Is there no way of using a modern lockup torque convertor or even a switch pitch torque convertor on older auto boxes ?
Someone surely must make a conversion unit ?
I could manually lock the TC on the Buick (usually after the change in to third gear) and it was consistently worth 2 to 3 mph on the quarter mile. Most lockup convertors unlock when you hit the brake pedal. Indeed, you could check that the lockup was working by flicking the brake pedal as you were driving. The TC would unlock and revs would jump about 400-500 rpm, before it locked up again within a second or so. It was a handy feature and those old TH200-4R gearboxes with the lockup proved to be very tough units, capable of living quite happily with minor mods behind some very powerful turbo sixes. I would have thought that a lockup convertor would be a simpler and cheaper step to an overdrive ?
Also, many Buicks in the sixties came with switch pitch convertors with a hydraulic system that altered the angle of the stator blades. You got a higher stall, typically 2500-2800 rpm off idle and then a lower stall, 1500rpm, at any other time. Latterly, aftermarket switch pitches were sold with electrical activation and could either be activated off the brake pedal (allowing the building of revs against the convertor on the line), or just by a foot switch (most usually another floor headlight dip switch).
I knew someone in the US who had a stout 455 in an early eighties deuce and a quarter (Electra 225) and the switch pitch made a huge difference, especially for such a big and heavy car.
By the way, nice to see you back. Enjoy spending your money
for a 'vendor
