Mike,

I have a dragster that uses a 1/4-inch midplate. The door car that will donate the motor and trans does not. Will I have to do anything to the converter to fit this up? I have shims for the flexplate. This is an A-1 glide and 8-inch converter.

D. Wallace

Dear D,

Yes, you will need to add spacing to your converter. Most companies, including ours, have spacers for just such a project.

Converter spacing is very important because it sets up how much bite the converter has into the pump gears. Normally on powerglides we'll set them up at 1/16-inch minimum to 1/8-inch maximum clearance between the flexplate and the torque converter drive lugs.

The most important thing is that the pilot of your converter reaches the crankshaft, because this is what actually aligns the converter with the engine. If spacers are needed for the bolts, I suggest hardened washers - "head bolt washers" - depending on the size either 7/16 or 1/2-inch.

Torque converter bolts should always be grade 8, fine thread, preferably with a shoulder to register in the flywheel. Converter bolts should be torqued with a torque wrench, 7/16-inch at 75 ft lbs and 1/2-inch at 100 ft lbs.

Assembling with the right components can make all the difference.

Mike

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