anybody know what the recommended torque converter stall is or should be for a daily driven zz502 crate in a chevelle

11" will be very driveable.
10" will be real racey.
Whatever you do, spend some good $$$.
ASFAIK, you get what you pay for when you buy the cheap stuff.
Ron

I have a Yank 3800SS converter and it drives as good as the stock GM converter I had but look out when you stomp on it! Seriously, I would recommend it for sure for a daily driver.
http://www.converter.cc

Lee

I can't tell any difference between the 11" B&M I had and my current 10" ATI, cept the ATI flashes a bit higher. Both are very streetable.

thanks for the knowledge

If it's a stock ZZ502, I can tell you to go relatively conservative. I sold my old Camaro to a buddy. I had a custom 10" built that was perfect for my 427 and stalled at 3600 and flashed 3900 or so. He stuck in a ZZ502 and it is way too much converter for it. It's at 5500 rpm instantly due to the increased low end TQ and at that RPM you're done. That motor hates rpm out of the box. Feels like a pig..just on the converter all the time..never seems to pull. I think a tighter one on the 2200-2600 range would be just perfect for the stock cam.

JIM

540hotrod - When our two cars were dead stock 502's when we put a Yank 4000 in the camaro and it picked up over .5 and several MPH over a the stock HD GM converter! The chevelle picked up a little less but was still a big improvement.

Lee

Well, I gotta defer to your experience..I don't have any track times to compare with. But with the rpm range of the ZZ502 and his desire to have it as a daily driver, I gotta figure a 4000 stall converter is not what he wants. I can see where having it on slicks and doing primariy strip work it would be great..maybe.....that would put it somewhere around peak TQ. But a motor that is done by 5500 rpm doesn't leave much to play with if it launches above 4000...just feels like it's on the converter the whole time. Great at the track....feels sloppy on the street to me. I know the pump gas iron oval port 427 that was in the car prior would flat spank the ZZ502 in stock form. The ZZ502 can obviously run well, just needs to be set up differently to accomodate the lower rpm range and capitalize on it. A cam change and some head work and intake/carb stuff makes it a whole 'nuther animal.

Must be why I run sticks these days huh? :)


JIM

I have to agree with you Jim, the ZZ502 is very RPM limited with the stock valvetrain or even with a slightly larger hydraulic roller. There are several around here and none are very fast. One guy had a cammed up one in a truck that had a lot of nitrous and ran pretty good but the rest are dogs. I would think that a motor that runs out of steam at 5500 RPM doesn't need a real high stall converter. About 500 over stock would be fine, and much improved gas mileage also. If you put in a 7000 RPM valvetrain then the whole picture changes.

Our cars are street driven daily! I guess if you by a cheap $300 converter it would be a dog but buy a great converter like the Yank and you can have the best of both worlds. In fact both the PY4000 and the SS3800 drive on the steet better then the HD GM converter that came with the trans. Both cars will idle up hill and drive like there is no high stall converter until you stomp down on it. I've never had anything but a Yank in all my cars so I dont have first hand experiance with cheap converters. I guarantee if he puts in a Yank converter he will be extrememly happy. These have a very high STR that makes them feel tight when city driving and is no way 'loose' feeling.

BTW, in stock form(ZZ502)in an all steel daily driven 67 camaro at our high altitude she ran 11.80's. With nothing more then a cam change she runs 11.10's here and just ran a 10.90 in boise, hardly dogs! Those other guys just dont have them setup right or something.....

Lee

OK, as I said...you've definitely got more experience with the ZZ than I do. And no doubt Yank builds great converters, but I'm still sticking with my original thoughts for what I *think* he was asking.

Both your cars run great, but with a tall single plane intake and a high flow EFI system and much more serious cam with 245/253@.050 and .648/,673 lift and with the Chevelle using a ported tunnel ram intake and two throttle bodies-not sure on cam...but I'm sure it's not the ZZ one..I think you've addressed the issues I was thinking of. Airflow is everything and you've handled it well. You even mention porting the intake on the Camaro and how it ran 12's to start with. You said it made 325 RWHP (rain or not..they correct for conditions)I think that is pretty much the norm for most folks..maybe high 11's on a good day until they start "fixing them" as you have done.

You are also running 700R4's, so a little extra converter can help that big 2nd gear rpm drop and keep things going well. Your converter is listed as a 3400 rpm one and with your setup I would agree it would do well since you've scooted rpm range some. I'm sure it helped at your altitude with 3.73 gears and 28" tires...

Not sure if the custom built converter I had in the car was considered *cheap*...sure didn't seem like it at the time...and it worked killer with the intended engine...it matched it perfect and the 3600+ lb Camaro ran low 11's@122+ through 2.5" pipes on Mcreary dirt tracker tires with the flat tappet pump gas 427 and 4.10's.

There's a guy on the Forum here from Houston with a homebuilt 502 using iron GM oval ports. Runs 10.0's@132 on pump gas all motor in a '67 Camaro. Very much a street car using a hyd roller cam, single plane intake, 3.73's and a *good* 2500 rpm converter that flashes to near 4000 on a hard launch. The trick 4000 rpm one just slowed car and made it feel sloppy riding around too he said. Maybe it was a *cheap* one...but he doesn't generally cut corners..but he does experiment a lot.

So I guess it's back to matching application....

BTW...I love both your cars....the Chevelle is killer in that blue...and no doubt you have the Camaro hooking! Looks great!


JIM