RWD Torque Converter Options

[91FWDSM]

I'm looking to use the Buschur Racing Flywheel and GM bell housing adapter Mated to a TH350 Transmission. This is a fairly straight forward process, I've done my research. The question I do have is in regards to the torque converter. This isn't going to be a track car, mostly just a weekend street/occasional track day car. It's a 91 Eagle Talon TSi FWD currently.

So...
1. What are my options for torque converter?
2. Buschur makes one I am aware. Price is a bit steep.
3. I'm not looking to hear responses about how great of a product Buschur makes and its worth the money. I'm sure it is. But i'm looking for a more cost effective solution.

I thank you for your input in advance

 

[gabytech]

Im doing a RWD conversion myself, although Im going with a 5spd manual trans... I think you asking the wrong question at the wrong forum, since at this forum there arent many 4G63 RWD guys and 95% of the members in this forum are cheap ebay made in china diy NO-real automotive knowledge guys... Go to projectzerog.com, which is a 4G63 RWD forum...

 

[buhay6]

Im doing a RWD conversion myself, although Im going with a 5spd manual trans... I think you asking the wrong question at the wrong forum, since at this forum there arent many 4G63 RWD guys and 95% of the members in this forum are cheap ebay made in china diy NO-real automotive knowledge guys... Go to projectzerog.com, which is a 4G63 RWD forum...

wow your a dick...... I've seen very little ebay mods here actually (severely frowned upon!), and there's a lot of people here with automotive knowledge but how do you think they got that knowledge......by LEARNING!!!!!!!!!

 

[rcarbajal4]

I know that dsmparts.com also sells one, don't know what the price difference is, but hope that helps a bit.

 

[91FWDSM]

The one that dsmparts sells is actually the Buschur one. Same price btw. But thank you

And yeah i've been to projectzerog. But also no specific information there.
I suppose I will post on their forum as well.

I guess I should just order the flywheel and do my own investigation. Worst case is I do have to shell out $1400 for the torque converter. But as I said we all know it is a good product intended for the specific application.

Anyone with further information I will be eternally grateful

 

[bryanwheat]

See if you can get some specs from that torque converter than find a shop that builds custom converters to weld on a custom pilot and mounting pads. 1400 for a converter is outrageous. You should be able to get a full custom converter for 500 or less.

 

[91FWDSM]

Thanks Bryan. I agree that it is outrageous. I think I am going to just order the flywheel, and then try to engineer a converter. If only Buschur would give up the specs

A few years ago I spent $400 for my chevy small block converter for my rx-7 and felt that was steep.

 

[whe3ls]

you need the bills kit lets you use a sbc flexplate and tc. bottom of the page
http://www.billsautofab.com/recent_mit.asp

 

[91FWDSM]

Aha! Wheels I don't know how I overlooked that. Most people speak of Bill in reference to his T-56 bell housings. I don't know why I never even checked to see if he made anything for the automatics. This is a very promising lead.

 

[91stocker]

If your able to use a chevy trans converter then the options would be cheap and unlimited.

 

[91FWDSM]

Yeah that was exactly what I was looking for. I have A LOT of chevy parts. My other go-fast car is a 1987 Mazda RX-7 with a 355 chevy in it. Its strictly a track/show car.

As it was mentioned you can get a very nice built Chevy torque converter for much cheaper than the Buschur unit. Not to knock the Buschur converter. Its just very pricey.

So now to get in contact with Bill

 

[gabytech]

I wasnt trying to be a dick, but to each their own.. Just glaze thru this forum and you'll instanly get why I said 95% of the members on this forum are cheap ebay made in china parts ppl with no real automotive knowldege... BTW, Im a certified ASE automotive technician with over 10 years of experience, Mercedes Benz USA & McLaren certified tech with 9 years experience, sporstbike road racing team master mechanic, have wrench a few 10sec street cars, co-owned and raced a 9sec Rotary Toyota Starlet back in the 2000s, owned and raced a 12sec street Mirage back in the 2000s and currently building a RWD 2G race car. Im not a weekend car enthusiasm, fixing, building, and racing cars are my way of life and how I make money... In no way Im trying to be an asshole, Im just stating the obvious that most members knowledge is real basic and probably wont be of much help on this particular subject...

Like I always do when I need certain info or help in a particular performance subject, I call the pros who build the certain performance part and they'll guide me with my particular needs instead of relying in a forum who most members are relatively newbies in real high performance stuff...

 

[91FWDSM]

Yeah I'm in the process of getting in touch with Bill of BillsAutoFab for that adapter. I do agree that there are a lot of "general knowledge" users here. I myself am a certified tech who graduated from the University of Northwestern Ohio with a degree in high performance automotive engineering. I would have posted this in a senior member thread but am only a probationary member.

I wasn't relying on anyone here just curious as to if anyone had previous experience.

 

[gabytech]

I would gladly help you if I could, but eventhough I still have a lot to learn and Im not a bible. All of my previous builds have used manual transmissions and I really have no knowledge in using automatic trans...

Bill is a real knowledgable guy, I have one of his bellhousing for my current build..

91FWDSM, are you planning on having the project ready and race next years shootout ??? Im hoping to have my RWD project tuned and track tested before next years shootout and planning on racing it at the shootout...

 

[91FWDSM]

If everything pans out with my RWD ideas I will be there. If it doesn't, I will still be there with something. It will be my first appearance.

 

[oh-b-1g]

Not trying to knock your future set up, but I really am curious about why you would go to all the trouble to loose the awd if you are going to run it on the street? Jus curious.

 

[91FWDSM]

My car is currently FWD not AWD. Trust me I would be right there with you if I was AWD.

I love my car, I love my motor, I hate FWD

 

[buhay6]

I wasnt trying to be a dick, but to each their own.. Just glaze thru this forum and you'll instanly get why I said 95% of the members on this forum are cheap ebay made in china parts ppl with no real automotive knowldege... BTW, Im a certified ASE automotive technician with over 10 years of experience, Mercedes Benz USA & McLaren certified tech with 9 years experience, sporstbike road racing team master mechanic, have wrench a few 10sec street cars, co-owned and raced a 9sec Rotary Toyota Starlet back in the 2000s, owned and raced a 12sec street Mirage back in the 2000s and currently building a RWD 2G race car. Im not a weekend car enthusiasm, fixing, building, and racing cars are my way of life and how I make money... In no way Im trying to be an asshole, Im just stating the obvious that most members knowledge is real basic and probably wont be of much help on this particular subject...

Like I always do when I need certain info or help in a particular performance subject, I call the pros who build the certain performance part and they'll guide me with my particular needs instead of relying in a forum who most members are relatively newbies in real high performance stuff...

Ok I just took it the wrong way then, my apologies. How much did school cost you? you have my dream job......
By the way your knowledge would be valued on the forums here, there's a lot of the same old same old kinda stuff.

My car is currently FWD not AWD. Trust me I would be right there with you if I was awd.

I under stand why you wanna ditch the fwd, gets boring rather fast. Definitely approve of the RWD choice........most fun EVER!

 

[91FWDSM]

buhay6 were you asking about my school? If so it cost me around $35,000.

 

[buhay6]

holy crap!! I have to save up for awhile then, I never thought it'd cost that much I was expecting more around the 18-20k mark. Was getting job rather easy after or did it take a little while to find one?

I see you don't have I build thread, will you be starting one? I'd like to follow along, give me a little insight on doing a RWD swap if the urge takes me.

 

[91FWDSM]

Well the school I went to is one of a kind. It is a fully accredited university instead of just being a tech school. I left with a Associates in applied sciences. $35,000 dollars in loans, I sure as heck didn't have the cash

As soon as I gather all my parts you will see a build thread.

 

[gabytech]

I'm just 2 years shy of finishing my mechanical engineering degree which I droped out of college and went to a technical school and finished a technical degree in Fuel Injection Technology and a associate degree in Automotive Technology. Im considering finishing my mechanical engineering college degree as soon as I finish the race car, since Im to occupied in the current race car project, but still I have lots of experience in racing. I might not be even close to be a Brent Rau or a David Buschur, but with this race car I'll expand nationally who I am and what I do with the intend of opening my own performance shop in the near future... My Mirage was the first Mirage in Puerto Rico to run 12s with drag radials and NOT slicks, with a 1.8L SOHC engine with 100 direct port nitrous system back in 2004 to be exact, back when only a handful of streets cars where running 12s. The rotary Starlet was a OEM chassis with 10pt roll cage with small slicks and NO wheelie bars running high 9s back at 2004, which I did co-owned, put wrench time and race it in collaboration with a friend. At the sportsbike road racing team, Team 77, I was the master mechanic of the team, we won the 2006 Puerto Rico championship and raced from 2006-2012 at Florida which we won lots of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place at our 6 years racing journey at Florida. Ive been wrenching Mercedes Benz since late 2002 and ever since, and have rebuilt tons of high performance MB AMG's engines and McLaren... Still I don't know everything and every day I learn something new, but I can say I have a wide knowledge and experience fixing, modifying, and racing cars and sporstbikes...

What a lot of ppl dont get is not just what turbo, cams, injectors you bolt-in but how every aspect and component of a high performance car work in relation with each other and since every racing car is built differently depending on the specific goal or purpose, you really need to understand the technical aspect in how every component work by itself also... Its not just reading in a magazine someones setup and going and spend huge amount of money on a build an expect to run fast, or even worse been an cheap ebay made in china parts and expect to extract 500+hp out of the engine and run 10s. Thats just NOT how it is... For example, how do you select the best cam suited to your particular racing car whether it be a street, street/track, or track car when you cant even read a camshaft card or understand how a cam works, just cause someone runs a particular cam doesnt mean its the best cam for your particular needs... This is why I said most ppl here on tuners in reality don't know shi+ and have no real automotive knowledge. This is why so many ppl here rebuild their own engine and end up with catastrophic engine failure and blame certain brand name engine parts, when in reality it ends up been at fault the NO knowledge diy builder who thinks cause they can do their own engine oil change or brake job they can rebuild an engine without knowing or understanding what specs and tolerance are... DSMTuners is one of the best DSM forum to date, but its infected with diy builders who dont even know how an engine works...

I have a build thread here on DSMtuners, just havent post any pics since Im still in the buying parts phase, but I estimate the car will go under the knife at December to bolt the engine/trans, roll cage, and rear end. I have most of the parts needed for the conversion and a few more other parts already from the previous GST project, but I still need to buy the rear drag radials and the transmission before going in for surgery... Im going hard 200% full time with the project and hope to have it tuned and track tested by May to hopefully make the trip to next years Shootout... The goal with this project is to break the DSM drag radial 8sec barrier and then keep going further after the 7sec barrier...

SORRY FOR THE LONG POST...

 

[buhay6]

Well the school I went to is one of a kind. It is a fully accredited university instead of just being a tech school. I left with a Associates in applied sciences. $35,000 dollars in loans, I sure as heck didn't have the cash

As soon as I gather all my parts you will see a build thread.

Lol I hate taking out loans, owing money isn't make cup of tea. If I didn't buy a new car I'd probably have my talon built and be almost ready for school but hey people make mistakes. I'd prefer to to avoid tech school as well and go through uni instead, I'd probably move states side to go to school seeing as living its significantly cheaper along with many other things.
But very much so looking forward to your build thread.....so hurry up!!!! jk

 

[91FWDSM]

Student loans are the only loans I have. If I can't pay for it with cash I don't buy it. School was something I knew up front I was gonna have to get a loan for. I'm hoping to be mounting my motor and trans in October. I'm going to be having a few friends help with the 4 link set-up, I have mounted rear ends before in offroad applications that got driven down the freeway as well, but this car obviously will see good amounts of speed so I'm just gonna get a few extra brains around

 

[Rick539]

Hey did you ever get up with billsautofab? We were using a Ken's Kustom, but they last less than 20 runs and then the holes round out. We are going to try ourselves to make one of hard steel and then get it heat harden more. Kind of wondering how Bill's was.