as far as brands... many swear by ptc, or vigalante, pats, edge, seem to have a good following, i have ran 2 different converters behind my te44 first i ran a restalled 12 inch d5, called a orange stripe 3000 lu, spooled good, street driveability was decent, although it was advertised as 3000 stall it was more like 2600 at zero boost, a couple hundred more boostin it, decent street performance at a entry level price, many other vendors sells these style converters, 330-400 bucks, if you go 12 inch i would go with a 2800 stall from a supporting vendor here...... NEXT i went to a 10 inch 2800 lu custom made unit that was about 12 pounds lighter and more effiecent, made a big difference in streetability and spooled better with less effort, car is a beast from a roll too, feels great to stab it! hazes the tires at a 35 roll easily, for a little more cash was well worth it to me,...... BUT...if you plan to work towards building a real strong drivetrain with all the upgrades, the 9.5 inch units are the ultimate, less weight and mass to spin, run cooler with less slip than the big ones, with a non lock up being the most capable of handling big power to the wheels, but are pricey, so.. if your wallet allows and you are seriously gonna make power get a ptc 9.5 non lu and buy it once, or if your making more typical street type power with an occasional strip day i would run a 10 inch lu, good on the street, pretty good on the strip too, one more thing, make sure its installed by someone that knows exactly what they are doing, you can damage the trans and converter if its not set right, its been done wrong by many, good luck, rob