[cpetrice]

I was running a 350(approximatly 300hp),with th350,B+m shift kit stage 3,stock converter,and 3.73's. When the car shifted from first to second,the car jerked sideways almost,tires chirped,car shook,and hang on! I changed to a 455,same tranny,B+M holeshot 3k stall,same shift kit,same rear end. Now,you can't even tell when the car shifts. it is all smooth,but you better still hang on! I agree with brian,the looser stall,will definatly change the way the tranny works.

[b-man]

HyperGoat, the 'slushy' feeling trans won't change even after installing a hard-shifting valvebody in the trans. It is just the nature of a high-stall converter, it just doesn't 'hook up' the engine to the trans like the stock low-stall converter did. Even though your car won't chirp the gears like it would with a stock converter you will gain a big performance boost with a high-stall converter.

As far as gearing is concerned, I think that a 4.10 gear will be a bit much for a 455 with a 27 to 28 inch tire (I have set of 275/60s and they are 27.25" tall). I run a set of 28" slicks with a 3.89 geared Ford 9" in my 455 bracket car, it shifts at 5200 and sees 5700-5800 at the end of the track at 110 mph (best run 12.055@110.29). I run a decent hydraulic cam (244/252@.050, .550/.554" w/1.65 rockers) and a set of '71 455HO heads with a minor port clean-up. I think my car would ET just as good and mph better with a 3.73 gear, it is pretty tapped-out on the big end with the 3.89s.

I have friend with a mid-ten second 455-powered '68 Firebird. He runs a set of 280 cfm #16 D-ports, a 271/279@.050, .556" lift solid cam along with a Victor/1050 Dominator. He runs a 4.10 geared 12-bolt and 29.5X10.5 slicks, a fairly tall tire and much taller than your current 275/60-15 BFGs. 455 engines like tall gears, I would say 3.55s or 3.73s at the most would be perfect for your combo. Good luck!

[TTS]

Sounds normal. In one of your posts, you wrote that it felt like it pulled off in 3rd when in Drive. Does it feel any different when you pull off in Low(1)?

[Half-Inch Stud]

Brian,

Go ahead and advance you 455crank to 30+initial and drive around. 40+ initial advance really makes the point. No torque, yet idles silent and assuredly. Run a bit warmer under load eh.
Rod bearings; who needs em.

Hey, you'd never do that, but there's always one fella each year that does it and goes Hmmmmm.

H.I.

[Brian Baker]

But how does that cause the condition in the transmission we're talking about here?

[HyperGoat]

Originally posted by TTS:
Sounds normal. In one of your posts, you wrote that it felt like it pulled off in 3rd when in Drive. Does it feel any different when you pull off in Low(1)?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">TTS, not really. When I just got it back and started in drive I couldn't feel nor hear any shifting. I'm happy you guys are telling me this is normal because of the stall on the Converter. I knida miss those "throw you sideways" shifts into 2nd. lol

[Half-Inch Stud]

Brian, the slushy feel could have been misconstrued for a genuine loss of engine torque.

Butt, in this case, I agree that the driver observation is indeed due to the converter personality, changing the nature of the ride.

I would check 60foot and ET&MPH to see that each one got better. I suspect the MPH may have gotten dinged.

H.I.

[HyperGoat]

HI, I've never taken it to the track yet until I get a few things done. So I can't help out with 1/4 mile timeslips. Sorry.