spragless on the street?
 

is it feasable to run a spragless on the street. i understand that the convertor dosn't freewheel like an normal one. so what harms can occur. and will it totally destroy fuel milage not that its a big concern cause i am building a 1100 hp twin turbo sbc for the steet strip and trying to find out wich convertor to go with. i have a 400 turbo with transbrake and 4.11 gears in hopefully a 3200 lbs 67 chevy truck.. i emailed a few companies and the only responce i got was from fuddle. i also was thinking hughes or coan. i dont no much about quality from any of them but would appreciate recomendations. fuddle seems to be the cheapest and i was told from somone on a differant forum that the 3 fuddles they have recieved come in a hughes box. anyways all help is aprecciated..

If you want spragless call TSI the inventors of it I believe . thats TRANSMISSION SPECIALITES inc .There in aston, PA .David.

Do not run a spragless on the street. It will never lock up on the highway and create a lot more heat. A drag car with a sprag releases minimally during the run, a street car releases a lot. Hughes, ATI, Neil Chance, Coan, Transmission Specialties as well as a few other make a good product, don't chance an unknown here.

Not trying to hijack this thread or anything, but what are the advantages of running a spragless converter over a convetional one in a dragcar?

Charles

Just went through this myself
 

A spragless converter can stand more horsepower, but is not to be driven on the street any at all. If you drive more than 1/2 mile to 1 mile, it will overheat the transmission in a hurry. The sprag is a weak link in the converter. The sprag allows some oil to bypass in the converter and reduces heat a lot. A well built Sprag converter depending on brand and type can be rated as high as around 600 hp. The cheaper (less than $200) converters might handle 400 to 450 hp, a 600 horsepower converter is going to cost twice that usually.

If you are going more than about 600 horsepower, you will need a spragless, but don't drive it down the road and back.

WOW! Now I'm confused, :shock: I have a little BBC with 22PSI of boost. Should make about 1100HP on the small tune. I was told since, I'm going to take it to shows and drive it on the street mostly, that I needed 1 with a sprag. Then I explained that it would be taken down the track on some weekends and the story changed to a spragless. I have not broke down to buy 1 yet since my car is still a few months from completion. But I guess I better call TSI and ask some real pros about this 1.

Sorry to dispute this, but I've been running a TSI spragless on the street for years.

Granted, my driving range due to fuel limitations is about 20 miles round trip, but it's never had any issues due to over heating. In fact, it's never had any issues at all.

hp
 

Over 600 hp, You have to go spragless? Man, are a lot of people messing up? :roll:

I bought a 5800rpm TSI 8 inch spragless for my bbc 496 going in my 69 camaro, its not a street car by any stretch of the imagination but hell I'd like to freak the neighbors out when I get it done and idle it around the block a time or two but now I'm not sure.
I'll have 2 coolers for the trans one in the radiator and a big 8 pass up front of the radiator, I would assume its enough to keep the tranny cool?
><Cp

I don't run a cooler. The lines are looped. Then again, my spragless is a 10", setup as tight as they can get it.

Short stop and go in town driving isn't as much an issue, on the highway/cruising with it locked is where it will build heat. Also bad mileage. There are good sprags available for high HP street/strip cars.

Re: Just went through this myself
 

Can it really over heat that quick?1/2 mile?Imean by the time you stage,run down the 1/4 and then find your way back to your spot...you've driven 1/2 mile or more.Not trying to dispute,just honestly curious

call lenny at ultimate converter concepts hes out of mass. 203-874-2100 we use him for all of our customers and in house projects he will set you straight with what your gona want.