11.68 @ 117

General topics relative to the Caprice and associated vehicles. For items not fitting into other sub-sections in addition to general chat.
CrashTestDummy
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:31 pm
Location: Pearland, Texas

Re: 11.68 @ 117

Post by CrashTestDummy »

kevink wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 11:49 am
CrashTestDummy wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:55 am Need to work on that tree a bit! :lol:

Nice pass. How does that converter/gear combination work on the street? Just curious. Our 96 SS has a converter and gear in it. It's kind of lazy off a light, unless you stick your foot in it, but otherwise not bad to drive. Just wondering about this combo.
Thanks! It's fine on the street. I could drive it every day no problem if I had to. I don't know what converter you have in your 96, but the modern converters don't seem to slip very much under light throttle. A friend of mine has an old school B&M converter in his car and it shoots right up to 3000 RPM under the lightest of throttle. This one is nothing like that even though it's a higher stall. I actually wish it was a little looser under light throttle to smooth out the cam a little bit. Even though the cam makes the power up top, I never thought it was lazy. There's still plenty of torque to get yourself into plenty of trouble on the street. RPMs on the highway with the converter locked are around 2,000. It's totally streetable.
How converters act when installed is dependent on many different factors, including, of course, vane clearance, but also vane count, and oil viscosity. The viscosity is temp dependent. What RPM the converter will flash, or slip, at depends on things like the HP and torque the engine is putting out, as well as weight of the vehicle and rear gear. So one can have a 3000-RPM stall converter in one car and have that car just sit there in gear, while another can drop RPM and have the car roll out quite nicely in gear unless the brakes are applied.

I think the converter in our 96 is a 3000 stall lock up. Don't know the brand, as it was in the car when we bought it. It barely rolls out when the car gets put in gear, but with just a bit more throttle, it moves quite well. I'm quite surprised how much the car wakes up when you hit the throttle pretty hard, even with street tires on. I think it would pretty much just jump off the line if you floored it, but I haven't tried that yet. :-)

I was just wondering how your particular setup worked. I have been thinking of a configuration similar to our 96 in the Caprice. It, though, would probably be a pretty mild engine build, if I ever do that, but having it leap off the line to surprise someone would be quite fun!!
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
2012 Caprice 9C1
1992 B4C 1LE Camaro
2018 Tahoe PPV (her car)
1995 DGGM Impala SS
1985 Firebird - 310 LS1 C Prepared autocross car.
1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge
And some others
Do YOU have my SPID?
Post Reply