Torque Converter
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 343
Likes: 10
Torque Converter
Attached are some pics of my torque converter out of my 93'. It doesnt appear to be stock. I bought this car used with alot of miles on it. I can tell from rebuilding the transmission that someone did a rebuild on it before I did. I know this is a shot in the dark, but if some could ID this and give me some specs that would be great.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
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From: Anaheim CA
From the green paint, I'd say the odds of that being rebuilt are 100%.
The supply of new torque converters dried up many years ago. ALL of them are rebuilt now. The rebuilders cut them open on a lathe, replace the internal parts and weld them back together.
From personal experience, you DON'T want a cheap torque converter. Taking the trans out again after the rebuild was NOT fun. There's a $350 Edge converter in there now. The $180 one started whining after 150 miles and I figured it was grinding itself to death. I was right. The inside of my trans filter (the sparkly bits are pieces of metal):
The supply of new torque converters dried up many years ago. ALL of them are rebuilt now. The rebuilders cut them open on a lathe, replace the internal parts and weld them back together.
From personal experience, you DON'T want a cheap torque converter. Taking the trans out again after the rebuild was NOT fun. There's a $350 Edge converter in there now. The $180 one started whining after 150 miles and I figured it was grinding itself to death. I was right. The inside of my trans filter (the sparkly bits are pieces of metal):
Last edited by Cliff Harris; Aug 18, 2012 at 11:36 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 343
Likes: 10
I kind of figured it would be a rebuilt one. Just wish I knew the exact specs on it. Well I am going to go with that it was rebuilt to factory specs. There are markings on the converter and I am sure they mean something, but the number and letter order dont seem to match up with the reference codes I have been looking at. Maybe I am looking at the wrong thing.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
Torque converters are pretty complex devices. The main things to watch for are the stall speed and lockup.
People use torque converters with higher stall speed (sometime much higher than stock) for various reasons. My opinion is that a higher than stock stall speed is more trouble than it's worth on a street car. I knew a guy who had a 3000 RPM stall in his street car. He could rev the engine with the brakes off and it wouldn't move. Interesting car -- heavily modified 351 Cleveland engine in a Pinto station wagon.
Some torque converters are built without the lockup friction surfaces. That's pretty rare, but does happen. Cheap rebuilds have poor friction surfaces and they can burn out or wear out way too soon.
People use torque converters with higher stall speed (sometime much higher than stock) for various reasons. My opinion is that a higher than stock stall speed is more trouble than it's worth on a street car. I knew a guy who had a 3000 RPM stall in his street car. He could rev the engine with the brakes off and it wouldn't move. Interesting car -- heavily modified 351 Cleveland engine in a Pinto station wagon.
Some torque converters are built without the lockup friction surfaces. That's pretty rare, but does happen. Cheap rebuilds have poor friction surfaces and they can burn out or wear out way too soon.
