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Inside a PI multi-disc converter 56K warning
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Posted by: Johnny Langton

Took my multi-disc PI converter into Circle D Specialties in Houston Thurday for Chris to cut open and restall/replace the clutches.
The clutches were burned,and were flaking some-I suspect that PI's clutch material choice is poor,and the material isn't suited for the load that they're seeing,because this converter only has 5K miles on it.
The clutch discs,and the lockup piston clutch:

The backside of the lockup piston:

Inside the front cover:
The clutches engage the cover in the "splines"

Fully brazed pump,turbine:

It had an 086 stator in it,we replaced it with a 102 stator to get some more stall speed out of it:

New clutches using high carbon material:

Relined lockup piston:

Assembled clutches in front cover:

For the most part this is a good converter,the clutch material just sucks.Chris is working on a multidisc that will have more surface area,and it uses a billet front cover, billet piston, and some other improvements over the PI multidisc, and should have them ready to sell in the coming months. I'll let you all know when he's got it ready,and what the pricing will be. It'll be nice to have an alternative to PI for a multidisc converter. I also got a look at a converter he's building for a Dodge SRT-10 truck with 3 dual sided clutchplates. It's a really nice piece, and he's going to make his 4R70W multidisc in a similar fashion, so it'll have more than enough surface area for serious applications.
He's making a single disc converter that's a nice alternative.It has approx 2x the clutch surface area as a stock Ford converter,has the good high-carbon clutch lining,and has a billet piston and front cover for max strength with less flex during lockup so it'll resist slippage.
Went to the track last night,and the stator change loosend it up by about 500 rpms,and was good enough to shave about 2 tenths off of the 60'.It's down to a 1.85 from just over a 2.0 since the cam change,so it still needs to leave harder.
JL

Posted by: VETTKLR

Hell yeah, man! Thanks for the detailed post and keep us updated!

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