What torque converter for 99 TA with STS turbo?

[rick67]

There isn't anything to work out really when you put in the converter. It can be done in a few hours with a lift and and add another hour or two without a lift.

I've read a few instances where people have claimed to need a tune after a converter installation. Ever heard of that?

Tomasino... I'd call Yank. Dave is great!

[TOMASINO]

I've read a few instances where people have claimed to need a tune after a converter installation. Ever heard of that?

Tomasino... I'd call Yank. Dave is great!

will do thanks
11

[98Camarod]

I've read a few instances where people have claimed to need a tune after a converter installation. Ever heard of that?

Tomasino... I'd call Yank. Dave is great!

You will benefit much more from the converter without the tune rather than leaving the stock one in there.

As for the lockup, there are commanded lockups for the converter and it must meet a mph for a certain throttle position. It is used for mpg gain ie dropping the rpms once you reach your cruising speed.

[rick67]

You will benefit much more from the converter without the tune rather than leaving the stock one in there.

No, I mean I've read that some people actually NEED a tune because the computer started throwing faults after a converter switch.
I dunno. I'm new to "new" cars.

[98Camarod]

What MAY have to be done is:
-increase idle rpm to prevent stalling. If you have an issue you can turn the idle screw until you have it fixed in the tune.
-increase shiftpoints and firmness to prevent hitting the limiter
-possibly increase misfire table values to allow the converter to lockup. That is an issue when the converter locks and unlocks once you reach your cruising speed.

[rick67]

What MAY have to be done is:
-increase idle rpm to prevent stalling. If you have an issue you can turn the idle screw until you have it fixed in the tune.
-increase shiftpoints and firmness to prevent hitting the limiter
-possibly increase misfire table values to allow the converter to lockup. That is an issue when the converter locks and unlocks once you reach your cruising speed.

And if only 1 out of every 1,000 people will need these things adjusted.... I'll be that one. Guaranteed! haha
Thanks for the info. Thats enough for me to be 100% sure I don't want to mess with it until after the nats.

[c5z28]

You need a tune after a stall

[98Camarod]

You need a tune after a stall

You don't NEED a tune. I drove my car for a while with my converter and headers without a tune. I never had a problem. I put in the cam and had it tuned.

[98Camarod]

And if only 1 out of every 1,000 people will need these things adjusted.... I'll be that one. Guaranteed! haha
Thanks for the info. Thats enough for me to be 100% sure I don't want to mess with it until after the nats.

The unlocking and locking wouldn't hurt you at the track. That is just for cruising. I'd say the POSSIBLE risks don't out weight the rewards. You're car will perform much better with the converter installed.

[c5z28]

You don't NEED a tune. I drove my car for a while with my converter and headers without a tune. I never had a problem. I put in the cam and had it tuned.

Some people do fine with the slp maf-if it works great, forced induction though on a stock tranny no tune

[Frost]

Nope, I got an email from Dave at Yank yesterday. My converter is shipping Monday. It won't get here until late this coming week, and with the Pontiac Nats the following weekend, I'd be too scared to put in the converter with only a week to get it back together and sorted out. I'll wait until after the Pontiac Nats to put it in.

I've also been in contact with STS about a meth kit. They have meth kits and boost controllers avaliable. I'll be ordering that next week too.
My plan is 5 PSI without the meth turned on, and 8-9 PSI when the meth is turned on.

Do NOT buy that STS meth kit... It is the bottom of the barrel as far as meth kits go with the most premium price tag. Look at something nice (it HAS to be reliable or it is useless) like the Alkycontrol kit. They are not a sponsor so I can't straight link them, but Google is your friend

[rick67]

The unlocking and locking wouldn't hurt you at the track. That is just for cruising. I'd say the POSSIBLE risks don't out weight the rewards. You're car will perform much better with the converter installed.

I appreciate your input, but have to respectfully disagree.....
The only possible reward is a quicker ET throughout the Pontiac Nats
But there are many risks, all of which could end up with me cussing my car out all weekend and wishing I wouldn't have messed with it.
It's a whole weekend of racing all day, partying all night... and the car runs great now, it's just slower than it should be. I don't want any worries.
I'm a patient guy. As much as I want to shave a second or so off my ET, I'm in no hurry to do it. I can wait a few more weeks.



Steve, thanks for the heads up on the STS meth kit. I've been going back and forth with their tech people for the last few days. I can't get them to give me any detailed info on the meth kit though (except price). Maybe now I see why. I'll look at "Alkycontrol". Thanks!

[98Camarod]

Do NOT buy that STS meth kit... It is the bottom of the barrel as far as meth kits go with the most premium price tag. Look at something nice (it HAS to be reliable or it is useless) like the Alkycontrol kit. They are not a sponsor so I can't straight link them, but Google is your friend

You side stepped the converter talk Steve, any input for these guys? I agree about the Alkycontrol kit, that's my next purchase for the motor.

[98Camarod]

I appreciate your input, but have to respectfully disagree.....
The only possible reward is a quicker ET throughout the Pontiac Nats
But there are many risks, all of which could end up with me cussing my car out all weekend and wishing I wouldn't have messed with it.
It's a whole weekend of racing all day, partying all night... and the car runs great now, it's just slower than it should be. I don't want any worries.
I'm a patient guy. As much as I want to shave a second or so off my ET, I'm in no hurry to do it. I can wait a few more weeks.



Steve, thanks for the heads up on the STS meth kit. I've been going back and forth with their tech people for the last few days. I can't get them to give me any detailed info on the meth kit though (except price). Maybe now I see why. I'll look at "Alkycontrol". Thanks!

That is your choice to do so. I'm just saying what I would do if I were you.

[rick67]

That is your choice to do so. I'm just saying what I would do if I were you.

Understood, and I appreciate your opinions! I'm learning something new everyday with this car and loving every minute of it.

I was in contact with Julio at alkycontrol today. He had all the right answers. I'll be ordering his kit tomorrow.

Next (and last??) things on the platter are :

- AFR gauge (with an output avaliable to shut down my boost via boost controller if I go lean for any reason) This will be in tandem with the safeties in place from the meth kit. (never too safe right?)

- Boost controller (has to be able to accept the signal from the AFR gauge and meth kit and drop my boost to 4-5 psi if I have any meth issues or a lean condition)

Any recomendations on either of these 2 items from anyone??
Thanks again for everyone's insight!

[98Camarod]

Understood, and I appreciate your opinions! I'm learning something new everyday with this car and loving every minute of it.

I was in contact with Julio at alkycontrol today. He had all the right answers. I'll be ordering his kit tomorrow.

Next (and last??) things on the platter are :

- AFR gauge (with an output avaliable to shut down my boost via boost controller if I go lean for any reason) This will be in tandem with the safeties in place from the meth kit. (never too safe right?)

- Boost controller (has to be able to accept the signal from the AFR gauge and meth kit and drop my boost to 4-5 psi if I have any meth issues or a lean condition)

Any recomendations on either of these 2 items from anyone??
Thanks again for everyone's insight!

I run the AEM Uego and eboost2. I like them both and haven't had any problems with either. The eboost2 has soooooo many settings it's just crazy.

For the the safety features your looking for I have no clue if they are able to do that or not. If you are running meth, the tune should take care of your safety part. Unless you plan on not running the meth all the time then you are going to need two tunes so that you can load the other. But you also have to think, if you hit the rev limiter while you are going down the track, the gauge reads lean, but it's for a reason.

[rick67]

I looked up the EBoost2... expensive! I don't want to cheap out on anything where I shouldn't, but I also don't want to spend more than I need to.... In the last 3-4 weeks I've bought the yank converter, a WS6 hood, drag radials, tomorrow the meth kit, and now these last 2 things.... it's starting to add up! haha

I think all I need is a boost controller that has 2 settings... high and low.
It defaults to low (5PSI), and if I send it 12V's it goes to high boost (9PSI).
Don't they make something like that?
I found these on ebay:
TurboXS MBC DSBC Universal Dual Stage Boost Controller
Seems like all I need?

Now the wideband... I assumed the fancy ones have an alarm output. After some research it doesn't seem that they do though. They all have analog outputs.
I thought they might come with a 12V alarm output I could run to a relay (connect in line with my "high boost" toggle switch, and also inline with the meth kits "enable" circuit) So if the toggle switch was ON, the afr was good, and the meth kit was okay, I would enable the boost controller to go to high boost. If any of the 3 items are "off", it would go back to the default 5PSI.
Make any sense?

[98Camarod]

I got my eboost2 used along with my wideband. I waited until someone was selling theirs and hopped on it. The wideband was 120 shipped and the eboost2 was 250 shipped. I wouldn't buy a cheap ebay boost controller. The controller and WB are something you don't want to skimp on. If I were you, since you say you are patient, just wait to buy these things used and save some money and get better quality equipment.

[Frost]

You side stepped the converter talk Steve, any input for these guys? I agree about the Alkycontrol kit, that's my next purchase for the motor.

You want it loose enough to foot brake into boost on the line but tight enough to keep flash to 5K with that turbo setup. I would think that would mean something like a 4K stall to be able to 'get it up' in first. The extra boost and methanol with retuning is an excellent idea. The meth is good stuff!

I looked up the EBoost2... expensive! I don't want to cheap out on anything where I shouldn't, but I also don't want to spend more than I need to.... In the last 3-4 weeks I've bought the yank converter, a WS6 hood, drag radials, tomorrow the meth kit, and now these last 2 things.... it's starting to add up! haha

I think all I need is a boost controller that has 2 settings... high and low.
It defaults to low (5PSI), and if I send it 12V's it goes to high boost (9PSI).
Don't they make something like that?
I found these on ebay:
TurboXS MBC DSBC Universal Dual Stage Boost Controller
Seems like all I need?

Now the wideband... I assumed the fancy ones have an alarm output. After some research it doesn't seem that they do though. They all have analog outputs.
I thought they might come with a 12V alarm output I could run to a relay (connect in line with my "high boost" toggle switch, and also inline with the meth kits "enable" circuit) So if the toggle switch was ON, the afr was good, and the meth kit was okay, I would enable the boost controller to go to high boost. If any of the 3 items are "off", it would go back to the default 5PSI.
Make any sense?

Don't over complicate it. Meth kits get a bad rap because there are a lot of crappy ones.

For a very affordable boost solution, the manual controllers are nice with some help. What sucks, is having to adjust them back and forth. You can run a low setting being just your spring and adjust an MBC to your second desired point. Once you have the second point setup, you can run a switch to a small solenoid to move the car over to the second setpoint. You get electrical control and you get the best of the MBC because you only ever have to adjust it one time. Some of them are very sensitive but at least they are consistent. Basically you run the boost controller fed from a tee. The bottom of the tee is the manifold vacuum. One side feeds the controller and the other feeds a small 12v solenoid. The output of the solenoid and the output of the MBC meet back at a another tee, the bottom of the tee feeds the gate.

[TOMASINO]

Some people do fine with the slp maf-if it works great, forced induction though on a stock tranny no tune

not really i had one before it worked for like 4 months, after my car was running too lean!! i just clean the shit out of my stock and it worked better..