302 idle and stall converter question

[brandonhalfmann]

so my 302 in my ranger has a mild cam and i dont know what rpm i should set the idle at? also i believe it has a bigger stall converter because when i try to put it into reverse or drive i have to rev it up for it to even go into gear? is that normal or am i wrong?

 

[superdave1984]

A stall converter shouldn't keep it from going into gear. That sounds like it isn't getting correct vacuum. Set your idle just high enough that it doesn't die when you come to a stop sign. Depending on the size of your cam and your torque converter, idle speed in park or neutral can be dramatically higher than in gear. If that's the case, you need a different converter.