700R4 Build, tough enough?

[Steve Chryssos]

So before you say one is better than the other you might want to check who is actually building them. Don't want to pay $400 for a $139 converter.

A few companies are buying off-shore converters. Not as many as you think. Most converter companies have two sides their business: An OE rebuild side that supplies local transmission shops and a High Performance side. The same holds true for trans shops. Very few shops are exclusive to high performance work. They make a living off of daily driver rebuilt work. Unfortunately, some transmission shops will order up a basic rebuild intended to fix a disabled Blazer (maybe as cheap as $70) and then pawn it off as a high performance piece. The converter manufacturer has no way of knowing that the trans shop did a bait and switch. As far as the converter shop knew the rebuilt converter was destined to sit in front of a rebuilt trans. If that's a concern, buy straight from the converter manufacturer and hand deliver it to your trans shop.

[Steve Chryssos]

Here's an exploded view of a MuscleDrive converter. Prices start at around $659 for a 9.5" Most of the goodies are inside the welded case, but there are still ways to tell if you are getting a serious piece. For that much money or more, your converter will have a billet front cover with integral mounting lugs shown at far left. On the other end, an anti-balloon plate has been welded into the center of the impeller cover--around the splines. The anti-balloon plate makes the surface relatively flat. The pump cover itself is a new replacement piece. The splines are billet and the machine welding is flawless. Machine welding is pretty commonplace though. The billet front cover and anti-balloon plate should be confirmed.


In contrast, the budget converter below has a stamped front cover with welded on lugs (on bottom). The dished area on top around the splines means that there is no anti-balloon plate. There's nothing necessarily wrong with budget converters. The good ones still have important internal features like furnace brazed fins and good bearings. Just know what you are getting and make sure it matches your engine's load requirements. From the outside looking in, this appears to be a $350 piece.

[BRIAN]

Steve believe it or not no insult meant to you or PT. My experience with a certain converter Co was more as you explained a problem with a tranny shop that escalated into a bigger problem than it should have. Then again Co's chose their retailers and maybe should chose a little wiser.

Few converter Co's are willing to show and explain their internals. You know as well as I do before you actually made the leap to the other side converters were a hard choice. You have to have complete confidence in the Co that they are delivering what they claim. Your R&D looks impressive and money would be well spent with your set ups. Great info and next automatic built car I will give you a ring as i think others should.

Hard to get buyers to understand the difference between a custom built unit and a Summit special. There is a magazine article???

[Steve Chryssos]

Steve believe it or not no insult meant to you or PT. My experience with a certain converter Co was more as you explained a problem with a tranny shop that escalated into a bigger problem than it should have. Then again Co's chose their retailers and maybe should chose a little wiser.

Few converter Co's are willing to show and explain their internals. You know as well as I do before you actually made the leap to the other side converters were a hard choice. You have to have complete confidence in the Co that they are delivering what they claim. Your R&D looks impressive and money would be well spent with your set ups. Great info and next automatic built car I will give you a ring as i think others should.

Hard to get buyers to understand the difference between a custom built unit and a Summit special. There is a magazine article???

Thanks. Take a drive out when the roads are free of salt and I'll let you drive these things. Function will not be very different that your PI unit. The application is just more comprehensive. Computer control allows us to do more with these converters.
I think I can write such an article and do it in plain english as above. Being highly technical and potentially critical, it might be a tough sell to our industry's advertorial oriented publishers. If that's the case I'll just upload it to twistmachine.com.