the brakes, yet it will fash up nice and put the engine right in a sweet spot, and couples nice at part throttle. I'm very happy with it so far.
So dad decided to try one for his car, and I'm pretty confident that Jim will improve on what dad currently has.

[GTO JONES]

The one being built by Jim (TSP) will have the mechanical diode , much stronger for my application.

[455GRIN]

A diode? Like a switch pitch? what's the diode for?
thanks

[GTO JONES]

Originally Posted by 455GRIN

A diode? Like a switch pitch? what's the diode for?
thanks

That was my reaction, I read about it some, never heard of it before.
Some one needs to chime in and explain it better than I could.

[Formulajones]

The mechanical diode replaces the sprag. When you get up into a bigger torque application there is a chance you'll roll the sprag over if you grab 100% traction, like coming out of the burnout box or a hard launch.

Jim felt with dad's power level he wanted the mechanical diode in it.

[slowbird]

Or you can go spragless