question about stall speed

[Chargerdude]

Can anyone tell me what the factory stall speed is for a 1967 New Yorker with a 440 four barrel and 727 auto?
I have this engine in a 72 Charger and my buddy keeps telling me I need 3000 rpm stall speed and i think it might be too high. I plan on driving mostly on the street for summer cruising and some strip time. . . tell me what you think and what you've done that works . . . thanks~!!

[Mr. Belve]

I have a 2500 stall in my 66 belvedere II . Some poeple say I needed a 3000 but for driving around It works great. I still can kick ass off the line with it and the higher you go with stall the less streetability you have. I also have a friend with a 452 stroker motor. When he went from 2500 to 3000 he said he wanted to change back. So I guess it really comes down to what your're going to do with it.

[bubby440]

stock std. torque convertors for 440s normally stall about 1700-2000 rpm. i have run a 3000 stall behind a mild 440 and this is just a bit to much for everyday cruising unless you want to blow the tires away at will. I have also run a 3500 stall on the street and it really heated the trans a lot cruising in town.

[mauve66]

At the suggestion of a tranny guy, I changed the input shaft of my 66 to the 67-later shaft to get more options for convertors. He suggested the stock 72 340 ('Cuda supposedly) convertor but I've never known what the stall was behind my 383. It has always turned the tires at will but you don't get the pushed back in the seat feel, maybe this is just the lack of traction. Any ideas on what my stall is and what it should be?
3.91, 235/60R14 tires, .747 Hemi grind purple shaft,
'71 era 6-pak carbs w/ aluminum intake, elec. ignition w/ chrome box

[Mr. Belve]

I also have a 67 tranny and I used to have around 1200 withe the stock one after that it started moving. The only reason I changed was I went from a stock 383 to a 440 and the cam needed more rpm at stoplights.

[Chargerchuck]

My shop manual puts the factory stall speed around 1200 RPM. You can't change converters without taking into account the charecteristics of your entire drive train. You want at least a 3.91 rear end for a 3000 stall converter. Also, the reason you need a higher than factory stall is to get your engine into its torque peak ASAP. If you put in a long duration cam, aftermarket manifold, etc., this raises the torque peak and makes the higher stall converter desirable. Unless you are making the above changes I would stick with a mild bump in stall speed.

[Sport]

My stock 1970 440 stalled at about 1200 and was really tight with the 484 cam that I had .I bought a small block converter supposedly and it stalls at 2200. I then went to a Ger 3500 stall adv., it stalled at 2800 but was very loose at the top end, I ran out of RPM. The gain in 60 ft. was .01 with a loss at the top of .02 and less mph.
With the prior posts I wonder whether or not I actually have the small block converter.For now the Ger is out and the small block conv. is in, and with a little more comp. my 60 ft.s are better and at the top end of the track ,the tightness of the conv. helps. I like tight converters on the big end.What I would like to know is do I have a high stall 440 converter, or a small block conv., or does it even matter.Charger Dude from what I can remember all the big cars got the low stall 12 ,or was it the 11 inch. conv,s. With your car 3000 stall might be to high, unless its a tight converter. My 2200 stall pulled the car at idle.My ger that stalled at 2800 felt like it was in neutral until 2800. On a car like yours maybe a stock or hemi stock high stall conv. could be the ticket Sport

[Chargerdude]

Well, here's what I heard, I was leaning towrds an 11" converter from TCI that was supposed to give an extra grand rpm, but I heard that they were reeeaaallll loose and they have to be returned 2 or 3 times to get right. Since I thought 3000 might be too high anyway, I didn't want to try it, I ran into a Mopar guy in the area and he said he had a couple of 340 converters and he'd sell me one. We measured it, and the 340 converter checked in at a little over 10 3/4 inches. He said that his Duster usually stalled at 2500 or so, and that with my 440 it would push it to probably 2800. I'll give it a try let you know. footnote - After I bought the converter, I told him I was thinking about the TCI and he shared his TCI horror stories about how his first one had welding slag in it and wouldn't even go on the input shaft, and then he got another one and it was real loose too. So I guess it pays to ask around. . .

[Warren J]

To find the correct stall speed you need you must first have your engine on a dyno to find max torque rpm, and max hp rpm. Your stall speed should at least match your max torque rpm otherwise your car will be a dog out of the hole. Some guys go for stall between max torque and max hp. As far as slip at the end of the 1/4 a cheap converter will slip more at the big end vs a good one. A $300 dollar crap converter will slip more than a $600 made for your application converter. That's why they are $600. A good company will help you find one for your car and engine specs. Try A1, ART CARR, ATI, COAN, JW, TRANSMISSION SPECIALTIES, TURBO ACTION, and DYNAMIC. You get what you pay for, and run a trans cooler along with radiator trans cooler.

[mauve66]

can the motor still be in the car or will the current convertor / tranny affect the motor torque/ HP on the dyno sheet??

[Mr. Belve]

they will test your hp on the motor from the exhaust unless you want to know the hp at the rear wheels.

[mauve66]

I thought they had to put the wheels on rollers to get the resistance to find out the HP/ torque. How do they get HP/ torque values from the exhaust????????????

[Chargerdude]

. . . .test . . . . from the exhaust. . . . I've never heard of that. On a chassis dyno they test the efficiency of the whole car by putting the drive wheels on a drum that is turned and the dyno gets info that way, and tells you how much hp and/or torque is getting to the ground. And on a engine dyno, the engine is connected to a drum that bolts up just like the converter and that drum is turned just like on the chassis dyno, most engine dynos use a water brake that creates resistance and keeps the engine from freewheeling during the run. Hope this helps!!

[mauve66]

thats what I thought but somebody said.... well anyway, my question is - will the current converter effect the readout on a full vehicle dyno, in other words, is it worth the trouble/expense to due while in the car or just wait till you have the motor out of the car at some time in the future and just guess at the right converter combo now???

[Darn Dart]

I found out the hard way that a good converter is worth the asking price. I bought a crappy GER 4500 stall converter for my 340 Dart Sport, cost $300, I couldn't even get 3000 stall out of it without pushing me through the lights. I called GER and they said I could trade it in on a different converter and they would give me 75% of my cost towards a new one. Well a better converter from them was $499 plus the almost $100 I lost on this 2 month old converter I orignally bought.
So I wised up and sold it as a 3000 stall converter for $200 and ordered a custom Dynamic made just for my car. On the first pass with the new Dynamic I knocked off almost 3 tenths off of my ET in the 1/8 mile!! Never again will I buy a cheap converter, Shawn from Dynamic was very friendly and very helpfull, I would recommond to anyone.