[71 T/A]

Originally Posted by 72LuxuryLeMansLa.

I got that....It was just his entire post is saying Continental sent him a POS and in the last sentence he says " I'm not saying that Continental converters aren't good units but for a street car, you do have other options." In my world POS means it isn't a good unit!

What I meant is the one I had was crap, but I needed a converter to replace it so tried the B&M based on a friend's recommendation and have really liked it.

[Cliff R]

We have tested quite a few 10" converters from other vendors, Coan, TCI, and Hugh's. NONE of them will hold a 455 below 3200 hit with full power, and actually the "shelf" versions are quite "loose" for flash stall. You have to specifically ask the manufacturer to tighten them up to get down to 3200rpms or so stall. The Hughs 10" for example, went to nearly 4500rpm's behind a stout 455, then down around 3200-3300rpm's after it was sent back to "make it as tight as possible".

With that said, I'm not sure how B & M can build a 10" unit that will hold a stout 455 at 2500rpm when hit with full power and traction. That is certainly a tall order for a 10" converter when it comes to this topic......Cliff

[Tim Corcoran]

Since you said your car will be a cruiser I would leave the rear gears in place, and go with a Continental 13" converter with no more than 2500 RPM stall max. You have plenty of torque to move the car and a nice flat torque curve. Leave the gears, don't go with big stall and you will love the car on the street. Too much stall and you will just smoke the tires too much and be driving around "on the converter".

[71 T/A]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

We have tested quite a few 10" converters from other vendors, Coan, TCI, and Hugh's. NONE of them will hold a 455 below 3200 hit with full power, and actually the "shelf" versions are quite "loose" for flash stall. You have to specifically ask the manufacturer to tighten them up to get down to 3200rpms or so stall. The Hughs 10" for example, went to nearly 4500rpm's behind a stout 455, then down around 3200-3300rpm's after it was sent back to "make it as tight as possible".

With that said, I'm not sure how B & M can build a 10" unit that will hold a stout 455 at 2500rpm when hit with full power and traction. That is certainly a tall order for a 10" converter when it comes to this topic......Cliff

Ask Pontiac Dude how well they work. It's only the B&M 20480 that works that well. Their other converters are way too loose as you say. Hughes doesn't have a 10" 2500 stall converter. I'm not the only Pontiac guy in my area that uses and likes it. Just spoke to yet another guy who's running a big HR cam, comparable to an Old Faithful in a 455 and loves that converter. Try one, Cliff.

[MD79TA]

Just so everyone knows you can not buy or have continental make you a 13 inch converter unless you have three decent cores of the right type . This is from continental Doug

[b-man]

Originally Posted by MD79TA

Just so everyone knows you can not buy or have continental make you a 13 inch converter unless you have three decent cores of the right type . This is from continental Doug

Sorry to hear that. Finding 3 cores might not be all that difficult, but shipping all 3 to CA to have them build would be expensive.

Curious, was the core you had pictured previously the correct type for them to use?

[MD79TA]

It does look like it but as Peter from continental told me they did not come stock green so there is a chance someone has screwed around with this one. They will not know until he opens it up and looks but I would think at that point I'm sunk with that if it not rebuildable . So my thinking as of now and I ran it by a few guys on pm is just go with that one and see what happens. Worst case is I drop the trany out and start over . I never imagine the problem with selecting the right one but I do appreciate at all of the help and input i have gotten . If Any one has different ideas shoot away trann y will be back next week and I'm staying with the 2.93 rearend gears doug

[b-man]

I have a stock converter painted that same green metallic that came with my '64 LeMans convertible, connecting the original 326 to a 2-speed ST-300. Probably a commonly used paint by transmission/converter rebuilders.



Here's the 13" Continental I need to send back to them for a checkup, ran it for 30K miles behind my old daily-driver 455. I bought it back in 1999 if I'm not mistaken. Perhaps these pics will help you to ID the 13" core you need.

[Michael G]

I have owned and driven 3 different Continental converters designed for the Pontiac torque requirements. I started with the 13" unit 15 years ago behind a mild 455 build and it didn't take long before I got bored with it's 2400 rpm stall and purchased their tight 10" Pontiac special unit that I still use today and couldn't be happier with.
It stalls to around 2800 rpm at the track for very consistent and controlled launches giving me 1.66 60's and drives like a stock converter on the street.
I just recently gave their slightly looser 10" Pontiac unit I had from another car a try. Couldn't tell the difference on the street. At the track it stalled to around 3200 rpm and kept blowing the tire off. Besides not needing the extra 60' potential, I knew my wife wouldn't be comfortable bracket racing with that converter so I pulled it.
My point is, by you looking at taking it to track once a year and being open to changing the cam and rear gear ratio tells me that you wont be happy with the lower stall unit very long.
Call Continental and order the tight 10" Pontiac special and you'll have great all around converter that will last you a long time thru many different combinations.

[MD79TA]

B-man I sent pictures to Peter and he said stock converter did not come green but now I wonder? He wanted me to send it to him and he would open and check it out, not sure I want to do that. Doug

[b-man]

Originally Posted by MD79TA

B-man I sent pictures to Peter and he said stock converter did not come green but now I wonder? He wanted me to send it to him and he would open and check it out, not sure I want to do that. Doug

At this point I would say just save yourself any added hassle or expense and just get a nice tight 10" converter made up for your combo.

As I previously posted, Kris made 10" unit for me when I had planned to run a 400 engine with 2.93 gears and a moderate street cam, the Crower 60916.

Get the 10" one, you won't regret it.

The 13" converter pictured above was first spec'd out by Kris for an 8.2:1 455 (462) with the 068 cam and 2.56 gears. That particular combo didn't perform as well after swapping the 2.56 gears for 2.93s. I will be using it again after a refresh behind a similar combo, a 9:1 421 (430) with the 068 cam and 2.56 gears.

The 13" converter makes the most sense for the milder large street engines with very tall gears, the 10" version will be great behind your 400 with 2.93 gearing.

[rohrt]

Head up to the OP, the tight 10" is north or $680 now. The cores keep getting harder to come by. Glad I have mine before it gets worse. Now I just need to install it.

[MD79TA]

Guys I have no problem with buying the 10 but I am told by continental that it will not work with weight, gears and a lot of highway driving. That where the 13 come into play but they don't make it anymore. My dyno sheet is posted along with the cam so if someone an tell me that they had similar number and the tight 10 worked I'd buy it. It might see the track once or twice at most a year Doug

[MD79TA]

Also could someone tell that the color green came on some stock converters?

[b-man]

Originally Posted by MD79TA

Guys I have no problem with buying the 10 but I am told by continental that it will not work with weight, gears and a lot of highway driving. That where the 13 come into play but they don't make it anymore. My dyno sheet is posted along with the cam so if someone an tell me that they had similar number and the tight 10 worked I'd buy it. It might see the track once or twice at most a year Doug

Perhaps the Hughes GM25 would be a good option at this point, a lot of guys use them and report they're very happy with them. Pretty sure that one is a 13" unit.

GM25BPO
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hu...-bpo/overview/

GM25BPOHD
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hu...pohd/overview/

[ta man]

Originally Posted by MD79TA

Guys I have no problem with buying the 10 but I am told by continental that it will not work with weight, gears and a lot of highway driving. That where the 13 come into play but they don't make it anymore. My dyno sheet is posted along with the cam so if someone an tell me that they had similar number and the tight 10 worked I'd buy it. It might see the track once or twice at most a year Doug

My weight is 3900 lbs with me in it,3.08 gears 28 inch tall tire..works great on the highway..60mph plus..this is with a 3200 10inch.I drive it 100 miles one way to the track and back,also do a lot of slow town cruising when not at the track...zero issues...This is with a 525/540hp 580ft/lb 455...I'm positive this same convertor would work great in your combo.

[goatless]

Originally Posted by b-man

Perhaps the Hughes GM25 would be a good option at this point, a lot of guys use them and report they're very happy with them. Pretty sure that one is a 13" unit.

GM25BPO
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hu...-bpo/overview/

GM25BPOHD
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hu...pohd/overview/

I've had good luck with the Hughes units- despite what Cliff says about them.
I ran the the GM25BPO for several years in my Lemans with anywhere from 2.56 to 3.55 rear gears. To me it felt like a stock unit on the street. With a mild 455 and 3.08 rear it ran 13.1s in my 4100lb. Lemans 'vert.

Car now has the Hughes GM30 in it and very happy with that one as well. With a bit more power and 3.73s car is now a consistent mid 12 second ride.

[Cliff R]

I did say the Hughs BOP unit was OK, but it's not on par with the 13" Continental unit anyplace. The one we tested was the BOP "25", not the 30 BTW.

It's nice when I actually get a chance to test parts, because until we had one in here and got to thrash on it some, all I had to go on was the info folks posted about them.

If a guy is just building a "driver", and wants a stock type large diameter converter that's a little "looser" everyplace than a stock unit, by all means, get the Hugh's BOP unit. Unless you've got 3.08 or taller gearing, I would NOT recommend the Continental 10" unit, it's just not the right converter for those applications.....IMHO.

It's really a shame Continental no longer offers the 13" units. They were like the L-88 GM units on steroids, and had anti-ballooning plates in them as well. Kris loved the 13" units, and working with that much housing he could really move a lot of fluid and get them to lock up nearly solid above the stall speed. It just took too many full size units to get all the parts needed to build one, and they ran out of good cores. With the cost of scrap/cores, and the fact that they haven't made those converters for decades, they just ran out of the parts needed to build them.....Cliff

[grivera]

I have a 10" B&M converter I removed from the bird, sitting in my garage. What's a core like this worth?