Torque Converters by Transmission & Stall

A torque converter is bought in two steps, in this order: transmission first, stall second. The transmission decides whether the converter can bolt in at all - input spline count, lock-up or non-lock-up, flexplate bolt circle and crank pilot all have to match - and only then does the stall band decide how the car leaves. This page pulls together 24 in-stock torque converters from Allstar Performance, ACC Performance Products, Hughes, TCI Automotive, B&M, FTI Performance, Coan and Transmission Specialties, from $266.99 to $1,495.95: seven for GM TH350/TH400, two Powerglide, four 700R4/4L60E, three 4L80E, two Ford C4, one C6, one Ford AOD, three Mopar Torqueflite 727 and one 904. Every stall figure, diameter and bolt circle quoted below comes from that product’s own listing. Every order over $200 ships free.

OUR TORQUE CONVERTER PICKS

Product	Spec (from the product listing)	Price	Why it is here
Converter 350/400 2000-2200 Stall	TH350 / TH400, 2000-2200 RPM stall, 10.750 in bolt circle, Allstar Performance (per listing)	$266.99	The floor of this page: a mild-stall street converter for the two most common GM three-speeds, priced under every other pick here - the starting point for a stock or near-stock car that just needs a fresh converter.
GM Torque Converter 700R4 Lock- Up 2800-3200	700R4, lock-up, Street Bandit, 2800-3200 RPM stall, 10.750 in bolt circle, ACC Performance Products (per listing)	$565.06	The overdrive pick: a lock-up converter with real stall for a 700R4 street car - the combination that lets a cammed engine launch harder and still lock up and cruise in overdrive.
10in Street Fighter Torque Converter	TH350 / TH400, StreetFighter, 10 in diameter, 3000-3400 RPM stall, TCI Automotive (per listing)	$679.95	The street/strip core of the page: TCI’s StreetFighter at the 3,000-3,400 band most cammed small-blocks shop in, in the smaller 10 in case.
GM Torque Converter 10in Big Shot 4100-4500 RPM	TH350 / TH400, Big Shot, 10 in diameter, 4100-4500 RPM stall, 10.750 / 11.500 in bolt circle, Transmission Specialties (per listing)	$799.00	The race-stall pick: 4,100-4,500 RPM is drag-strip territory, matched to a cam that makes its power up high - the top of this page’s stall ladder.
Bolt-Together Converter Triple-Disc 4L80E/6X	4L80E / 6X (per title), bolt-together triple-disc, lock-up, 12 in diameter, 3000-3200 RPM stall, TCI Automotive (per listing)	$1,495.95	The ceiling of this page: a bolt-together, triple-disc lock-up converter for the 4L80E - the heavy-duty electronic overdrive - priced at the top because of how it is built, not because of its stall number.

STEP ONE: THE TRANSMISSION DECIDES FITMENT

The transmission name alone does not settle fitment, and the listings on this page show why. Spline count: the wider range carries 700R4 converters in both 27-spline and 30-spline versions and a 4L80E converter listed at 35-spline - the input shaft changed inside the same transmission name, so count yours or check the year break before ordering. Lock-up: the overdrive transmissions here (700R4, 4L60E, 4L80E) were built in lock-up form, and the three-speeds were not - a converter has to match the transmission’s own design, which is why the 700R4 shelf below carries both lock-up converters and, in the wider range, a non-lock-up version for converted cars. Bolt circle: the GM converters here are listed at 10.750 in, at 11.500 in, or dual-pattern 10.750 / 11.500 in; the Ford C4 pair sits at 10.5 in and the Mopar 727 converters at 10 in - your flexplate has to carry the pattern the converter is drilled for. Diameter is printed per listing where the maker states it (10 in and 12 in both appear below). Questions before you order? Call 213-549-4279 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm PT) with your transmission, year and spline count and we will read the listing with you.

STEP TWO: STALL IS A RANGE, NOT A PROMISE

Every stall figure on this page is a band - 2000-2200, 2800-3200, 4100-4500 - and that is the makers’ own honest format, not rounding. A converter does not leave the factory with one fixed stall speed: the rpm it actually stalls at in your car moves with engine torque, vehicle weight and rear gear, so the same converter stalls lower behind a mild small-block and higher behind a torquier engine. Read the bands as the sorting tool they are. The 1600-2600 bands (ACC’s TH350 Night Stalker at 1600-2200, the Allstar 2000-2200, TCI’s LS1 4L60E Breakaway at 2200-2600, ACC’s 4L80E lock-up at 2200-2800) are street converters for stock and mild cams. The 2800-3400 bands (the Hughes 3000 and TCI StreetFighter for TH350/TH400, ACC’s lock-up 700R4 and 2800-3200 C4, Hughes’ 727 and C6 3000s) are the street/strip middle, matched to cams that start making power higher. The 3500-and-up bands (Allstar 3200-3500 and Hughes 4000 for TH350/TH400, Hughes’ 3500 for the 727, Transmission Specialties’ Big Shot at 4100-4500) are race-leaning converters for combinations built around them. One street rule the makers repeat: a street car’s stall should sit below its highway cruise rpm, or the converter slips at cruise and builds heat - which is why the overdrive cars below want lock-up.

LOCK-UP: A FITMENT FACT ON THE OVERDRIVES

Lock-up is not an upgrade you add to any converter; it is part of how the overdrive transmissions were designed, and the converter either matches that design or it does not. Where a listing states lock-up, this page says so: ACC’s 700R4 converters at 1600-2200 and 2800-3200, its 4L80E converter (listed as lock-up, 35-spline, 2200-2800), Transmission Specialties’ LS 4L80E Big Shot (lock-up, 2800-3200) and TCI’s bolt-together triple-disc (lock-up, 3000-3200). The three-speed converters here - TH350/TH400, Powerglide, C4, C6, 727, 904 - state no lock-up in their listings because those transmissions were not built with it. If your 700R4 or 4L60E car has had its lock-up function deleted, the wider range linked below carries non-lock-up versions (ACC lists a 700R4 non-lock-up, 30-spline, at 2800-3200) - match the converter to the transmission as it is built today, not as it left the factory.

AN HONEST NOTE ON WHAT THE LISTINGS DO NOT SAY

Two members of this page are carried with their gaps named rather than filled. FTI’s Street Brawler for 700R4/4L60E states its diameter (12 in) and bolt circle (10.750 in) but publishes no stall figure in its listing, so none is printed here - call us and we will get the number from FTI rather than guess it. B&M’s Ford AOD Tork Master carries its 2400 series name in its title, but its listing publishes no stall range and no spec table, so the page claims the series name only. Three more limits apply to the whole page. No horsepower rating is printed anywhere: where a maker rates a converter line for power, that figure belongs to that line alone, is not measured the same way across brands, and never transfers to another converter on this page. No construction claim is repeated unless the listing makes it - furnace-brazed, billet and anti-ballooning features appear in the wider range’s listings and are claimed only there. And the wider range’s converter hardware is not here: TCI’s dummy converter (a mock-up unit, not a working converter), Hughes’ dump-valve kits, and the shim, spacer and motor-plate kits are components and tools, not converters, and are excluded by name.

QUESTIONS BUYERS ASK US

How much stall does my car need? Start from the cam, not the catalog: the converter’s stall band should begin where the cam starts making power, which is why mild cams pair with the 1600-2600 bands here and bigger cams with 2800 and up. Weight and rear gear move the answer inside the band - a heavier car or a taller gear works a converter harder. Bring your cam card, vehicle weight and gear ratio to the call and we will narrow the band before you order.

Will a 3000-stall converter stall at exactly 3,000 rpm in my car? No - and any seller who promises an exact number is guessing. Stall is rated as a range because engine torque, weight and gear all move it; the Hughes 3000 on this page is listed at a single nominal 3000 figure and will still flash differently behind a 300 ft-lb engine than behind a 600 ft-lb one. The band is the honest unit.

Lock-up or non-lock-up for my 700R4? Whichever your transmission is built for. A lock-up transmission needs a lock-up converter to keep its cruise lock-up function; a converted, lock-up-deleted car takes the non-lock-up version. It is a fitment match, not a performance choice - tell us how the transmission is set up today and we will point at the right shelf.

Does a smaller converter always stall higher? It is a tendency, not a rule: smaller-diameter converters generally stall higher and larger ones lower, which is why the 4100-4500 Big Shot here is a 10 in unit and the mild 4L80E lock-ups are 12 in - but internals matter as much as diameter, and the makers rate each converter by its band, not its size. Shop the band first, diameter second.

The transmission name matches - is that enough? Not on its own. Inside one name you still have spline count (27 vs 30 on 700R4s), lock-up year breaks, and bolt circle (10.750 vs 11.500 in on the GM three-speeds, 10.5 in on C4, 10 in on the 727s here). Check all three against your transmission and flexplate, or call us at 213-549-4279 with the transmission tag and year and we will check the listing with you.

Shopping the wider range? Browse the full Torque Converters and Components collection, read our guides on the News & Builds blog, or see the page that came before this one: Small Block Chevy Cylinder Heads.

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