Well Ken sounds like you are dealing with some of the same issues I did with a powerglide. Based on your MPH I would guess the engine dynoed is about 50 HP better than your engine running. Funny thing about these dyno sheets is you never see the air they are in the correction factor. I even have trouble believing the correction factor is accurate on these engines. For example my engine dynoed at 900@8600 RPM that should produce speeds over 155 in the quarter. I have been in 600 ft altitude and only ran 153. Was it the car?

I always thought that if I could turn the engine 10,000 the 8,000 RPM stall would run better as the 7" converters seem to keep tightening up as the RPM climbs. I always noticed in the data that the converter would be in stall for a long time on launch and in the shift. Was constinuously told the 8,000 stall would be best with my combo. But, the best 60 ft and ET was with an 8" 6,400 stall converter that I borrowed. Could not get information on it later to build the same converter.

Typically you want stall on launch and break into stall speed in the shifts for torque multiplication, right. Just seems with these screamer engines you just can't find the fine line. You need wheel speed on launch to get the engine up into power. My issue was getting wheel speed without blowing the tires off. If you hooked it too soon it would bog the engine. Seemed that keeping the wheel speed up long enough to get the engine into it's best RPM and the converter over the stall speed was hard to do. Then on the shift the converter would just stay in stall way too long IMO. After seeing the video of your car I was sure the 4 spd was the answer. The ratios are close enough to get off the stall speed quicker in the shifts. But, you should still be looking for a good wheel speed on launch.

Many racers shift into high early with 2spds and let the converter stall for long periods of time. Deadly consistant. Problem is with a 7", even when running a large cooler, the fluid gets hot. The hotter the fluid the thinner it gets making the converter slip more. Another place I expect you heat the fluid is in the burnout box. It's hard to hear your engine wind in the twilight zone in the burnout, but low RPM burnouts build heat in the converter when you have these high stall speeds. I think heat is a major enemy to these converters. IMO You need to get the engine up to stall speed quickly on launch. The only way I know to do this is with wheelspeed then as the car is hooking up the converter is delivering maximum torque and can accelerate the car.

Some people seem to find how to make these work and always seem to run at least 3 gears. But, when you watch them the engine is always running at high RPM even on the launch. Watching your car run is a lot like mine would run. Wouldn't spill you drink in your lap on launch but like a rocket on top end.

If you find yourself to be fed up like me with these animals you can always go in the direction I know works. Tight converters and lots of NOS.

Leon