After months of fiddling around with various delays, I've finally been able to get back to working on the Charger. Ive been dissatisfied with the part throttle performance ever since I first installed that 10" high stall converter several years ago. On the advice of a few Moparts members, I called Lenny at Ultimate Converter Concepts. He was very helpful with advice and suggestions on what would work for me. He didn't try any hard sell type tactics. I went with an 11" unit with an estimated stall of 2800 rpms.
I removed and sold my Gear Vendors overdrive unit and went back to direct drive. Today I finished up and took the car for a drive. Some of the gear whine I was hearing at 60-70 mph is gone. I wonder if there was something associated with the slip & spline drive shaft that was responsible. Regardless, the car feels different. It now responds to throttle input like it should. I can tip the throttle at 40 mph and feel the car pick up immediately. Before, the tach would rise faster than the car would move. The car actually chirps 2nd gear at part throttle, the first time in several years. I'm still running the old 3.91 SG 3rd member but I have another one with fresh 3.55 gears waiting to go in once I swap to the 528 cam.
It is great when things work out.

when you go to the 528 cam & 3.55 your going to want to change the TC again.

this is why I go right to a stock HS TC when installing a JY 904/727 with LU/non LU-TCs behind my stock JY 318 in the trucks. best 120$ bang for the buck for a daily driver junky.

it is great when things work out. like me putting the small piece of linkage back on the q-jet carb so the back airdoor does not slam open and bog. it was on my bench for over a yr before I rememberd what it was for one day. works so much better with no bog.

I've made mistakes before, but I think that the 528 cam, an 11" converter and 3.55 gears with a 27" tire should work well. As is, the Lunati comes alive after 3000 rpms and worked well at WOT with the 3.91 gears. The 528 should start making power at a lower rpm range which is why I decided on a 3.55 gear. I'm trying to make the car a better driver. I may have been able to get by with a stock 11" converter for awhile but I figured I'd be better off with a well built aftermarket unit. I haven't tested the "flash stall" but it feels as tight as a stock converter at part throttle. I often post my experiences because I hope my many failures or successes can help others. I have learned from other members here that did the same.

Would you mind expanding on why you pulled the Gear Vendor's overdrive? I was thinking of buying one for my mild 440 Satellite. It sounds like the perfect solution, but I'm guessing from your experience...not so much?

Great for you, there's no better way than to just do it yourself and find out first hand. Too many people spend too much time here asking and not doing, imo.

The more you change the more you learn and the better your combo gets.

In the racing world we never talk about combos honestly, on here people are not in competition with each other and they are more open. Thanks for sharing.

I did quite a bit of racing with a 2 speed powerglide and tried many different convertors. Like 5 of them.

Coan is one of the trans company's that I bought racing parts from.

When I needed a street 727 and convertor for my muscle cars I called them. They sold me a matching trans and convertor just for my combo.

I did it twice, for my 340 and my 440 and I honestly think they nailed it both times. Never had such good reacting cars on the street. I didn't want to waste time experimenting with different convertors myself on the street and maybe save a buck or two, I was wore out from doing that at the race track.

Enjoy your car.

Out of curiosity, did you talk to Lenny about your plans to change your cam and gears?

I ordered the converter to match the future changes that I was planning to do. The converter is actually too tight for this 316/326 Lunati cam I have in the engine now. The MP 528 cam I have waiting will be a much better match.
The Gear Vendors unit worked fine but the whole cam, converter, overdrive and final drive combo was out of whack. In the interest of trying to eliminate detonation, I went with a big cam to reduce dynamic compression. This meant a cam that had lots of overlap, a tight LSA and mediocre low speed operation. Rolling down the freeway at 65 in overdrive (Final drive after OD of 3.05) the car felt loose and unresponsive. I decided to just return to the basics of direct drive and a moderate axle ratio. I rarely drive 200 miles or more and when I do, I could swap in a 3.23 or 2.94 gear. I sold the GV to a Moparts member and spent the cash replacing the A/C system in the wifes Honda.
I love this car but I took some wrong turns along the way.

we all take wrong turns! sounds like you are on the right track now!

Frankenduster and all:

I'm going to need a torque converter soon so I can put the engine, trans, and K in my car as a whole. Can someone give me contact info for a vendor to call?

Thanks

Ultimate Converter Concepts is a Moparts sponsor. That is one reason I gave them a call.

Sean at Dynamic would get my vote.

I am glad to hear something worked good for you on your car. It just seems I see you post alot about things on your combo that were not bad but not really up to your snuff or the best it could be. Not picking on you at all just saying I know when something does not feel right about your car you will post and tell us about it and its nice to see this help the car work better for you as sometimes just the little quirks on our own cars can really bother us more then some realize and its nice to hear one feel they got positive results with something they did to their car.

I know from being a tech all my life that many times customers would have small complaints that many techs could not feel or find any problem with the customers cars but I know even from my own cars that sometimes I feel a small problem that I say to myself........ that if I did not drive this car everyday and know how it normally feels I would never feel how it seems a bit different now ? It makes me understand when a customer would tell me there car dont feel right but when I road test their car it feels fine since I dont drive it all the time it would be hard for even a good tech to know it feels just a bit different then normal. And thats where it really takes a good tech to work with the customer and get to the root of the problem. And it sounds like the converter fixed a problem of that type on your car. Glad to hear it runs better to you. Ron

Thanks, Ron. Yeah, I may be one of those guys that seem to be too picky about what I wanted from the car. Many guys may have left well enough alone. From 1987 to 2002 I had a Camaro that was a great handling road car. I wanted the Charger to surpass that car in every category and I am getting really close. The Dodge will outrun the Chevy by a longshot but the road manners need work. Most of the problems are from mistakes that I have made, not by any design flaw of Ma Mopar. I wish that I did more research when I first built this engine. High compression really raises the stakes, requiring the driver to keep close tabs on the tune and fuel octane requirements. I've been used to running regular or mid grade gas since I first got my license in 1982.