Help; 454 BBC stalling

[neki67]

Friend of me has a 55 chevy pick up with a 454, 10:1 compr, moderately wild cam with Rhoad's lifters attached to a 700R4 with stock converter.

When he puts it in gear the engine stalls even when he lets it idle @ 1100 rpm. Needs at least 1500rpm to get it rolling w/o stalling. He's concerned it's due to the stock converter.

Any ideas, suggestions, etc?

[TBART70]

does that thing have a working lock up converter in it, if it's locked up at idle it will stall.

[neki67]

Thanks for the suggestion.

There is a lock up converter but (when I understand my friend correctly) it doesn't stall when he's driving and comes to a stop in gear.

[ArtosDracon]

So it will roll and stop while in gear, but then dies, or is it only on a cold-start?

[neki67]

No, it will roll, stop and idle in gear. It only dies when going from Neutral to e.g. Drive. He only gets to driving it when he lets it 'idle' @ 1500rpm and then puts it in gear.

FYI: I haven't witnessed it myself since I'm 150 miles away for my job till Thursday.

[Scott Parkhurst]

I'd sure double-check the timing at idle (with and without vacuum advance hooked up). If it's off too far either way, it'll die.

It sounds like it's got too much advance (losing a slew of rpm between idle and drive) and probably clunks when dropped into gear.

With a little less advance, there will be less of a change from neutral/park to drive. Optimally, it should only drop slightly, but if the timing is off, it'll ker-plunk into gear.

[neki67]

My friend asked me to transmit his appreciation for the help, it is much appreciated.

We'll look into the provided suggestions but feel free to share other ideas as well!

[ArtosDracon]

I'd check the "kick-down" for the 700R4, if not adjusted properly it could be causing the pressure in the tranny to surge and kill the engine, shouldn't happen, but it's possible. The kick-down on the 700R4 isn't actually a normal kick-down, it's actually a pressure valve that regulates the pressure, more throttle means more pressure which holds it in gear longer. With the throttle closed, engine off the TV should be pushed all the way in and click, then using the pedal throttle should be pushed to WOT, and at WOT someone needs to check the bracket at make sure the cab is at WOT, and the TV isn't holding it at part throttle. Total travel should be something like 1.67"

[neki67]

Thanks Robert, nearly forgot about that one! I know he has been fooling around with the TV cable so that might be worth looking into. Although he told that it is shifting nicely when he's driving.

Just came home today and I'll go to my buddy in the next couple of days so I can check things out for myself. I'll keep you posted.

[Crossupbill]

My money is on the converter being too tight. What are the cam specs?