Bolt-on Rant

[Bishopjay]

chnge your ratio at the rear for better performance if thats what your looking at

[89VetteFromHell]

dont forget though... sometimes the reason alot of bolt-ons dont do their jobs... is because theyre not tuned for the cars.. ok if you just have a CAI or a catback no need... but when you start getting the whole package on CAI/exhaust/Throttlebody/headers etc etc... it needs a tune for the better flow and anything else because of such a change over stock... to many people slap this and that on.. and expect it to push all the claims.. well ... most of those claims are made from highly tuned cars with full packages

[4 cam tbird]

Originally Posted by lab1702

Not really concerned with MPG.. but I wasn't sure if the combination of higher stall speed and a first gear ratio of 3.22 and rear end ratio of 4.10 would be just too much gear and give me worse performance in the 1/4.

Sounds like a higher stall converter is still worth it, especially since I plan on staying n/a. :-)

Holy shit that is a huge first gear compared to Ford's 4 speed autos.

The converter isn't going to lower the speed you can go in first gear. It just raises the RPM at which the car starts moving. It isn't going to make you slower in the 1/4 mile for sure. It is definitely one of those things that what is streetable is a matter of opinion though. Obviously you don't want a 5000 stall in a car like yours. Your stock converter, based on what I know about some of Ford's late 4R70W offerings is probably in the neighborhood of 2200 RPM. 3000 or 3500 should still be real streetable. If you get your PCM adjusted for the stall they can change when the lock up clutch engages to make things smoother when you are cruising around. That is the type of thing they do to gain milage when doing tuning as well. Be warned that you are NOT going to get a stall like this for $100. The stall speed Chuck was talking about was problaby still a stock stall speed in something else with that transmission so that makes it cheap. You will be looking at something aftermarket. It'll be a lot more but you will definitely see huge gains off the line, similar to doing gears.

I know this guy posts on other boards but I'm not exactly sure how to get a hold of him other than through TCCoA. He posts as dirtyd0g on there. He does lots of converter work for VERY reasonable prices.

A friend of mine got a converter from him, I just asked how to get ahold of him and this is what I got, lol:
http://www.myspace.com/dirtyd0g
Drop him a message and he can answer all your torque converter questions.

If you use ramps to change your oil...that isn't really going to work so good after you do a stall, lol.

[trigger]

It's always more impressive when a car can run the same elapsed time as one with way more mile per hour simply because they cover the first 1/8th mile that much quicker. Sixty foot is king. :smt079

[06camarodude]

Yeah, I agree also. While bolt ons are abundant, and some are very effective, you have to have the knowledge to know whether or not one bolt on is going to have an adverse effect on a different mod. Like with my Monte Carlo. . . It has very few bolt-ons, and yet makes about 600 hp. It's all in how you build the engine, the transmission, and how you get the power from the engine to the wheels. My Camaro is rated at about 170 hp at the wheels, and a lot of people have gotten more power out of the car without touching the engine at all. I think that a stock vehicle has a lot of power loss through the driveline. New gears, trans build, intake/exhaust, and ditching various stock components for lighter weight, stronger components. I hear too much about bolt ons and not enough about fixing the weak links in your motor, you know? Take my 3.4 Camaro, for example. Stock heads and intake on this particular engine flow like crap. Replace them with stock heads and intake from a 3800 FWD, the intake is 300% better. Add exhaust to that, and my car just made 230 hp with an engine rebuild.

[Rare4thgens]

So like, I shouldn't buy a tornado and electric supercharger? j.k. Good points Chuck. :smt023

[Blade7764]

Don't forget that giving your stock timing a nice boost is always good.