Frank is known throughout the Midwest drag racing circuit as a force to reckon with. He was the 2010 IMSM Champion in the 8.00 index class and also 2011 GDRA 7.80 Index class champion he drives for Peterson Racing out of East Troy, Wisconsin.  Team Owner Larry Peterson is proud of his 1991 Corvette equipped with a 632 CI, naturally aspirated single carbureted engine built by Ultratec Race Engines out of Mishawaka, IN and in his class competes against blowers,turbo’s and nitrous equipped cars.  “We have a great driver, crew and car combination”, say Larry Peterson.  Our best run was 174.65 mph in 7.82 seconds, and that’s with a Midwest Converters Ultra Damper Torque Converter and Hydra Lock feature, along with a Midwest ProGlide Transmission in Rockford, IL

Update 7/12/17.  The Corvette was just purchased by Gordy Frank and added a cam upgrade along with a new 10 Clutch Cryo-Freeze direct drum with Kolene steels and Red Alto clutches.

Update 5/1/19. Gordy recently updated to Midwest Cryo treatment of the planet gear set and front pump.” Midwest just keeps offering updates no one else has. Things just get better! ” says Frank. We were looking for improvements and discovered  Midwest Converters in Rockford, Illinois who manufactures Midwest Racing Converters. Frank upgraded  his Power Glide transmission to a Midwest ProGlide™. Since switching from their SuperPro 8™ Power Glide Converter to the Popular and successful Reactor Converter w/  the Ultra Damper and Hydra-lock feature, they had a significant improvement to their racing program, including:

 ·  Reaction time improvement
·   60’ time improvements
·   Top speed, a 2 – 3 mph improvement under 1% slippage on the top end, with a 5500 stall.

Gordy has been around cars all his life.  He has raced in the former UDRA and Midwest Pro Stock Series,  he ran throughout the Midwest and for the last 2 years has been competing in the GDRA (Gamblers Drag Racing Association).  They run in the 7.80 index class because its exciting to compete for cash and trophies in the heads up Pro Tree Racing. It fits their car which has a rear wheel HP of 1048 with a near 0% slippage . Now Gordy can be seen racing the 8.60 index, with a detuned 632, while in 2018 being offered a position with Midwest as the official test car and driver, along with the managing Midwest R&D program.

 by Ed Mendosa author of Racing Times

When it comes to the strongest, toughest steel, think

GEN III™ Super Alloy Steel only From Midwest

When it comes to the

strongest, toughest torque converters, think

Midwest Converters

 Midwest Converters, along with Midwest Metallurgy, are part of the MW Group Inc. located in Rockford, Illinois. Midwest Metallurgy, and Midwest Converters are responsible for the development of the newest Super Alloy steel, Gen III™ steel. No one understands metal treatments like Owner Dennis Sneath. Period. I have never met a single person that understands metallurgy like Mr. Sneath. I also never knew about the many processes needed to make the toughest steel for racing converters. Mr. Sneath developed and owns many proprietary processes including but not limited to; a unique induction hardening, tempering, metal extruding, cryo- freezing, carburizing, rapid carbon diffusion nitriding, Vacuum Arc melting under precisely controlled atmospheres, temperatures, pressures, timing and gas selection that are needed to produce Yes, “the worlds toughest steel.“ Gen III Steel™ is beyond tough, it is tougher than 300M, 9310, Vasco, 4340, 52100 and even the very good “Nasa steel”. The elemental structure is proprietary as are the processes to make it. Only Midwest has it. Gen III is truly a “Super Alloy” rated with the highest core strength ever!

The Super Alloy steels category is reserved for the elite top performing alloy steels, some are not yet listed in the standard AISI/SAE heat treatable steels. Next, are Performance Alloys such as 52100, 9310, and 300M. These are great performing alloys that resist deformation and wear well above traditional alloys steel, and are usually quite friendly to heat treating and tempering to create hard wear resistant surfaces. There are also Alloys Steels, such as 4130, 4140, 8620 and such, which are just that; traditional alloy steels.

  The newest Super Alloy steel, Gen III™, steel was developed after the need was realized by Midwest Converters when previously available materials failed from extreme abuse and racing torture, and were deemed inadequate. So a further 3 year analyzing study, by root failure analysis was made. Big words for “why did it fail?” Was it lacking high fracture toughness or bending fatigue resistance? Was the % of elongation a consideration?Was the core strength of the material lacking? If so HOW do we approve it? Each aspect of failure was carefully examined and corrected until the highest performing steel was created. Samples were produced and tested. As predicted after several hardening, tempering and formulation processes were altered, perfection was finally achieved. The first part Midwest soon produced was a fully encapsulated outer sprag race for the popular 8-inch torque converter using the Gen III™ steel.

 But before we reveal the test results it is important to have an understanding of the outside influences thrown at a sprag assembly. It is more than torque, horsepower and shock; it is also the thermal resistance temperature. As the temperature climbs closer to the original steels tempering temperature, it starts to loose its ability to hold shape and size. This is one area that Gen III™ steel really shines. Gen III™ steel is tempered at upwards of 1100°F, nearly 3 times the temperature than conventional 9310 or 8620, meaning that it far out performs these performance alloys thermal resistance for use as gear and shaft materials. Simularly,  the core hardness or strength, also exceeded all other steels, including the “Nasa” designated steel with a core hardness of 52-56 rc and a tensile strength of over 300 ksi.  By the way, the Midwest sprag out performed previous materials by at least 23% and more in all testing.

  Gen III™ steel machines beautifully similar to other alloys and responds quite well to REM™ isotropic finishing. Due to the small batches that Midwest produces, high quality can be maintained. Although small batches cost more and delivery time can be delayed from, the finished product is well worth the extra cost and wait. 4-6 weeks have been the normal expectation with improved shipping predicted in the Spring 2020.  Midwest can issue interested partners with a licensing agreement and heat-treating instructions start to finish that most heat treaters can perform. Contact Dennis Sneath @ 815-229-9808 for more information.

Gen III™ Steel and REM™ are trademarks of the Midwest Group Inc and REM Surface Refinishing respectfully.

Midwest promotes BNS process for bearings

Previously, we announced our bearing improvements available from Midwest Converters. Well we now have over 55 commonly used bearings that have been treated by Midwest Metallurgy using a special Boron Nitrate Sulfate, or BNS, Vapor deposition process. We guarantee over twice the bearing performance and life expectancy  Make sure to ask for BNS upgrade when ordering your converters.