A few questions for you FWD & automatic guys.

OffshoreDrilling

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Aug 28, 2007
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Are any of you using a higher stall converter? Im getting one custom made, and kinda curious what improvements you have seen on 1/4 mile times. There are plenty of RWD guys claiming from .1 for a mild converter all the way to .6 and .7 off their 1/4 times for more extreme stall speeds.

Question number two. Anyone ever run skinnies in the rear, and was there any improvement in times?

Question three! Any experiences with spring blockers in the rear?
 

Fish

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Ive driven a 3K stalled car with 3:69s. The thing rips if you can get traction. The stall in the trans I have is a ATI 3K stall. The previous owner drove it daily for 5K miles and said it was perfectly streetable.

The skinnys as stated above are good for less rolling resistance. They shave a few pounds as well.
 

DanJ

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I don't run blockers but i pull a sensor and trick my rear air assisted struts into thinking the car is a lot lower in back than it is and then the "Electronic Level Control" pumps up the rear struts creating a similar effect. More weight over the front tires.
 

OffshoreDrilling

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Thanks for the input guys. Im already getting the higher stall converter, and spring blockers are cheap enough to buy and try out. Nobody has ever taken an N/A build on a grand am as far as mine will be. Short of doing some extreme weight reduction on the car, Im out of mods that can be done. Anything that is relatively cheap, yielding tangible gains is of my interest. With any luck, I'll have the fastest know N/A grand am in the world. Current record is 13.991 Im about a second slower with bolt ons only right now.
Now, i am not a newb to cars, i had a worked on N/A monte carlo SS, sold it before i could F/I it, but a have never come across a stall before... i hear it a lot on ls1gto.com too. plz, without ridicule, can someone help a brother out? and why not use in on a DD

First things first, only automatic transmissions use a torque converter. Basicly what it does, is allows your transmission and engine to spin at different speeds until it locks up, and couples the engine completely with the trans. With the right stall speed (which is in rpms) you can get the engine into its powerband before the transmission will completely grab. EX. if you have a 4k stall converter you can do a brake stand on it till around 3600rpm. Hella good 60ft times.
 

GraFFix

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I have a 2800 stall with 3.29 gears and it was pretty noticeable. As far as track times..lol the car got slower the more mods I tossed at it. I did use the adjustable spring boosters in the rear and extended them all the way when I went to the track. Made things pretty easy cause I would just lower them enough to hold tension on them and zip tie them in place for daily use. At the track it took 10 min to jack the rear back up. On a slick my best 60ft was a 1.7
 
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M@

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Nov 26, 2007
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i plan on getting a 3K stall hopefully by summer when i find & rebuild a transmission for my gtp. ive also used the intense rask kit at the track once and it helped a decent amount.

Unless you're going with a turbo, 3k is too much...

I run 2750 in a big heads, big cam car, and it's pretty much plenty. 3k would improve things a smidge, but not much.

Ditch the RASK too, that fucker will bend your control arms, and you really don't want to replace all 4 of those, TRUST ME.

The amount of time a good converter shaves off is completely dependent on the stall speed and the powerband of the motor. A converter won't do you much without slicks or DR's to hook up though.

Skinnies, yes, if you'd like to go from 40-50 lbs of rotating mass per side in the rears to about 15 lbs per side, you bet your ass they'll help. Less rolling resistance too.

Spring blockers work, but something more solid, like the cables we W-bod guys use, is far superior.
 

M@

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Nov 26, 2007
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I have a 2800 stall with 3.29 gears and it was pretty noticeable. As far as track times..lol the car got slower the more mods I tossed at it. I did use the adjustable spring boosters in the rear and extended them all the way when I went to the track. Made things pretty easy cause I would just lower them enough to hold tension on them and zip tie them in place for daily use. At the track it took 10 min to jack the rear back up. On a slick my best 60ft was a 1.7


Anyone ever tune that car, or at least get a good scan of it?

I'd be more than willing to help get the car running where it should be. When my car was a bolt-on car, it was ungodly slow for its mods, so I feel you...Let me know if I can help.
 
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