I have 727 trans behind a 440 bored and stroked to 500 in an Altered. The problem I have is the flex plate bolts keep coming loose, and it looks like its trying to pull the bolts through the flex plate. I have a TCS converter with a steal stater and 3800 stall. I had the same problem with a mild 440 on the same trans. You can see where the crankshaft-flex plate bolts have been touching the converter. Is it possible the converter is "Ballooning"? I have the engine out right now because of Rod bearing failure, could the two be related? Any Ideas????

Did you loc tite the bolts?

Yes I tried Red Loctite it was o.k for a few passes then started coming loose again

It sounds like the threads are completely worn out
from whallering around loose. If you have the correct convertor
bolts with good flat surface on the bottom of the head and loc-tite they should stay tight.

logan426

I went through the same thing with my race car. Had to tighten the bolts after each race. It did it with different trans, motors, and after having the converter rebuilt and balanced. Ended up having to use stud and bearing mount loctite, red or blue would not hold.

That's a good idea using studs

Using stud mount Loc-Tite doesn't mean studs were used (no room for them) it only means a stronger Loc-Tite product was used.

There have been discussions before where some installations suffered from frequent loosening of converter bolts, drilling for safety is one recommended fix.

You said you can see where the flexplate-crank bolts are hitting the converter cover...you may have a problem there that I've seen before. Some converters need a recess cut on the cover to keep those bolts from hitting. If they hit, then the flexplate-converter bolts have to pull the plate to the converter causing a bind. This can cause the bolts to loosen up over time. CHIP

never mind, i realize the converter has enough seal area that it will slide up to the flexplare.