haha, awesome. b00st is addictive.

Too bad you cant make a run with the converter locked. The one of the thing I would like to have is the ability to lock the converter up in any gear as well as unlock it in OD at 45-55 mph.

The upside is the converter you have seems to be pretty efficient. Nice work!

Kevin

I would have liked to unlock it at lower speeds on the last engine, but now it doesn't need it. The grunt's where it needs to be for a truck. This engine warms up fast in the morning and the transmission drops into O/D on the neighborhood streets before I've gone 1/2 mile. Even from 30-35mph light throttle, it doesn't down-shift out of O/D at normal acceleration demands - it just pulls. I get the feeling that I need to adjust the TV cable to make it down-shift sooner.

It's quite possible that I have the cams advanced a bit too much, so I may make a set of adjustable cam sprockets and play with the valve timing. I also need to put the 32s back on to see how it runs down low with those.

Frank

Nice to see you have a good driver this time around.

As far as HP figures, I recall from the early 90s one of the off road mags I read did dyno testing of all the trucks. If my memory serves the Montero had 132Hp behind the manual and 125 from the automatic. I have no recollection of measured torque.
This might have been Petersen's 4wd if anyone has archives?
Obviously not an apples 2 apples not having a clue about what dyno was used back then, I expect the standard Borg Warner small roller water brake setup that was common then.

Hi Charlie -

Thanks..... yes, it drives really well on the street and at highway cruise. This morning, I found myself wishing for a little more punch from full throttle in O/D at ~70 mph around 3000rpm..... so maybe I have a little more work to do. From a standing start, it's scary. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

That Petersen's test result would put the loss for my truck at 18HP, which sounds sorta low for the transmission and the transfer case...... but maybe I'm biased toward what I'd like to believe. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

As you point out, the type of dyno is one of many variables that effect the mystical (and sometimes mythical) numbers. If Eddy's suspicion is correct, then it might be reasonable to assume that Petersen's pumped the numbers to not detract from the advertiser's products..... and the actual results were lower and therefore the losses are higher.

I'll try to do some more research to satisfy my curious side, but I guess all that matters is how quick the vehicle really is when and where it counts - after all, we aren't racing dynos.

Frank <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

These folks could answer the question if I wanted to pay for the answer:



Southwest Research Institute

My guess is that the answer would be expensive.

Frank

That similar to my experience with changing cams in the four cyl. The roller cam from the Magna engine works better at low speeds making lockup at 45 mph better. It's really. really good, but not perfect. With 2 less cylinders it the power pulses are more spread out. Many people wouldn't even notice but I do. It becomes more noticeable on long 50 mph grades, not enough throttle is needed to kick down but not in the smooth range. It might help if I redesign the profile on the cable take up on the tensioner. The carb motor would have to use a lot more throttle on the long grade and would have kicked down. With boost it only takes a little throttle keeping the engine pretty close to lugging.

If I adjust the throttle cable tighter the full throttle shifts end up hihger than I want.

That just gave me a thought... I should look at the cable actuator from the V6. I can understand why they went to electronic shift control. A cable on the throttle does not understand engine loading or adding boost and grades.

That and I still want to be able to lock the converter in third.

Kevin

That's shedding a little light on what I'm sensing - maybe it's in the Diamante cam profile. I haven't yet tried adjusting the throttle cable, but I will.

A couple of times I've noticed that with the transmission in 3rd gear and almost at the O/D shift point..... if I give it some throttle, it up-shifts to O/D quickly - just the opposite of what I want.

Here's an interesting article that suggests 25% x P(fly), or 25% of flywheel power for a 4WD A/T............ very generic assumption, but if I use the 143HP of the 3.0L SOHC engine, that would suggest 36HP loss, not counting the u-joints and the rest of the driveline:

Understanding Horsepower

Frank

After I had driven and towed with my turbo conversion twenty years ago I spent a bit of time in the valve body of the trans. I made changes to spring rates and preloads to move shift points. I turned a new control pressure spool to get the transmission to ramp up quicker for the added low end torque and installed a low speed locking torque converter that I think would be to a V6 Toyota of the era. The first torque converter flashed to about 2100 RPM, great improvement from the 2900+ of the original. I soon shred all the vanes internally in that TC and the company then properly welded the next one. That one flashes to about 1800 RPM. With 4000lbs+ on a trailer you roll about 30 feet before the turbo spools but from then on the transmission is locked and positive. The 2100 was better off the line, as long as you do not care about the tires. It is interesting that in some situations like 35MPH in top ratio the engine will bog down, not common with automatics. It drives a bit like a manual.
Had I done all this work a few years later I may have known of the lockup converter as Kevin did. But mine has served fine for decades with no problems.

Frank,

For my part time 4WD that disconnects the front drive line I consider it the same a a RWD system. As long as my front hubs are unlocked.

My other ah-ha was that the cable take-up that I adapted from a staged 2 barrel might be very differant than what would be used for a single large throttle plate. When I looked at the cable take up I realized that it has a cam shape to it.

Time to go yarding.

Kevin