TH350 and Converter

[Shawn F.]

I have a low mileage TH350 transmission that I plan to bolt behind a 355 I am building for my daily driver 1980 El Camino. The trans and engine came out of a late model S-10 that had the V8 conversion. I bought the truck from a kid and long story short the truck was junk so I pulled the motor, trans and parts and junked the rest. The kid lied about a lot of stuff so there are a few things I am trying to figure out and tear down to go through before putting this into my El Camino.
First question is about the converter. The kid said it had a 2500 stall converter. I pulled the converter and I do not see any numbers or anything. Any way to tell what the heck it is? I am guessing stock since it has nothing. The car I am building is a daily driver so I do not think there is any use for a stall converter, it will just kill my fuel mileage.
Second question is the trans is supposed to have a shift kit in it. I BARELY drove this thing while it was in the S-10 but didn't seem to notice much of a firm shift. Seemed a tad bit more than stock but not enough. What would be a good street/strip kit to throw in this thing? I know there are all sorts of brands and price ranges for them and some kits are simple while others are a little more involved.

Thanks for any information here guys! I do plan to have a guy go through this transmission for me before putting it into the car but need to know if I need a new converter or not. If so then I am not sure what kind to go with...

 

[DOUG213XRJ]

TransGo. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TRG-350-1-2/

 

[1720]

TransGo. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TRG-350-1-2/

X2 on TransGo =D>

 

[Shawn F.]

Ok great guys. Thanks for the info! I looked around more and this TransGo seems to be the best deal and kit. I will go ahead and order one before dropping this thing into the car... Any idea about the converter? Like I mentioned I do not see any numbers or letters stamped into the thing so guessing it's a plain stock unit. I do not know if I should trust it or fill it with fluid and drain it again to clean it since it's been sitting for quite some time now (over 2 years).

 

[malibu795]

whats the build up of the 355? gears?

im thinkin a ~2000 stall

 

[Shawn F.]

Sorry I should have known to post that info... The gears are stock 80 El Camino 2.56 gear. The 355 is not built yet but here is what I plan... It has TRW flat top 4 relief pistons that are supposed to run 9.74:1 compression ratio with 64cc heads. I will NOT be running 64cc heads though, they will be 76cc 290HP crate motor heads. The cam I have not chosen yet but I will go with a plain street/off road/towing cam with about 450 lift only since that is all these heads will support until next year when I can afford Vortec or aftermarket aluminum heads. I will run a well tuned Q-Jet carb most likely with a Street Dominator intake manifold, HEI dissy and long tube Hooker headers.
Like I may have mentioned before, the car is my business vehicle/daily driver. I do mobile auto detailing work and will pull a small trailer with a 50 gallon water tank filled, pressure washer, generator, and a few other things. I am looking to build a plain reliable motor that will get half way decent mileage so nothing crazy (no strip/race car). If I had the money I'd run a 700R4 with a 2200 Corvette stall and different rear gears for mileage but my budget just wont allow that so I will use what I have and can afford at this point. dancin_banana.gif
Thanks for the help!

 

[malibu795]

looking at ~1000lb trailer..

50gl is roughly 400lb plus tank, pump, trailer, gear etc..

2.59:1 are going to hurt you BAD... 3.08 or 3.42 and a 2,000 would be the way i go when money would allow..

if you got a OD transmission 3.73 or 4.10 and same stall