I finally got around to installing my new transmission with all the goodies, full billet internals t-brake deep pan etc etc and 10" 2800rpm n/l ptc converter. Fortunately the transmission comes out pretty quickly on these cars, I had a lift to use which made the process even easier. First of all, after reading tons of horror stories of people not seating converters fully and then breaking bellhousings, pumps and all sorts of other stuff when trying to bolt the transmission up I was pretty nervous installing the converter having never done one before. It went all the way on first try no problem at all, everything else was basically just reversing the removal procedure.
I'd never driven any car with anything other than a stock converter so I had no frame of reference other than the stocker in these cars. The car definately requires a little more throttle to get moving and obviously cruises at a higher rpm. You can feel the gear change but it doesn't change engine rpm very much when just cruising around town at light throttle. I haven't had the car WOT yet as I'm still taking it easy on the new trans but the turbo definately spools up more quickly and the engine revs up faster as well, both of which are obviously desireable traits. I haven't let it go yet but the boost comes up real fast on the transbrake. The boost rises high/fast enough that it seems like there's no limit to how much boost I could leave with providing the ground will hold it
I still need to tweak the tv cable slightly as the shifts seem a little bit on the early side, but everything seems pretty well. I feel that with this particular ball bearing turbo you could go a bit tighter on the converter, like something between this 2800 and whatever the stock d5 stalls at but this converter isn't a bad choice at all.
Once I get a few more miles under this trans, I'm going to put it to the real test, and show a friend with a z06 what a six cylinder buick can do.
I'd never driven any car with anything other than a stock converter so I had no frame of reference other than the stocker in these cars. The car definately requires a little more throttle to get moving and obviously cruises at a higher rpm. You can feel the gear change but it doesn't change engine rpm very much when just cruising around town at light throttle. I haven't had the car WOT yet as I'm still taking it easy on the new trans but the turbo definately spools up more quickly and the engine revs up faster as well, both of which are obviously desireable traits. I haven't let it go yet but the boost comes up real fast on the transbrake. The boost rises high/fast enough that it seems like there's no limit to how much boost I could leave with providing the ground will hold it
I still need to tweak the tv cable slightly as the shifts seem a little bit on the early side, but everything seems pretty well. I feel that with this particular ball bearing turbo you could go a bit tighter on the converter, like something between this 2800 and whatever the stock d5 stalls at but this converter isn't a bad choice at all.
Once I get a few more miles under this trans, I'm going to put it to the real test, and show a friend with a z06 what a six cylinder buick can do
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