[Mark Yacavone]

Kevin,
I've been avoiding this one, hoping someone else would handle it.
You are pretty much correct in your analysis I believe.
The theory behind the 7" is #1, lighter weight, which is always good,
and # 2, to be able to achieve a higher stall without having to bend the pump fins into much of a negative configuration.
Now, seeing the stator is actually physically smaller than the 8" Opel style unit, you are going to have a hard time getting a fabricated 7" stator to be able to multiply the same amount of torque as the 8".
Remember, at the approx. 2 to 1 multiplication ratio , the more torque you start with, the more you'll have after the converter.
If your car is in the middle of the pack now ( not necessarily yours personally), you can see where the problem lies.
There are still plenty of top qualifying SBC cars that are still using 8" converters.
If your car is not there yet, you'd be wise to spend your money elsewhere right now.
The 7" converter is not going to be the magic bullet you're looking for...in my opinion.