Hot Rods Should have gone with a stall converter ?

I think I messed up. SBC 350 CI 290 hp mild cam .Very light car ,model A coupe. Didn't think I would have a problem with a stock converter , 350 T/H. I have the motor running great ,idles down,but wants to creep at the stop lights, need to kick it in neutral or it lurches forward. ideas??
Gene

 

What size camshaft?

 

Not the converter, suspect brakes are not working correctly...also assuming it's idling at 700/800 RPM. Heck, even if a choke is stuck and your at 12/1300 rpms, shouldn't be too much effort to hold the car.

 

I have a Model A that had a 283 turbo 350

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It had a Pontiac rear end with some tall gears and it did the same thing

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A higher than stock stall speed will help. Also, careful tuning of the idle adjusment, so you can get it to idle down to 500-600 rpm, would help.

 

I have the same issue with my T. Seems to want to pull at an idle, and almost stalls at stop signs...

 

I'm in the same boat, although I thought I had it covered with a 2000 stall out of my buddy's 56 chevy with a big block, my T weighs 1840 lbs, won't idle under a grand because of the solid lifter cam, 4 wheel drum brakes. I need more converter !

 

Just talking to my son about his OT truck. All stock k10 400 ci. th400. Idles about 800 and really wants to crawl through stops. We are getting ready to pull the engine for rebuild and are discussing a stall converter. Should'nt the 400 trans stop pulling at that rpm?

 

Just me but, I wouldn't build a hotrod model A or such thing without a stick shift. Run any cam you want then. Other than that maybe a 3500 stall would work. JMO. Lippy

 

Most vehicles I've had were manual trans. That's why I don't know shit about stall converters. Someone please school us on this.

 

Que a pedantic rant:

All torque converters are "stall converters". Every single one of them.

If you are seeking a torque converter with a higher than stock stall speed, the term is high-stall torque converter.

 

Gimpy, what does pedantic mean? Lippy

 

Yes. Brakes are bad ..or tach is bad.

 

ped·ant
/ˈpednt/
noun

1. a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning

pe·dan·tic
/pəˈdan(t)ik/
adjective

1. of or like a pedant.
   "many of the essays are long, dense, and too pedantic to hold great appeal"

 

Ahhh, I think my brother called me that once. Can't remember I was young. Lippy

 

I agree with the brakes. Stall converter coupled with a "big cam" and low gears are for allowing the engine to come up in the rpm range where that particular set up will make power. Am i wrong about that? Depending on the rear gears you're running, you might be getting more mechanical advantage than your brakes can hold.

 

So, on a high stall torque converter, it'll lock up at the set rpm but does it kick out at that same rpm when slowing down? What rpm would a factory installed converter be,1000? Could it be that my converter is not working properly? Or is the trans being a little funky.

 

On my kids truck you don't have to give it any throttle. Let off the brakes and your moving.

 

Just worded wrong..Should read:
Converter stall, coupled with a "big cam" and low gears are for allowing the engine to come up in the rpm range where that particular set up will make power.

 

You're thinking of converter stall speed acting like a manual clutch. Not how they work.. Rated stall is the maximum RPM you can achieve with the brakes locked and full throttle. A converter will work below that number..Both going up and coming down. Stock 350 converter , behind a V8 will be about 1500.
"Bad" converters don't get tighter , but they will get looser. Same with the trans.

 

Built a 350 for a guys t-bucket, he had to have a thumper cam in it. I put a 3500 stall convertor and it still had a hard time idling in gear idling at 1100. Problem is the light car.

 

Normal. Does it have vacuum PB , or hydra boost?

 

I would say the converter builder didn't catch the light car business.

 

I know your car is pretty light. I said a 3500 convertor but you may be able to use a 2-3,000 convertor since you can make it idle down decently. And a loose convertor will build more heat so you need a good cooler. If you wanted to spend the money you could run a higher stall convertor that was a lock-up just more expensive. Pick a convertor company and call them see what they recommend. They can help. Lippy

 

Thanks Mark I are not good with getting the words out of me head

 

Kids truck is rust free, bone stock creampuff we got outta Arizona last winter. It has vacuum assist power brakes. Its a half ton shortbed 4x4. Being a 1976 truck it has the full time transfercase. I'm terribly sorry for being off topic on the vehicle so lets get back to converters. Thank you Mark for that input. I thought that the high stall meant that it would not engage until it got to that rpm. Never did make sense to me.

 

Well...higher that stock would be correct, wouldn't it?

So OP posted 290HP engine-this seems like a crate motor to me, then adds a cam to it.

Regardless, if I had a 11-1 engine, 500 HP, why would I need a stall converter to idle correctly and not creep at a stop?

 

hey Lloyd, I get that way when there is a bunch of crunched up Miller Lite cans at my feet too.

 

What's worng with kick'in it outta gear at a light?! I do that with my 5 speed!!
Play with the timing....then the carb.
The goal is to not expose too much of the transfer slots in the carb. Do that by......keeping the butterflies closed as much as the engine can stand.
Try this........increase the initial timing as much as you can and still be able to crank it when its hot. Increasing the timing will naturally speed up the idle.........OK Now.......turn down the curb idle to 700-750RPM. IF that don't work better brakes or..... a smaller converter... is prolly the answer. (See how I avoided that 'stall -high stall-' perturbation)!!
6sally6