TC's and manual trans (was: Re: Smooth strategy)

[d houlton x0710]

Shannen Durphey wrote:
> 
> If you have any chances to roll around some of the car shows with well
> restored examples from the early 40's to late 50's, you'll see that
> the upper scale cars were designed to be very smooth.  In the
> transmissions, there were vacuum powered clutches, variable speed
> transmissions, standard trans with torque converters. Even
                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Oooh!, the magic words.  I was just about to ask about this.  Can 
anyone give me some info or point me to a source about torque convertors
and how exactly they work.  Are these tightly interdependant on an
automatic trans (because of the fluid used) or could they possibly be
used independantly?  I.e., adapted for use on a manual trans.

Forgetting for the moment about the specific machiningg, adapters, etc that
would be required to physically hook it up, is it possible or feasible 
to make it work outside of an automatic trans?  Is it's hydraulic fluid
supply sealed inside the convertor?  Could you fill the convertor and
seal it and expect it to work for very long or does it need a continuous
flow of fluid for cooling?  If so, would pressure need to be modulated
for any reason or does it just need a continuous flow?

thanks for any info
--Dan