[Shotimes] N2O Bottle Mounting

[Anthony Clerkin]

All,

I am having a hard time figuring out how to mount my bottle:
	My plan was to use self tapping screws to mount it to the floor
of the trunk.  The problem is that the short bracket doesn't have enough
clearance for me to get a screw in and be able to use a drill to drive
it in.  Where and how do those of you who use n2O mounting your bottles?

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin & Cheryl Airth [mailto:clubairth@peoplepc.com] 
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 10:40 AM
To: Anthony Clerkin; SHOtimes
Subject: ATX High Stall Converter?

Anthony:
 Thanks for the in depth answer!
 But several questions.
ALL torque converters for the SHO are lock up converters. Stock and
after
market. I guess you could get one made without the lockup feature but I
think it will cause additional troubles, computer codes ect. The stall
speed
is set by converter diameter and fin design inside the converter. You
MUST
decrease the outside diameter to get a significantly higher stall speed
or
increase the HP of the engine it's hooked too. The fin angle inside the
converter is another variable but has a much smaller effect. Remember
the
old Buick switch pitch converters? They allowed the low (stock setting)
stall for more efficiency until you flipped the electrical switch to
change
the blade angle inside the converter. This gave you a looser or higher
stalling converter for faster launches. Not a huge difference but
noticeable. I wish we had a switch pitch setup for the SHO!!

 The lock up clutch is computer controlled. The engine and transmission
speeds are monitored but the PCM decides when and if the converter
clutch is
engaged.


 It is extremely doubtful that the PCM will even allow converter lockup
at
the drag strip. You can check this yourself. A small amount of throttle
will
ALWAYS kick the lockup off. Try it on the highway when you have the
cruise
control on. It does not take much!!


So I still don't have a good idea what's different in the after market
converter? No one has mentioned any different diameters or any stall
RPM's?

 Do you get better gas milage with the FPS converter? I noticed no
change at
all?
.
.





Kevin asked me some interesting questions below and I thought I would
share my answers with the group.

The stock torque converter in the SHO is what most people would call a
"high stall" converter.  When FPS sells you one of there high stall
units they are selling you a "lockup" type high stall converter.

Here is the difference:
At higher speeds, the transmission catches up to the engine,
eventually moving at almost the same speed. Ideally, though, the
transmission would move at exactly the same speed as the engine, because
this difference in speed wastes power. This is part of the reason why
cars with automatic transmissions get worse gas mileage than cars with
manual transmissions.

To counter this effect, a lockup clutch. When the two halves of the
torque converter get up to speed, this clutch locks them together,
eliminating the slippage and improving efficiency.

I found this to be a great improvement, allowing my ATX to be nearly as
efficient as an MTX. This higher level of efficiency is noticeable both
in my quarter mile times and at the gas station.



Anthony:
 You bring up a question that I can't get a solid answer on. The SHO
already
has a high stall converter in it from the factory. Around 3000 rpm. Now
I
got a new converter from FPS when they redid the transmission but it is
a
stock unit as far as I can tell. Who makes the high stall unit you have?
What is the stall speed and did you find it helpful for a street car?
Thanks!
.
.
Kevin


Did you have the high stall torque converter installed?  I did and it
ruptured, the debris from the rupture clogged my tranny filter and
destroyed my trans!  So FPS shipped out a new tranny and now the torque
converter doesn't convert!  So now they're sending out a new torque
converter in a week and I can't drive my car because if this converter
breaks before the new one gets installed, I'll have to wait another 2
weeks for a whole new trans! :(  Oh well, as long as it is done before
June I guess I won't miss any races.