Will the 518 hold?

[peobryant]

I've had my truck for almost a year now, and other than a few little things, it's stock. I want to change that...

I plan on putting about 300hp to the ground. 350hp at the most. My question is, what will I need to do to allow the 518 to handle this? I really don't want to go for a full rebuild, so would a nice torque converter and shift kit help? I also want to increase the line pressure to the tranny.

I have known the guy I bought the truck from my whole life (he is the original owner) and it has only seen highway miles. The truck towed a little trailer once, so in no way is the tranny abused. It has about 187K on it.

Thanks in advance for the help,
Parker

[Philip]

With the milage your saying. I would do a rebuild on it.

If you install a converter and a shift kit it would last for a while. But at the time the trans does decide to die. You would be looking at a new converter agin. Do not reuse a converter after a trans failure. There a 4 or more quarts of debris you will not be able to get out of it.

My rule is if I have to remove an auto trans for any reason. Its time for a rebuild.

[rockjeep73]

For that power level I would just do a converter and valve body or shift kit. And if for some reason the trans does let go you can take your converter to a converter shop and have it cut apart and cleaned, no need to buy a new one.

[SNOOT]

Let me put your answer to your question in a little different way ...


You might be able to get a stock 518 to lay down 300HP but you will have to make more then the 30% loss to do it.

Lets say your truck makes 330HP at the crank and at the wheels it holds good and gets you 300HP on the rollers.

On a stock tranny to get the same 300HP to the rollers you might have to make 350HP.

Also as soon as you hit the 325-350HP range your going to need a few upgrades to keep the engine happy. Better fuel supply for starters. If you make 350HP the stock lift pump is just about out of fuel and you will cavitate your injection pump which = an engine that will need injector bleeding.

So you might be able to do it but your tranny will hate you for it..

A good converter will temporarily help that old girl but to keep things nice and tight you should do the valve body like talked about above.

It will not be long after that you will need to improve a lot more but you should get a couple years out of it.

JFYI the converter alone should make the best improvement and will get you about 2-3mpg better fuel millage.

[peobryant]

I think I've decided what I'm gonna do to the truck.

366 Spring, POD's or EDM my stockers, 16cm exhaust housing, and DennyT stage II fuel pin. That will probably be nowhere near 300hp, but I'm fine with that. Do you think the tranny could take that for a while?

[Mad Max]

my 93 is putting down 308/630 - it has PODs, fuel screw max'd, 366 spring, PDR HX-35, ATS pulse manifold, 14cm w/g collar, full 4" exhaust, and a DTT converter. The truck is a pulling monster considering it's a 518. We pull our '78 Ramcharger (CTD-powered 1-ton) up and over I-70 at ~ 40 mph with no problem.

It's all about the converter, and of course a healthy tranny.

I am swapping over to a 6-speed soonest, but that's mainly because I want an exhaust brake and more gears.

- M2