[silver_pilate]

I've talked with some experienced racers who agree that you can actually trap faster at the big end of the trap with a locking converter. It gives you a direct connection from the motor to the tranny without using up power in converter slip and heat. At those speeds and rpms, you're already in the powerband of the motor and likely past the stall speed of the converter anyway, so the converter slip is not needed and simply uses up power.

I like the non lock-up for the street. It does make more heat and gives slightly less gas mileage, but it does allow torque multiplication in all gears, and it saves your tranny the "hit" experienced when a locking converter locks up. I've really enjoyed my PI non lock-up.

As far as a shift kit goes, you're going to end up spending somewhere around $100 for a shift kit. You might consider spending a bit more and getting a Lentech valve body. They are really nice units, and I've had many people tell me that they wish they had gone with the full valve body to begin with rather than doing the shift kit. Some even say it was the best mod they've done. It goes a long way to bullit-proof the tranny. There are guys out there running stock AOD's with a PI converter and a Lentech valve body running well into the 10's in the 1320 for over 3 seasons with no problems. It eliminates the need for the 1-D-1 shuffle and pretty much eliminates the problems with OD breakage. I paid $414 delivered to my door and fully customized for my car. It shifts 1-2-3 with electronic OD delete at the push of a button. I'm installing in two weeks and will let you know how it goes. From all I hear, the vb shifts upon command without the typical delay seen in AOD's, and it shifts depending on how you tell them to set it up.

Hope that helps.

--nathan