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TCI Saturday Night Special HP and Torque capacity

2K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  1972Mach1 
#1 ·
Hello, I've been building the 552 for my 72 Mach 1 (see the build under the Car Buildup section if interested) for the last couple of years and it's now time to put it all in. My question is-I have a TCI Saturday Night Special converter from my previous set-up that I'd like to use in my C-6, and I'm just wondering if it's up to the task. The engine will hopefully be about a horse per cube, and I'm hoping for 550-600 ft.-lbs at the crank. I like the fact that this is an 1800 stall speed, because this will be a 95% street car. I'll be switching to 3.25 or 3.50 rearend, and the car is all steel with stock full interior (probably going to be 3500 lbs or so). Is this converter going to live, or do I need to just step up and pay for a custom smaller (10 or 9 inch) converter to be made? Thanks for your time and help.

Lucas
 
#2 ·
Up to the Task

Hello Lucas, I am sure there are guys on here that can answer your question about the Stall you will need. I can tell you that it depends on the Duration of your cam @ .050 and the weight of the car and the condition of your brakes and a few more things. Stall really isn't what you are looking for but how much slippage if you want to use that word before the car tries to start moving.

I have a 1973 Mach 1 with a 460 and I have weighed it. With Iron heads, Iron Water Pump, Long Tube Headers, Full Exhaust Pipes to the rear of the car, a C-6 Trans, an Aluminum Intake, with at least a half tank of gas and me in the car it weighed over 4,000 lbs. The weight on just the Front wheels was over 2,200 lbs. This weight was taken at the Drag Strip with 15 x 3.5 Welds on the front and 15 x 8.5s on the back.

If you have a cam of more than 230 Duration @ .050 I would think the 1,800 stall you have might be a problem. Low 220s and low 230s need about 2500 and if you are in the 218s or so you might be ok with the 1800 you have. The cam books recommend 3000 plus if you are in the 238 240s range but again, a lot of this depends on the weight of the car, gear size, tire size, how good the brakes are and other factors.

If you want to post the cam specs I will be happy to take a look and make a suggestion. I had a .605 lift with 248 duration @ .050 in my 73 street Mach 1 for 20 plus years and it worked great with a 10" TCI Super Street Fighter that was rated at, 2800 to 3200.

I could drive anywhere, sit at stop lights, go to the Drag Strip for a run. It would work great.
Hope this helps some. Mike. mikesspeedparts@aol.com
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply, Mike. My cam is a custom hydraulic flat tappet from Scotty. It has 241 Int and 248 Ex at .050. I know that the stall speed on most converters is rated for a mild small block (350 hp or so from what I'm told). I'm figuring this will probably stall at 22-2300 behind this engine, unless I'm wrong. Behind my Cleveland, with a 280 off the shelf Comp cam, it was right around 2-2100 where it would "flash". I was hoping maybe with as much low end torque as this engine will make, the stall speed would be ok. Let me know what you think, your input is much appreciated. Thanks,

Lucas
 
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