shortly after the first of the year I am going to start searching for a converter company to build me a converter for my BB dart bracket car, engine has not been started so I have no clue what HP and torque figures this thing is going to make, besides the normal questions of what cam, what heads, what duration etc,etc,etc,is there any info that would be of help to get the converter as close to if not right on for what I need? I know that would be a stretch at best, or is just filling out the form and answering all the questions truthfully, as good as I can do to help these guy's out?
Secondly I have made a short list of companys that I think would do me a good job at a fair price,add to it and give me a reason why, Thank's

ATI
Ultimate
PTC
and Quickdraw, this guy is local to me and I am currently run his stuff and I am happy with his work, but I am keeping my options open,

Cameron Bradham 803 754 8139 Columbia SC--he has the very best equipment and the very best customer service in the business--he quietly builds for all the big hitters--CNC machines everywhere-makes all his parts--custom bolt togethers killer pricing, killer quality--best guy you can talk to and is he a good listener--Tell him what you had and what it was doing --that is always best starting place Trust me --call this guy--tell him Kluttz from NC dragster guy told you to call you will not regret it

If you are foot braking then too loose will be faster but will hinder hitting good lights --keep a foot braker on tighter side
when it comes to the others --you get an 8 inch if normal and a 9 inch if you are making big TQ and HP--the guts inside should be all new made parts--the combos are not limitless and he will know what to give you
All the guys you listed are A1 I have dealt with them all but Cameron is the best call you can make--He knows what he is doing!

If you have a local guy you're happy with, and you have some unknowns that will most likely require an adjustment.... why change.

(says the guy that sends converters 2100 miles for work to be done)

This is the second time you've mentioned this guy. Have anymore background info on him, we all have to learn somewhere. First i,ve ever heard of him.

Id agree with Jay, if you've been happy with the local guy. Never had a local guy, wish I did. Sure would be handier.

Same here... if your local guy does quality work
and you like it.. stick with him.. since your
engine isnt together yet I can bet you will have
it adjusted at least once... I have a local guy
that I tried once.. he will never see me again

Bill, there's a place near my area that's getting real popular and guys at Thompson seem to be running quicker with their converters and they have a good reputation.
Place is called Perfect Converter Company and his name is Bubba Rafferty on Facebook. Tell him I sent you if you call him.

WOW... thats my last name.. no I dont have a
brother named Bubba

Cameron is good, been around a while. Just not as high profile as most of those others. Good? sure. Any better than any of those others? No. Just pick who you like

That is what I was saying--after dealing with all of them over the years
I love Kenny at PTC, ATI makes a killer unit top quality, Turbo Action charges for another converter everytime you have a change or fresh up--can't do that any more, Lupo used to do right but drifted away into higher and higher $$ less service, Coan equals Groan Geeez those guys are unhappy!, so.....I have been using Cameron and he has given me the best personal service and when I said I knew what I wanted he LISTENED! He did not assume that he knew better than me about what I wanted--I said soft hit--big TQ multiplication and lock up in high and MPH good then I described the engine I have and the converter I have and what it did in my car--he took it from there with 4 day turn around and killer price--For now--he is my go to I don't have to read about him on front page of Hotrod to think he is a good one. These days there are lots of guys in the business--some make parts others buy from guys that do--I am betting that with about 6 combos you can cover most anybody and that after a while and some feedback you start to get a pretty good handle on it--too many fguys give bad info to the converter guy or just plain do not have enough race experience to tell him what he needs to know--that's ok--we were all there once
Trust the Force--Cameron is a good guy--call him and see

What ever happened to Lenny at ultimate convertor..always heard good things about him

I sent my TA J conv to him to clean and tighten it up..
that was in the summer.. he did a nice job on it at a
very good price

Lupo did my 8" vert for my small block deal. Hit my 5400 stall target dead nuts. worked real nice on the street as well. Sent it to Lenny to refreshen and it never left my garage as the engine broke a pushrod and things went south from there, so cant give advise about Lenny. It will be going back to Lenny soon to get set up for my 511 deal if I can still use it in the new combo. Never had much luck with PTC. Fisrt one went back with metal shavings in it. They could never get the stall I asked for correct.

If this were me and I wanted to do the least amount of work, the 1st thing I would do is after the engine was together, is take it to an engine dyno that can run MY stuff IE headers. Then I would fill out the form and attach the dyno sheet with the corrected and uncorrected numbers. Since I now have the HP that the engine makes and at what RPM, along with the weight of the car (you do know how much it weights?). I can tell what MPH it should run. With this info and knowing what tire size I have I can select a rear gear. I would send ALL the info to the converter guy and do a one shot one kill on the converter.

What I wouldn’t do is let the converter guy give his best guess at what the engine makes and me guess at the correct gear and weight of the car. That means I am going to spend ½ the summer removing and replacing parts instead of racing. Been there done that, never again.

This is not a decision you make to save money.
The difference between the best one, and "the best one you can afford" may only be $100.
I was happy with Dynamic, but that was 20 years ago.

Yep.. a dyno will make life much easier on your
first year at the track.. you get your HP and
TQ points so the conv guy knows where to set the
stall.. you have a idea of the HP so based on the
total weight you have a good idea what the car should
run.. instead of chasing your tail.. I paid $400 for
a day at the dyno.. I caught a leak that in the end
I couldnt get fixed so I ended up changing blocks to
correct it... that was $400 well spent

I agree that dyno testing the motor would be best....... But....... There is no denying that the same motor tested on 10 different dynos would likely have at least a couple where the numbers were pretty far off from the others.
Just think of all the dyno numbers the average converter shop sees.
How many of those are from "happy" dynos?
I still say it's worthwhile to have it done, but I would pick a shop that has a pretty good track record with cars running close to what the dyno numbers say it should run.

All that being said......knowing what I do about your combo and what youre doing with it..... In the vein of "you gotta start somewhere"...... I would want a pretty tight 8" converter.
Around 5200 flash stall off the foot brake, and solidly under 10% slip out the back.

You make a very valid point about “happy” dyno’s. I had a customer 2 years ago ask if he could see me calibrate the dyno. I told him **** yes! It was a great idea, I now ask everyone if they would like to watch before we do their engine. When they show up I already have the weights hanging on the dyno, so it only takes 10 mins or so. I also ask if they would like to bring their own weather station and compare theirs to the build in gages on the dyno.

If it was me and knowing what I know now, I would ask the dyno shop to have the calibration weights hanging on the Dyno when I arrived. Any answer other than “yes sir”, would cause me to look elsewhere.

Joe