SC400TT Project Car Stage II by SC400TT

4 minute(s) of a 718 minute read

3-19-2008

Well, getting the final touches done over the next few days so that I can send my car to Driven Concepts in Tampa...

Found more issues with the previous work done by Xtremeboost...It never seems to stop. Now, I found that the AEM Widwband harness had apparently been jerked through the hole in the floor of the car, and stripped the insulation off every wire that connected to the plug. More bare wires... I also took the exhaust apart, and something was clanging in the pipe, I turned it upside down, and a 14 mm wrench fell out... More "stuff"

I am certainly glad we are checking everything that was done by them...

3-20-2008

Hey Bob...I was thinking about your question with the smaller TQ Converter from Precision, and I remembered that I had researched this a very long time ago, and that the info I found convinced me that Precision (Dragon) was the way to go for a TQ Converter. I knew Precision made them smaller for a reason, but I could not remember why, so I looked up some articles on their website, and found my answer. Here is an excerpt from them explaining why their TQ's are smaller than a stock one. 

"The Truth About The 9-12 and 9-11 Spaceship Type Converters

All late model transmissions regardless of make have a clutch in the torque converter. Precision Industries was the first performance torque converter company to design and successfully manufacture a small diameter clutch assembly that would survive the abuses of high performance late model vehicles. We had to manufacture a special front cover, clutch plate and develop a clutch lining that would handle pulse width modulation. This is the reason we use a special billet front cover not just for the good looks! Our competitors in the performance industry do not have the technical ability or the capability and are just too cheap to follow our lead. They are using all stock front cover and clutch parts designed and built for 4 and 6 cylinder vehicles to compete with Precision Industries. When OBDII appeared they suddenly found out that using these inferior 4 and 6 cylinder front cover and clutch parts was not going to work so they started using 15 year old technology, the so called 9-12 or 9-11 spaceship type of torque converter. What these torque converters consist of are parts from 1- $10.00 and 1- $35.00 wrecking yard torque converter core along with a steel ring to mate the 2 converters together. Using these parts equates to a value for this type of torque converter to no more than $300.00. While this type of torque converter seemed to solve the torque converter clutch problem it instantly created more serious problems. One advantage to using a small diameter torque converter is that it has a lot less rotating mass than the stock 12â€Â torque converter and with the thick steel plate to mount the 2 stock torque converter halves together to make the 9-12 you end up with more rotating mass than the stock 12â€Â torque converter. A more critical problem with the 9-12 spaceship type torque converter is the turbine wash over of this design. The turbine wash over is so strong that the large diameter torque converter clutch is pushed up against the front cover and drags during stall and acceleration. This action kills acceleration and causes undue stress to the torque converter clutch. What this means is this style of torque converter will never accelerate as well as the small diameter torque converter meaning slower 60 ft. and ET times. This style of torque converter would probably work satisfactorily in Grandma’s car but is not something you would want for a performance torque converter. Our competitors must be laughing all the way to the bank selling this inferior product for the price they are asking!"

Also, on their Website, they show several major differences that they do versus what many other "rebuilders" do. It is a significant difference. You can find that info here: http://www.converter.com/competition.htm

I am planning to post this up on that other thread with the Rebuild question. It should answer that question as well.

Thanks for your input, Bob...