The customer area of the Warren, Ohio shop is decorated in winner circle’s pictures. Dozens of them from what seem like every drag racing series, monster trucks and even burnout competitions in Australia. We’re told that they have champions on six continents. There is a trophy case with an army of Ironmen and Wally’s that belong to Marco, but he tells us he is most proud of the success of his customers.
“Every year we run an ad congratulating all of our finalists for that year. Big or small races, we like to recognize everyone who reached a final. It is my favorite piece of advertising we do each year.”
The team at Abruzzi will be building a Real Deal Powerglide and Money Maker converter and we thought we would find out what went into building championship winning transmissions and torque converters.
The Real Deal starts with a two-piece SFI case from Reid. After the 8 clutch drum is assembled, it is installed along with a billet 1.80 gear set and billet output shaft. Next up for the installation is the pump, Aerospace input shaft and Abruzzi Pro Tree trans brake to round out the major components. A deep aluminum oil pan and locking dipstick are added. From Abruzzi’s own CNC mills and lathes, come the billet aluminum servo and cover, billet shorty cover and overflow rank. Like every transmission that leaves Abruzzi Transmissions and Converters, once assembled, this Real Deal will go over to the dyno building where it is run on the transmission dyno to verify line pressure, trans brake release time and shift operation.
The Money Maker converter design is the result of thousands of ongoing test runs made with both Marco’s personal cars and a fleet of vehicles of every configuration that they use for testing. The Money Maker is built from all new parts including billet steel cover, steel stator, pump and turbine. The fins of the pump are furnace brazed and hand TIG welded before assembly. After Marco has selected the right configuration for a customer’s combination, it is assembled and welded on Super Flow converter welder. After the welding is completed, it is dynamically computer balanced on Super Flow converter balancer. Finally, it is leak tested and sent off to the paint booth.
With Marco himself being a racer, he understands the value of a dollar and appreciates his customer’s confidence in his products. That’s why Abruzzi offers a free 90-day stall change on all Money Maker converters and they offer a complete 1 year warranty on all racing converters and transmissions. They also offer onsite repairs of transmissions at the many events Marco attends.
For more information on Abruzzi Transmissions complete line of products, visit their website at http://abruzziracing.com or by phone at 330-369-1707 or e-mail marco@abruzziracing.com
