could someone out there tell me which gear would work well for mostly traveling 10 to 20 miles for shows, crusing, and the ocasional street race? i've got a 461 rat with 4 sp current 4.10 posi. it turns 3200 rpm's at 60 mph and eats up a bunch of 110 octane. (12 to 1 comp.) i'm between going to a richmond 5 sp or downsizing to maybe 3.30 gear. any advice? (sorry about the subject line, i couldn't resist) john

John if you drop to a 3.30 final drive ratio, your cruising RPM's will drop BUT the car is REALLY going to slow down compared to what you have right now. If your goal is to drop cruising RPM's without losing too much low-end torque, then I would either install taller tires (say 28-30" diameter) or go with a 3.73 or 3.55 rear gear set.

From the way you use your car right now, I think that the 4.10 you have is the perfect gear, IMO. It's what I use, my 'Velle is also a weekend cruiser and THANKFULLY gas is cheap still here in America. Hope this helps!

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1970 Malibu - 383 'Fog Fed' Stroker! Houston, Texas...Gold Member #39
Now looking for a 70' ragtop to... "Drop a Gear and Disappear!"

Favorite rear end? Toss up between Jennifer Lopez and the actres who plays Ashley on the show "2 guys and a girl" http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Kurt, glad his girlfriend doesn't go to this site


[This message has been edited by Byfield (edited 12-16-99).]

Good to know that someone else was thinking along the same lines as I was. But, it was Kurt..so I'm not sure what that says. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif
It's a tossup between my wife's and Denise Austin!

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Better Late than Never Fred
Team Chevelle #400
Madness takes it's toll, please have exact change.
www.chevelles.com/showroom/Riffers70_1 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Riffers70_1)

Sounds like your best solution would be to drop your compression ratio. Your problem is not that the car sucks too much gas (these cars ALWAYS will if built for racing) its that the gas you have to use is so expensive. Maybe get extra thick head gaskets, a loose converter and back off the timing if your gonna just cruise. You would be surprised how well a high sqeeze car will run on pump gas if just used to fart around in. My 11.5:1 chevelle will run all day on 93 octane with iron heads. The 3500 stall and 4:11 gears help to take load off the engine and backing off the timing often does the trick. When going up hills (or with a few guys in the car I can hear it start to ping a little. Just drop in a can of octane booster and its all good. The performance you would lose lowering compression will not be NEAR as much as if you changed gears, not to mention the cost of a new 5 speed.

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66 Big-Block Chevelle Houston, TX ACES#3321

You read my mind Kurt! The total package that is: Jennifer Lopez.

John: I'd say go aluminum heads which perform better on ****tier gas with high-compression engines (anyone know exactly why that is?), thicker head gasket, and the converter and timing suggestions that RatPowr had.

RatPowr: And if you threw on some aluminum heads yourself, you could probably run on cat-pee gasoline all day long.

john
I would leave the car just the way it is,and pay the price for the fuel you burn,h.p. and performance dont come cheap,I have the same thing,427,12 to 1, 4.88s,I wont give up a little performance for fuel milage.or cost!
as for favorite rear ends---AMBER LYNN!
67RAT MEMBER #199

You can't have it your cake and eat it too! That car must be pretty quick, and going fast costs money. The grass is always greener.... After I get about 2000 miles on my 402, I'm going to wish I'd have built at least a 454 with 11.5 to 1, to go fast instead of drive nice. Just keep feeding the monster, it has a mind, and it can tell when you are going to turn on it.

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Steve

72 Chevelle SS402/4sp

I could only wish I had 4.11's,,,I am working on a deal for a completely redone 12 bolt w/ 3.73's for 750.00 with disc brakes too....I love Sherry's rearend =)

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Bob West
Monett,Mo.
72 Chevelle 461 ci.



[This message has been edited by Fast Bob (edited 12-16-99).]

thanks for all the opinions, i wasn't woried about the cost of fuel as much as the beating the engine takes. by the way any trekies out there? 7 of 9 has the nicest rear of all, second only to my wife.

happy holidays to all, john..

The reason aluminum heads allow you to get away with less octane is that they cool the chamber so much better. Take away some of that heat and it's less prone to detonation. Which means you can get away with even more compression. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

yeah, its not cheap but get an overdrive trans. like the richmond you spoke of...

that way your car is basically unchanged from its current state except that you will have the overdrive, and a new richmond will raise the value of the car, you win either way..



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Mike Reeh
Gold #34
San Diego, CA

None of the Richmond 5 speed trannys have an overdrive top gear. Only the 6 speeds have one.

For your application it sounds like you're running the right gear. Sure a 5 sp Richmond would duplicate 1,2,3,4 and give you a final of below 3.3 , but really if you;re cruising 10-20 miles only why hassle?

Oh, DANNI ASHE w/o a doubt!

Put my vote in for Jennifer Lopez too! Or maybe Alicia Silverstone....