Skips car has a 428 hp 350 in it, with a Turbo 400 trans. His final gearing is 4.11 and the car has 31 inch tall tires on it. The car weighs approx. 2700 lbs. This converter is absolutely perfect on the street. There are many factors to deciding what converter to use. This model was the correct choice for the car above. The car has ET streets on it, and as you know the traction with these tires is incredible, even when cold they are not to bad.

 Does this converter allow the engine to get into it's most optimal power range, NO, but that is not what you want on the street, even though your tires have outstanding traction, your limited because you can't be doing burnouts every time you want to make a quick getaway. So your tires are your limiting factor, and cold tires are limited, so lets consider, controlling tire spin, and doing so with your foot, is not going to compare to doing it by selecting a stall speed, that may not allow the engine to get to far into it's torque range.

 The most important factor is at what rpm does the engine begin it's torque curve upwards. You really can't go by the rpm on the cam card, or the stall rpm range of a converter, well you can to a degree, but it's best to talk to others and see what has worked for them. Best to talk to someone that has had experience, with several stall speeds. The weight of the vehicle, the final gearing, the type transmission you have, tire size, and traction quality, all interplay into making the right choice. If your car is a street rod, you want the most acceleration you can get without breaking the tires loose. It would be fair to say that the model 47022 converter would allow Skips tires to break loose if he had regular street radials on the car, but the choice of converter would still be this model, as going to a lower stall would possibly be to low, as it may not allow the engine to get into it's power band enough to give a decent launch. This dilemma is due to the fact that most street rods, have cams in them, that simply can't make sufficient power off idle. Skips car, the Datsun 240 has had extensive work done on the chassis. The car once had a 950 hp alcohol engine in it. The engine was removed by the former owner, and a mild 350 street rod engine was put in the car, for what reason we don't know. The car had a stock converter in it, and it was obvious, as the car didn't launch very well at all. Skip pulled the engine and installed his new 350 Stage 1 engine in the car, (428hp) at 5200 rpm and 425lb feet of torque at 4900 rpm, then installed the Boss Hog, 2200-2800 converter. This was perfect for this car. If this car were to be ran at the track only, then the next stall up may have been used, as traction is so great at the drag strip, not to mention being able to do a tire burnout, and heat up the tires for optimal traction. The present Boss Hog converter most likely would not let the engine get into it's best torque range, but tire spin is not a problem at the track. You would not want the next higher stall on the street, even though your engine would be getting off the line within it's peak torque range, you would then have uncontrollable tire spin, and that's a sure way get nowhere. So lets stay with the 2200-2800 model for this type of setup or any that are close to it. The Datsun, takes off like a rocket from a dead stop. The tires are approaching wheel spin, as is evident on dusty pavement, or asphalt that is old. This is exactly the way you want it. If your have regular street radials, on your street rod, then you may have a tire spin problem, but why would you not at least run, drag radials. If you have a good weight balance, and have done some performance suspension mods, then you may get by with regular radials, as well as using this model converter. Drag radials are far superior in traction to regular street radials, and have a much longer life than ET slicks. Skip did not want to recommend any particular stall converter, without trying it on a setup that is very common in the street rod world. This converter is also smaller in diameter than the oem style, therefore reducing the rotational drag on the engine. Most claim that stall converters will heat up the trans. fluid, this is true, but not much at all using a converter in this range.

Those with engines that are in the 500hp range, and run tires that are not optimal, really need to stay with a converter in this range, as tire spin will be much greater if going to higher stall. This is assuming your running on the street. Tire spin will most likely be inevitable, but will be much easier to control if your not taking off at the top of the torque curve.

Those running cams that don't smooth out until the engine is in the 2800 rpm range, should go to the next range stall, as these engines have very little torque below this rpm. We have the next range up converter in our other listings.

If your running a stock converter on a medium buildup, such as the one Skip has, your car will not launch properly at all. It will not even launch as well as it did with the stock engine in it due to the cam upgrade. New car manufactors are achieving higher hp levels than they every had in the past, by using bigger cams, and heads, but , most of them are using variable cam and ignition timing via the computer, and this gets them around the need for high stall converters.  

Boss Hog, makes a stall converter one step below the one listed, and we do not recommend it. It is very close to oem, and will not launch properly on most medium buildups.

Most cam cards will give a range of rpm operation. Never use this as your guide for stall selection. The cam card may have a recommended stall range, and this is a good guide, except for those running larger cubic inch engines than what the cam is based off. Many of the sbc cams on the market, base such recommendations off the use of a 350 engine. We do know that the same cam, such as the one Skip is using in his 350 engine, when put in a 383 or 400 sbc engine may not require the same stall, but we don't really like going to the choices below the one listed. If your not sure what stall you need, then send us an email or give us a call at 423-722-5152

Boss Hog has an all out high performance line of stall converters, for those doing serious racing. Not just various rpm ranges, but the build quality and design. These converters are also available, and are considerably more expensive.

There's much more to be learned on converter choice, and space does not allow for it. Do some research on the subject. One thing for sure, the above converter has been highly approved for use in many mild to medium level street rod applications. If Skip has given it his seal of approval, then you can rest assure it's a good choice.

UPDATE; 4.05/08

Skip has installed the 2800-3200 Boss Hog converter in his car for track use, and it most certainly gives a better 60 foot time. The stall difference also seems suitable for street use, if you have a set of really sticky tires, and plan to do some spirited driving. If you don't have at least a set of drag radials, then forget this level of stall. If your car is in the 3500lb range and your gears are on the tall side, you could take advantage of the higher stall point to help the car launch better. So many factors involved, but the 2200-2800 stall is a good all around choice under most conditions if you have a medium to somewhat serious buildup. I am going to go ahead and leave the 2800-3200 stall in the car, as I do have a set of ET streets on the car, and I often do hard launches with the car, and most importantly the car spends a lot of time at the track.We do have the 2800-3200 stall listed. See our other autions.

Skip White

We will soon have video clips of Skips car in action. You will see for your self, this converter was the right choice.