Question on using a D5 converter in another G body

["Turbo-T"]

I have a friend with a 1984 Cutlass that was originally a 307 Olds car backed by a 200-4R.

The 307 was chucked a long time ago for a 350 Chevy. They kept the 200-4R.

Well now the converter for the 200-4R is toast.

I have offered my friend up my D5 torque converter out of my car. I informed him this would probably be a good converter for him as it has a higher stall than a typical 200-4R converter, and his 350 Chevy has a cam that he says is rated at 2200-5500 rpms.

Well, said friend just recently changed the original rear gearing to a 3.73 set up. And now he's being told that with the 3.73 gears, if he uses my converter, it will stall at like 1600 even behind a 350 Chevy.

I personally feel this is b.s. and holds no truth at all as i know it's engine torque that dictates when a converter stalls.

Anyways I wanted to get some input to back this up...trying to help a friend out who doesn't have the cash for a high dollar converter, but not trying to do him dirty either.

Me personally I'm thinking a D5 converter sandwiched between a 350 Chevy and a 200-4R that feeds a 3.73 outback pushing a 1984 Cutlass = a win-win situation.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[charlief1]

Anyone that thinks the rear gear will change the stall of the converter is going to believe that he can put a cam and a set of headers on a 305 Monte and run 10's. The converter stall has nothing to do with the final gear ratio, period. The engine torque and the design of the converter will determine the stall speed of the converter.

 

[bison]

It will need a lot more converter and gear to get the most out of it. I did a 200-4R trans for a customer about 3 years ago with a small hyd cammed 350. I supplied him with an AC 9" that stalled around 3200. He was running a 12" junker for a converter and a turbo 350 trans with 3.73 ring and pinion and 275 60-15 DR's. The best the car ever ran before the changeover was 13.10@107. It went 12.40@106 with the new combo. Yeah it lost 1mph but the car was .7 quicker. There were no other changes. The D5 will likely stall to around 2500 and be ok but the car will likely need more gear and a looser converter to run the number.

 

[bison]

Anyone that thinks the rear gear will change the stall of the converter is going to believe that he can put a cam and a set of headers on a 305 Monte and run 10's. The converter stall has nothing to do with the final gear ratio, period. The engine torque and the design of the converter will determine the stall speed of the converter.

The rear gear will change the mph the converter couples but not the stall speed. The gears are behind the converter.

 

[Dusty Bradford]

If the car had a trans brake and you tested the converter stall......it's true the gearing has no effect on this stall of the converter. If the engine quits building rpm at 2600, it will do the same with any gear.

The flash stall will change with a gear change. If you launch the car at 2500 rpm and it flashes to 4000 rpm with a 3.42. It may flash to 3700 with the 3.73. The rpm it falls back to on the gear change will change. A 3.73 gear will put less load on the converter than a 3.42 which simulates the engine making less torque at the flywheel.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Thanks fellas for the responses.

To give you fellas a heads up, it's not a race car, it's a street car. It doesn't have a trans brake or anything like that. It's not raced at the track. It's not raced at the track.

The owner is a 20 y/o young adult.

I drove the car once with the 350 Chevy in it, and it was an absolute dog. It felt like it took forever to get up to speed. I've owned a few 307 Olds powered cars when i was younger, and in fact I'd wager the 307 Olds had more get up and go power. I'm pretty sure the 307 Olds/200-4R G bodies came with 2.14's out back. Chevy 350's from what I've seen need a lower gear to make them work right. I'm almost certain Monte Carlo SS's came with 3.73's in them.

Now he's finally converting to an 8.5 with a 3.73 from turbo1dr. He said his converter bit the dust, so I figure this oughta wake his sbc powered Cutlass up some.