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Looking at your mods, I think you would be happier with the 3.55. The 3.73 might be a little too much for your engine and you might run out of rpms a little too soon. Also going from a 3.08 to a 3.55 is a nice jump and you would be pleased.
Glenn, I was just rubbing it in a little. :cheers: Can't wait to see my 60' with the new 1st gear. It'll be ready for the EFCC in 2 weeks. It was ready Friday night but 2nd gear wasn't quite right so we all (tranny shop & me) agreed .."BE PATIENT" and no All Chevy Show racing this past Sunday.
OHSIXX... What do you plan on doing with your 3.08. You can purchase a 3.55 ring & pinion from let's say Jeg's (personally I would get a new posi also) Do you have someone local & GOOD to rebuild the rear. OR you can do a swap-out with your rear. And on that note I don't think even half if not 3/4 of these suppliers actually rebuild them themselves. I once did get one from Corvette Central and had some good success. I think VAN STEEL rebuilds the rears themselves and they are some real good people and would stand behind it if something went wrong, but I would doubt anything going wrong, they do good work.
If you even have a hint of wanting to go with an o/d tranny you might want to look at a richmond 5 speed right now, you can keep your 3.08 gear and have it come out of the whole like a 3.70 but retain you current highway rpm's. Little more expensive for sure (seen them on ebay for $1k which ain't bad)but might be a better long term solution. I have a 3.70 and the highway rpm's are just killing me and my pocket book. If the Richmond 3.08 combo yeilding lower highway rpm's I would prolly go that route but will prolly got with either the richmond 6 speed or keisler tremec.
80 corvette with many recent engine mods. I just recently changed from 3.08 to 3.73. what a difference. but if your looking for a daily driver or for driving on the highway your going to want to look into an overdrive tranny.
If you even have a hint of wanting to go with an o/d tranny you might want to look at a richmond 5 speed right now, you can keep your 3.08 gear and have it come out of the whole like a 3.70 but retain you current highway rpm's. Little more expensive for sure (seen them on ebay for $1k which ain't bad)but might be a better long term solution. I have a 3.70 and the highway rpm's are just killing me and my pocket book. If the Richmond 3.08 combo yeilding lower highway rpm's I would prolly go that route but will prolly got with either the richmond 6 speed or keisler tremec.
Fevre... Correct me if I am wrong :eek: I thought the whole idea for an overdrive tranny is to have that tall 1st gear and then with the tall rear 2nd & 3rd become much more responsive but then 4th (auto) or 5th (manual) would be a pretty good highway gear. My god with a 3.08 rear & overdrive he can probably run at the "salt flats". When I had my M-20/3.73 combo, I looked into the richmond 5-speed (at least 10 years ago). The new combo would have looked like this... 5-speed (manual)/ 4.56 rear. 1st gear would "kickbutt" outta the hole and would still have more highway gear the the 3.73/m-20 combo.
Richmond 1st gear is 3.27 and 5th gear is 1:1. So with a 3.08 it is like having a 3.70 in first gear but still having a 3.08 in 5th. For someone with a 3.08 already and spending maybe $1,000 to 1,300 assuming getting a used Richmond that might be more attractive then getting a 3.70 gear and not liking to go on the e-way.
80 corvette with many recent engine mods. I just recently changed from 3.08 to 3.73. what a difference. but if your looking for a daily driver or for driving on the highway your going to want to look into an overdrive tranny.
Man am I THAT OLD . How fast do guys drive on the highway. I had a '71 Z/28 with a 3.73 and DROVE it from L.I. to Englishtown with no problem cruising at 80mph @ (about) 3300rpm. I had 3.73 in my '73 vette for ever and DROVE from So. Florida to the NCM TWICE , Atlanta 3-4 times, Alabama once. 3.73 ratio is KNOWN as the "all-around" gear. Awesome hole shots and a pretty good highway gear. I just felt going from a 3.08 to a 3.73 might be too much of a change for OHSIXX. But I definitly DO NOT think you need overdrive with a 3.73 gear.
I'm considering getting a 1-1 fifth gear No OverDrive manual tranny and installing a 2.73 rear end. Even a 2.56 might be Okay for lots of open freeway driving.
Richmond 1st gear is 3.27 and 5th gear is 1:1. So with a 3.08 it is like having a 3.70 in first gear but still having a 3.08 in 5th. For someone with a 3.08 already and spending maybe $1,000 to 1,300 assuming getting a used Richmond that might be more attractive then getting a 3.70 gear and not liking to go on the e-way.
Man am I THAT OLD . How fast do guys drive on the highway. I had a '71 Z/28 with a 3.73 and DROVE it from L.I. to Englishtown with no problem cruising at 80mph @ (about) 3300rpm.
I once drove my '79 Z28, with 4.56 gears, AND a 9" converter, from Pittsburgh to the Poconos (330+ miles one-way), averaging 55 MPH (6-hours, INCLUDING gas-stops & pee-calls)...
:crazy:
Man am I THAT OLD . How fast do guys drive on the highway. I had a '71 Z/28 with a 3.73 and DROVE it from L.I. to Englishtown with no problem cruising at 80mph @ (about) 3300rpm.
I once drove my '79 Z28, with 4.56 gears, AND a 9" converter, from Pittsburgh to the Poconos (330+ miles one-way), averaging 55 MPH (6-hours, INCLUDING gas-stops & pee-calls)...
:crazy:
Glenn, How many days did you say it took you with the 4.56. :jester
I'm considering getting a 1-1 fifth gear No OverDrive manual tranny and installing a 2.73 rear end. Even a 2.56 might be Okay for lots of open freeway driving.
George
I am assuming it is better, and prolly cheaper in rebuilds, to make the rear end do the high reving then the trans, is that why you are going that route? I have not seen any gears lower than a 3.08 for my rear but imagine they make them or I could get an aftermarket posi. More $ though.
lotahp
Yes the richmond is NOT a o/d trans, the Tremec is and I believe it has the same 3.27 first geat as the richmond.
My wife is going to HATE the 700r4. With the M-20/3.73 combo I would have to stop about every 2 hours or 150 miles. Which about right for "pee-time" for her. I can still wait longer (I'm not that old ) :jester
With th TH350/4.11 combo she loves it. She doesn't have to grabb my leg to tell me slow down there's a trooper up ahead. Everyone is passing me. I doing 70mph @ almost 4000rpm (real strong engine) :eek: :D
Glenn, How many days did you say it took you with the 4.56. :jester
On the way 'up', we did it in less than 6 1/2 hours; comming back, I took it easy, as the ol' THM400 was 'gettin' warm'.....
With my current '82 set-up, 60 MPH is 2000 RPM, almost a 3:1 ratio (tach-to-speedo)
One of the Vette track champion drag racers uses 4.30 rear gears with his 700R4. So he is near max rpm through the 1/4 with 10X28 slicks.
The reason I got rid of my 3.55 gearing and 700R4 is: I had to be driving 80 mph to even put it in lockup fourth gear. So after lots of figuring 4.11 seem logical. The only problem with gearing like that is that the pinion is spinning so fast that rearend gets so hot that you can't even touch it for 20 minutes after you pull off the track or a high speed run. That's even with synthetic 110w-140 weight gear oil.