Lock up or non lock up.???? What should I get.

[Turbodan]

My 87 T has stock turbo, stock injectors, Smc alcohol, Terry Houston Down pipe. I am going to be getting a new trans. I would like to upgrade the turbo and injectors someday. But won't happen until next year I am sure. Should i be getting a trans that has Non lock up 3200 9"stall convertor. Or should i look into getting a lock up unit? What are my pro and cons to both non lockup and lockup?

 

[SWOOOSH]

i would keep the lockup till you get heavy into moter mods. bolt ons are not enough to swich over to a nonlockup. take advantage of the lock up as long as you can. dont get rid of a possible 3 tenth & 3 mph in the quarter.

 

[Turbodan]

will the non lock up make me slower in the 1/4??? Will my turbo spool faster with the non lockup?

 

[SWOOOSH]

a lockup converter will not efect spool up because they can only be locked up in higher gears.most people will get a chip that will lock the converter in 3rd gear to give you the faster times. iv ben out of the lockup converter loop for a long time now.as far as i no 9 in lockup converters could not handle being locked up in 3rd because the clutches were to small and would not be able to handle the load.they were just to keep the good gas milage.as what it was ment for. when you get a real big turbo and need alot of stall speed they would tell you to get a 9 in non lock converter. till then try to find a good 10 in converter with heavy duty clutches to handle lockig up in high gears at the track.

 

[brian]

>>>>will the non lock up make me slower in the 1/4??? Will my turbo spool faster with the non lockup?


It is not as much the lock up making it spool slower. It is the weight of the 9in as opposed to the weight of the 12in converter. Less recipricating weight. A smaller diameter converter will help to get things going a bit quicker.
A 9in 2800-3000 stall should give the car better accelaration over a similar stall 12 inch.
In my experience, I went .1 quicker in the 1/4 with a non lock up. But, my mph was 1.5 higher with a lock up in my 10.7 car. (129 n/l vs 131 l/u) ET`s where close, but 60fts were much better with the non lock. This car was always driven an hour and a half to the track.
The lock up is nicer for a expressway/long distance driven car. But, if it is just a weekend cruiser, and street car that does not go 55 mph for long periods, I see no downsides to the n/l.
HTH...
Brian

 

[chris718]

the lockup piece is heavier therefore it is definately slower to spool than a non locker that is 15 lbs lighter in some cases.the time is not as much as some would think and is measured in a much smaller scale and some may argue this as irrelevent.any load applied to the flywheel will momentarily reduce the engines ability to gain rpm.just put your car in nuetral and hit the gas as an example.if you compare the "overweight " billet cover converter 9 11 TCS piece to the typical 9 inch non locker there is a huge weight difference as well as a faster spool up time with the non locker.however the lock up converter functions better in street type environments and in the application in discussion here.over the past 2 years we have been developing and perfecting a light 10.5 inch lockup with a durable clutch an pressure plate as well as the usual upgrades internally.this converter supplies instant throttle response,reduced weight ,and incredible hydraulic coupling efficiency.i have always been a fan of the 9 11 but after seeing and testing other designs i have found it to be a poor product with any stall speed over 3200 rpms.your application will perform better with a converter that stalls at 3000 rpms with 10 psi and will improve fuel efficiency,throttle response and make the car more street friendly