I have a 92 4l60 with a D36 and 2.59 gears. The only mods are a cut air lid and I removed the mufflers. I am going to install some long tubes and high flow cats. I have no engine mods planned because it is a relativly low milege Vette (45k) and 300hp is good for now. My Vette is not a DD and I am not a racer shes just my toy. I like to spin the tires and get from light to light quickly. What I would like to do is mash the gas and light up the tires without touching the brake. Also quicker accelleration would nice. After doing some research I was going to change the gear to a 3.54. after more searching i found out about how weak the D36 can be. If it breakes I will replace it with a D44. It seems like such a waste of money to buy D36 gears now and when and if the D36 fails they would not work in a D44. I would do a switch now if I had the funds. After more research I've read that a higher RPM converter would have almost the same effect as gears would. Also if the D36 breaks ican still keep the converter. So would the converter be the best choice right now? or gears? or something else? Any opinions or experiance would be greatly appreciated. When I drive the Vette its about 50% highway and 50% city. I would also like to keep it very streetable. Oh yea, any makes and modles you have used or would recommend are alo appreceiated. Thanks

 

I have had many problems with some lower quality companies. I am very lucky to have a shop near me that hand builds them one at a time to suit my needs. You may have a shop locally that can do the same type of work.

 

Are you saying the converter would be the better choice? If so what stall speed would you reccomend? Thanks.

 

yes, the converter would be the better choice as a first mod

There are several good brands to choose from, TCI, B&M, PI Vigilante, Yank, etc.....and you should get something in the 2400-2600 range for a street car

The gears would be the next choice if the converter wasnt enough for you. The 3.54 would be fine in the D36, just so long as you dont put slicks on it. If you put drag radials on, and raced it, then it becomes a gray area. But if this is a street toy only, then you shouldnt worry about blowing it to hell with the stock engine.

 

Thanks Vader.

 

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I think so. When I was in the same situation, I also did the converter first.
Regardless of the manufacturer, it is nearly impossible to get a stock size(12 inch) lock up converter to stall abouve 2800 stall assuming 300-350 hp at the flywheel. Some companies claim they will. In my opinion, not true. I would aim for 2600-2800 stall if it were my car. I sold one to stingraymarc that stalled at 2700 rpm or so and he was very pleased with it.

 

Anyone have any experience with Hughes converters? A 2500 stall Hughes is going into my tranny rebuild as we speak. Thanks, Robert

 

I never used a Hughes, but they have a pretty good reputation. 2 guys that I know run them and like them.

 

Thanks Pete.

 

I bought my car three years ago and the previous owner put a stahl convertor in it. That was the only real mod done to it when I bought it.
My car with the 2.59's and the convertor would go completely nuts from a dead stop. It would go completely sideways. I since did a 3.73 gear swap and headers, flowmasters, cut the lid, k.n. filter and a few other worthless little mods. I often wondered how much of a difference the convertor was making. Your car won't smoke the tires from a dead stop ? Is that right ? really ? I've heard everyone complain about the 2.59 rears and I always though wtf my car goes like stink with them. I changed them out because like anything else it's only quick for a little while then you get used to it.

 

Gears. If you stay with relatively stock power then toss in 3.54's. Then go with a less tight converter. I did it the opposite and it is not the way to go (your lockup clutch will hate you).

 

To answer your ????????? Just buy a set of MT Drag Radials and blow them up to 35 to 40 psi and you can burn them all day long,on the street.
Cheaper and more fun.

 

As with most, "Which is better..." questions, it depends. On the drag strip, the converter change will out perform the gear change, several times over. However, you said you don't drag race. The converter is mainly a "hole shot" device. The gears are on duty every inch you drive. In your case, from your stated usage as an occasional driver, I think YOU will get more smiles per mile with the 3.54 gears.

RACE ON!!!

 

The stall only good from off line as the gears will make the car feel as if it new legs. The high stall will turn the car into a animal off the line though. Stall and gears together, youll be busting the tires loose on a 30 mph roll. I highly recommend Precesion gears or Vigilanti converters no less then 2800 stall. I wouldnt go cheap with these two items. I now have a 2400 stall made by God knows who( came with my new tranny)and its less streetable then my 3200 Vigalanti. I sold it to FuzzyDice and he loves it. Ask him ? Good luck!

 

i would do the gears first.would'nt a stall coverter with the 2.59's keep it on the converter alot?mushy acceleration,slippage,and extra heat in the tranny?
i vote for gears and then a converter.put a tranny cooler on there when you do the converter.
the d36 should be fine with a stock motor and street tires.

 

Guys, Hi there... I'm from the C5 section. I've never really visited the C4 section. But I was doing search on stall TC's and gears. And to my surprise I feel like most of my questions are all answered in this thread.

I have an auto (2.73), and am looking to get gears - 3.42 standard C5/Z06 gears. But I've been told to do the TC change as well, at the same time, if possible to save on labor.

I've been so confused cuz I don't know the purpose of a Hi-stall TC, and what benefit I would get from changing the TC, SINCE I'm changing the gears anyway. I feel like I'm learning a lot from this thread. Some very knowledgable ppl here . Plz keep the education coming, and help me understand and figure this out.

1. Gears ONLY
2. TC ONLY
3. Gears + TC

What's the difference in each case.. Thanks so much..

 

Gears first than TC, to me they both are imp, but if u have limited funds than go with gears first.

 

Its not about he funds alone. But I am not sure if I really need a TC or not, or.....what it will do for me. I can understand the gears part. I just don't understand the theory of TC's, even though I've read a lot on this and Yank site. From what I understand, the car won't move as fast in LOW RPM, with a high stall. I'll have to push the gas MORE to get it to move, which I don't like. I want to maintain the Low RPM torque too....

 

I would do gears first, exspecially seeing you have the 2.59 gears.
Here has been my experience. I never ran mine at the track until after I put the 3.54 gear set in it. With that alone, I ran a 13.17 at 105.xx mph. My 60ft times were in the 1.9x range. I switched to the yank 3000 converter (this was not a cheap one, I paid about $700.00 on a group purchase for it a few years ago) Anyways, I ran a best of 12.91 at 105.xx mph but my 60ft times were in the 1.7xx range. So the converter gave me .26 second decrease in et. I am very confident that the gears gave me at least .5 seconds based on what others have gained with them. And as far as seat of the pants, the gears were much more fun.

 

IMO the best comparsion between a stock converter (1400 rpm) and a high stall converter (3000 rpm) would be to imagine driving a stick shift car. Now launch it at 1400 rpms and no more. Now launch it at 3000 and you will see how much quicker it will take off. This is the reason we switch converters, its for that full throttle launch to leave harder and quicker off of the line.
Now with this are some trade offs. True, around town and at half throttle they can feel mushy compared to stock when you throttle down and revs come up. But a lot of that is better with a good quality converter. With mine at light throttle you dont even notice it. And a cruise speeds it locks anyways.
Just remember this, almost any modification you make to your corvette to increase power or speed is also going to have some negative effect. IE, gears will hurt your highway gas milage, big cams will hurt low end torque etc. Its all about personalizing your vette to best fit you!!