Do these welds look good enough?

admin

First off I want to say hi. I was looking for a forum that would know what there looking at and I'm hopeing it is this one. I purchaced a Torque converter for my car from a well known company. Upon inspection I looked it over and wasn't really sure about the quality of the welds. I do some welding myself (hobby) and a couple just make me nervious. Changing out a torque converter on a car is a PITA. I already did it once and don't want to do it again after installing this one. Please take a look and tell me what you think. The converter is painted so getting a good look is hard. One picture is of a good weld and the others are what was in question. The converter has welded tabs on three parts. The first picture is of the weld on the outside part of the tab. The other 2 are of the inside of the tabs. The outsides of all 3 look like picture 1.Thank you guys..! Attached ImagesLast edited by mnm99; 09-10-2011 at 07:14 AM.
Reply:You won't know until you clean the paint.Then you post some pics and you could do a dye penetration test also.Semper FiJesus may have been a Carpenter, but his dad was a Millwright" A grinder and a can of paint, will make a welder what he aint' "I've done so much, with so little, for so long, that now I can do anything with nothing!
Reply:I inspect welds not paint.
Reply:And who is the manufacturer of said converter?If it's a Coan..ATI..A-1...or any well known manufacturer then just install it and forget it..Unless you are running 7 sec ET'S you should have no problems whatsoever.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Hughes... And it's going behind this. Around 450hp.  I installed one of theres last week , but flashed too high. They sent me another one and this is what I found. When I get home I'll take the paint off and take a look. Attached Images
Reply:Being a builder of high performance transmissions i have a few things to tell you about this converterIf this thing is going in a transmission with a lockup style converter which it appears to be of this type let me stop you now.  This style of convert is a typically a reworked converter for a front wheel drive transmission in a low hp car. They will change the snout and stator on these to fit in your transmission then weld on a adapter ring for your flywheel. This is where the first of your problems begin. the surface behind the lugs on the converter is where the lockup clutch applies when you go welding on a adapter and putting this thing behind a higher hp engine than it was designed for is   asking for trouble. the first thing that usually happens is the lugs on the converter twist over by just a degree or two now you have 3-4 high (depending on number of lugs) spots on the inside face of the converter where the clutch applies this reduces surface area for clutch apply which reduces holding power and it will fail in no time at all. The second problem is the internals of this converter cant handle the high hp you are throwing at it thrust bearings inside will fail causing the stator to move around diving off shavings of aluminum that will contaminate the entire transmission. The third most problem is the fact that your original converter was 12-13in in diameter and had a lockup clutch that big now that you have a 9-10in converter you have also reduced lockup clutch holding power which will cause the clutch to fail if for some miracle the first two  things dont happen first
Reply:you posted pictures while i was typing you also need to change that cooler the tube and fin style that you have on there does not do much for cooling the large diameter smooth bore tubes allow the fluid to flow thru to fast to cool. You should really upgrade to a plate and fin style cooler like pictured
Reply:Originally Posted by shanemBeing a builder of high performance transmissions i have a few things to tell you about this converterIf this thing is going in a transmission with a lockup style converter which it appears to be of this type let me stop you now.  This style of convert is a typically a reworked converter for a front wheel drive transmission in a low hp car. They will change the snout and stator on these to fit in your transmission then weld on a adapter ring for your flywheel. This is where the first of your problems begin. the surface behind the lugs on the converter is where the lockup clutch applies when you go welding on a adapter and putting this thing behind a higher hp engine than it was designed for is   asking for trouble. the first thing that usually happens is the lugs on the converter twist over by just a degree or two now you have 3-4 high (depending on number of lugs) spots on the inside face of the converter where the clutch applies this reduces surface area for clutch apply which reduces holding power and it will fail in no time at all. The second problem is the internals of this converter cant handle the high hp you are throwing at it thrust bearings inside will fail causing the stator to move around diving off shavings of aluminum that will contaminate the entire transmission. The third most problem is the fact that your original converter was 12-13in in diameter and had a lockup clutch that big now that you have a 9-10in converter you have also reduced lockup clutch holding power which will cause the clutch to fail if for some miracle the first two  things dont happen first
Reply:looks like a lot of equipment just to get 450 out of a small block chevy...
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadlooks like a lot of equipment just to get 450 out of a small block chevy...
Reply:i've heard hugh's quality has went down hill since they started selling out of summit racing. i like Edge and BTE converters.. i have a Edge pro converter in my old truck, it was fairly expensive, not bad though, I like it alot. the front of the torque converter and mounting tabs are one piece.. http://www.edgeracingconverters.com/...products_id=33tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadlooks like a lot of equipment just to get 450 out of a small block chevy...
Reply:Originally Posted by mnm99Hughes... And it's going behind this. Around 450hp.  I installed one of theres last week , but flashed too high. They sent me another one and this is what I found. When I get home I'll take the paint off and take a look.
Reply:Originally Posted by mnm99Well I didn't think I was getting into specs, but here it goes. It's for a turbo 350 tranny, No lockup. Here are the specs ~ Designed to provide 2,400 - 2,600 RPM of max stall speed and excellent flash characteristics to help improve boost response~ full roller bearing construction~ silicon spot brazing at top and bottom of impeller fins and turbine fins~ heat treated chromoly steel pump hub~ custom machined stator specifically for your combination~ billet steel turbine spline~ oversize heat treated sprag rollersDirect from Hughes....It was custom and they know it was built for a turbo car. As for the cooling my temps are good with what I have.
Reply:Originally Posted by BoostinjdmWell then,  that looks like a lot of equipment for only 3lbs. of boost.
Reply:Originally Posted by shanemsounds as if you trust there build quality so why not there welds?   when you are frustrated and ready to give up give these guys a call http://www.coanracing.com/o yea had you gone with them the first time you would not have had to take it out and send it back.     that is if you give them accurate data about the engine specs IE cam/compression/displacement turbo size, car weight, gear ratio and tire size
Reply:Originally Posted by assassin_worksok your telling me that your going to put it in that car ? and it only putting out 450 hp ? there is something totally wrong with this picture dont you think ....
Reply:IMO if you told Hughes what it was going into and that's what they sold you, put it in. Hughes is trustworthy.
Reply:Originally Posted by BoostinjdmWell then,  that looks like a lot of equipment for only 3lbs. of boost.
Reply:I say throw a stock 426 hemi in there and run with it. There will be more room under the hood.  BTW: I'm no expert, but those welds look a little short on penetration if you ask me. Maybe the machining was done before the welding, and they are cautious of warping.
Reply:It's fine.  You're not going to shear that off making the power you're stating and a whole lot more.
Reply:Is that a blow through carburetor?What has been done to it?  How are you sealing the throttle shafts?What about fuel pressure? For those that don't know - a blow through carburetor design is difficult.  The carburetor is design to mix fuel which is at atmospheric pressure, with incomming air, which creates a vacuum as it rushes past the venturi.If you are running boost, the throttle shafts can be a gasoline leak.The fuel bowl is now indexed to boost and you need to make sure your fuel pump has a bit more pressure overcome the the air pressure (note - its a needle and seat so its not that much more pressure).Galebanks used to modify the carbs to take some pressure and pipe it to the throttle shafts to create an air barrier.  As for fuel pressure, banks used a mechanical pump and index it to the boost pressure - which I think is too much but it might have served to richen up the fuel mixture by effectively increasing fuel levels in the bowl.I believe Gale Banks still sells the air box for the carb.  Companies like Paxton simply encase the entire carb in a pressurized box (just feed in a fuel line and throttle cable).Anyways.  Overall I like the looks.  Clean design etc.  Nice job.I'm not sure that with today's computers I would have gone that route.  There are a lot of people who know how to swap jets in a carb, there are hardly anyone around who understands fuel curves and vacuum signals.Con Fuse!Miller Dynasty 350Millermatic 350P-Spoolmatic 30AMiller Multimatic 200Hypertherm PowerMax 1000G3Miller Maxstar 200DX
Reply:Originally Posted by con_fuse9Is that a blow through carburetor?What has been done to it?  How are you sealing the throttle shafts?What about fuel pressure? For those that don't know - a blow through carburetor design is difficult.  The carburetor is design to mix fuel which is at atmospheric pressure, with incomming air, which creates a vacuum as it rushes past the venturi.If you are running boost, the throttle shafts can be a gasoline leak.The fuel bowl is now indexed to boost and you need to make sure your fuel pump has a bit more pressure overcome the the air pressure (note - its a needle and seat so its not that much more pressure).Galebanks used to modify the carbs to take some pressure and pipe it to the throttle shafts to create an air barrier.  As for fuel pressure, banks used a mechanical pump and index it to the boost pressure - which I think is too much but it might have served to richen up the fuel mixture by effectively increasing fuel levels in the bowl.I believe Gale Banks still sells the air box for the carb.  Companies like Paxton simply encase the entire carb in a pressurized box (just feed in a fuel line and throttle cable).Anyways.  Overall I like the looks.  Clean design etc.  Nice job.I'm not sure that with today's computers I would have gone that route.  There are a lot of people who know how to swap jets in a carb, there are hardly anyone around who understands fuel curves and vacuum signals.