I have a 87 Turbo T with stock heads, IC, and turbo, 2.5 Hookher exhaust, adj. regulator set at 43 lbs. I fried the tranny and since it has to be completely anyway, i figured I might as well put a new converter in. I was looking at a vigilante, but was wondering if the gain was worth the $$$. I was thinking a 3000-3200 L/U because the turbo and IC will be replaced soon anyway. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I purchased a vigilante and can tell a big difference between it and stock D5 converter. Just looking at the converter you can see that they are built to last. As far as vigilantes being worth the money, thats relative. If you plan on racing your TR then it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to upgrade to a vigilante, but just for an everyday driver you can live without it. That being said the acceleration increase from the extra torque multiplication at it's stall speed is one of vigilantes best features, as well as the heavy duty lining for the converter clutch.
Just make sure that you select the right stall speed and you'll be happy. When I ordered mine the sales rep recommended a 3000 stall speed based on my specs(stock turbo and cam, basically just induction and exhaust upgrades).