My TSP 9.5” Review

This is copied from the Pontiac forum where I posted it. My combination is an aftermarket Pontiac block with 4.35x4.35 bore/stroke for 517”. Ported Edelbrocks,246/252 .660”/.660” 112LSA hydraulic roller, 950 Quick Fuel on a Kaufman Northwind (large single plane similar to a Victor) and 1.875” headers.

9.5” TSP Converter

Been busy with work lately and haven’t had much car time lately but I got a chance to get some seat time with the new converter I got through Cliff.

I sent a copy of the dyno sheet to Jim Weise and told him what I wanted it to do. I wanted a 4000 flash stall and tight driving at part throttle. I had tried a 4200 Continental with the 455 engine and wasn’t real happy with its street manners. It stalled up fine but was a little too slushy below the stall speed for my taste and with the wide power band that engine made it didn’t make a big difference in performance.

The converter the TSP replaced is a Jim Hand 10” Continental that most here are familiar with. They are good converters but it just wasn’t a perfect match for what I wanted and felt it was holding back the new combination. It flashed to 3200ish where the dyno sheet showed in the mid 540’s for torque. Torque ramps up to just over 650 at the 4600 peak.

In high gear at 30MPH the TSP flashes to exactly 4000 where dyno torque is just past 600 ft lbs and climbing fast toward the peak. Getting this engine into the fat part of the torque curve at the hit has totally changed the character of the car. The converter is noticeably smaller and lighter than the 10” units and seems to accelerate to the 5900 shift point quicker. The best part is it is much more driveable than the 4200 Continental I had tried before. You can feel the part throttle shifts and while it is looser than the Hand converter it is not overly soft below the flash point. If you goose it in high gear the rpms flare up but at low speeds it pretty snug. Going from park to drive is softer also.

Next is some dragstrip runs since it’s been way too long since that has happened.

 

Just to update this I drove to the track yesterday and got to see how this converter performs. The car weighs 3980 and has 3.42 gears and pulled a 1.46 60’ and 10.70@124. Will do better with some tuning changes. I couldn’t be happier with it.

 

Impressive