Hello guys,
I was visiting with JohnnyB the other day and we had a conversation that was about fuel mileage and that you could get a little more if you had a lockup torque converter. Last night we were trying to narrow down which year vehicle has these T.C. but could determine it.

Does anyone here know what year donor vehicle I should be looking at to get a lockup torque converter?

Found the answer by searching some old threads in the Mitsubishi Tech section.

I'm assuming you mean for a v6. I'm not sure about the 2.6L engines but for the v6, 1990 is when they started showing up.

Yes, this would be for the 3.0L V6 engine.

Interesting side note, the USDM Delica got fuel injection and a lockup torque converter in 1987. Had they put that combo in the Montero and Mighty Max as well back then we'd have probably thousands more on the road today.

Here is a link to the thread I brought up earlier. It's the original lockup torque converter thread.

Has anyone documented how they did this upgrade on a Gen I? I'm specifically interested in a write up and some results. If not I'll plan on doing it myself.

I spent a few hours at the junk yard over the past couple days extracting the Torque Converter and the Automatic Transmission fluid pump assembly. I'm freaking sore in wired parts of my body. I didn't know that my Achilles' tendon could get sore. Damn.

I have to find a weeping oil leak on my engine so I'll be pulling it out pretty soon. I'll install that torque converter and the other parts at the same time. I'll be deliberate on how I document this.

Jay, I did that swap a few years ago with a complete transmission. Before I installed it, I completely rebuilt the transmission. Somewhere in the rebuild I made a mistake, which caused me to have it professionally rebuilt. After that, there were no issues with it, but I had a slightly different sort of 3.0L.

The main advantage of the lockup torque converter is better fuel mileage, but it might be at the expense of a smooth power curve through the gears on acceleration. Where the non-lockup torque converter allows the engine to maintain revs during the shift process to build momentum in the next gear, the lockup converter eliminates that and clamps down at the shift. I sensed that a naturally aspirated 3.0L might have a flat spot as soon as the shift occurred - mainly because my engine often went into boost at the shift to main power demand from the throttle setting.

It's entirely possible that the Diamante cams I was using also contributed to the issue for me. The truck cams may work just fine with the lockup converter, since there is more low rpm torque with those than what I installed.

Yes, both Kevin and I put a V6 lockup transmission unit in our Turbo 2.6 vehicles. But you are looking a journey ahead.

I wrote up a thread on here called "my transmission swap from hell" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

You are going to need the bellhousing, lines, linkages, cooler. wiring (or make your own custom for the OD) shifter, etc,etc.

Fun stuff.. ohh yeah.. and it sucks alot of power! If you are interested... I'm thinking about ripping my setup out and putting back in the 5sp!!

Here's the link from back in '11... I'll see if I can get the pics up and running again!
Trans Conversion from Hell!!

I just had my lockup torque convertor rebuilt at Superior Torque Converter in PDX. The say the thrust bearings are a weak spot in them and are replaced as well as the clutch lining during rebuild. Cost was $190 with a 3 hour turnaround time! I haven't been able to put much time in my 91 Monty lately. I was hoping for a Memorial Day assembly, but things keep getting in the way.