[i82much]

I remember hearing from the old timers that a tri-chevy with 4.88’s and a 283 was the hot lick. So much has changed. Would have loved to been around when the flathead was king.

[Formulajones]

I daily drove a 56 nomad right up to about 1989-1990 with a high strung 327 and some gear out back. I grew up around guys that all ran gears.
Lick your eyebrows and be somebody is what they used to say all the time.

I had 4.10's in my chevelle at that time and they are still in there today. The ventura I had 4.88's in that one. Still have a factory 12 bolt BX code 69 Camaro 4.88 rear sitting here for the Z when I get the itch.

[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

I'm on both sides of the fence. I completely understand the attraction, and overdrive swaps in classic cars are the most popular upgrade I've seen in the last 10 years and still going strong.

But there is still the old school in me, and I don't mind a little bit of gear in a car, especially a runner. I've always considered gears in the mid 3's a very nice compromise for a driver with some performance mixed in. But I also like to run 27-28" tires on the cars too. If I can go 65-70 at 2800-3000 I consider that an acceptable compromise that gives me a reasonable highway speed. I don't feel like I need to keep up with traffic. There is always another lane they can use.

You have too many people on the road today in Detroit, that come up on a car (in the right lane doing 65-70 mph) and attempt to cut in front of a vehicle that is doing 75/85 mph in the left or middle lane and then you have accidents.

I see out of town license plates occasionally on vehicles doing 55-60 mph and few do 55-60 these days and this causes accidents because the flow of traffic is not moving smoothly when they are blocked by these cars.
Cars swerving into the other two lanes to get away from the "turtle" vehicles.
Most trucks here run in the faster center lane vs mess with the right lane.

So I can see driving 65-70 out west in places like Denver or Salt Lake City but those towns are not Detroit. You can be a hazard for driving too slow and causing traffic issues as well as driving too fast. FLOW OF TRAFFIC IS MY WAY OF DRIVING. Have not had a ticket in 45 years.

Tom V.

[Formulajones]

Sounds like they drive like idiots out there lol

Speed limit out here is 75, and most go 85 or better it seems. But it's still not a big hazard to go 65-70. 4 million people living in Phoenix alone, about the 3 or 4th largest city in the entire country. I've been doing it for 15 years out here.. and my share of it living back East as well. Not really a big deal.

I think what becomes a hazard is trying to do 50-55 out there.

Ya know what's funny is that even when I'm in a car that has overdrive, I still find myself going 65-70 mph. I just never really find a need to go much faster.

[shoebox1.1]

I love me some 3.23 ratio gears. 3k on the tach even with 26 inch tires is very manageable. Keep the exh quiet and NVH to a minimum and it’s a happy camper I agree with formula Jones , there’s plenty-o- fast lanes on the left side. Y’all go ahead! Here in Dallas everyone goes 100 on my morning commute!! Crazy

[Jay S]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

I daily drove a 56 nomad right up to about 1989-1990 with a high strung 327 and some gear out back. I grew up around guys that all ran gears.
Lick your eyebrows and be somebody is what they used to say all the time.

I had 4.10's in my chevelle at that time and they are still in there today. The ventura I had 4.88's in that one. Still have a factory 12 bolt BX code 69 Camaro 4.88 rear sitting here for the Z when I get the itch.

Yep. I remember the HS chevy classmates with the deep gears. Guy ahead of me a year had a 69 Z28 and another classmate with a 79 Z28 both had 5.13s and the factory wheels.. Watching them get on it they sounded mean winding quick, but didn’t look fast at all. They went to 4.10s and the 79 had 3.73s later on and ran better. Compared to the 5.13s the 4.10s were highway gears. Another Chevy friend with a manual Monte had 4.11s and short tires got pulled over because the state trooper though he was trying to run. He had to explain to the trooper it was geared like that

We bought a 440 six pack from a local guy that had it in a 70 Road Runner with with 4.30s. We bought his engine for our V code 70 cuda after he lost a rod bearing, from running 4400 rpm for 90 miles. Lol

I had 4.10s in my 71 Chevelle also. Over the years it has had 2.73s, 3.23s, 4.10s, and 4.88s. By far the most fun combo in it was a tight 4000 stall, 3.23s and 275/60-15s. The flywheel broke and screwed up the converter , we went to a 2200 that we already had. It still ran ok, but it is a shadow of what it was with the 4000. Even on the long trips it did good, lost a coupe mpg, but totally worth it for how it ran. It worked well enough that since then we set up our cars with tight converter rather than the AODs. But with an average converter the AOD is a lot better combo. If someone has to pocket book to do both that is even more awesome.

It is easy to understand why the AODs are so popular. .

[242177P]

Originally Posted by Jay S

Blows my mind Pontiac did 4.33s and 14” wheels!!!

In hindsight, it actually makes sense. Consider the 64 Thunderbolts, they came with a
single exhaust. On paper it looks ridiculous, but they were anticipating the owner's next
move. The tire technology of the day meant you needed taller tires (increased footprint)
if you wanted traction. In that respect, 4.33s were actually forward-looking.

I don't think they realized people were going to run them "as-is".

[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by 242177P

In hindsight, it actually makes sense. Consider the 64 Thunderbolts, they came with a
single exhaust. On paper it looks ridiculous, but they were anticipating the owner's next
move. The tire technology of the day meant you needed taller tires (increased footprint)
if you wanted traction. In that respect, 4.33s were actually forward-looking.

I don't think they realized people were going to run them "as-is".

A Lot of Truth in that post.

The factory gave you the basic drive line and you were responsible for the
matching of parts in the chassis and external engine systems.
In the old days they called that Hot Rodding.

But to day if you have a checkbook at 800 hp boosted Chrysler is a lot faster vs that 1966 389 Tri-power GTO or 1966 426 cid hemi Dodge 330 vehicle.

Tom V.

[MUSLCAH]

My 3:23 posi with turbo 400....67 GTO....cruises at 65 mph ...2800 rpm...27 inch tire 255 60 15

[Steve C.]

Skip's comment about his high school 409 Impala with cheater slicks brings back memories. A good example was Casler Cheater Slicks made in Ontario, California. I lived not far from there and put a set on my '57 Chevy that had a 327 engine out of a '62 Corvette along with it's 4-speed. With a 12-bolt rear end and 4.56 gears. My high school car in 1964 and like many here gave no thought about too much RPM's on the street.

My current '70 Trans Am came equipped from the factory as a non air car with TH400 and 3.73 gears, bought it in 1988 that way. It's also had 4.10 and 4.33 gears.
But 13 years ago I went to the 200-4R and 3.73 gears.... mellowed out with age

2300 rpm at 70 mph with converter slippage factored in.


.

[David Jones]

So, the vote from the PY forums is......back to short gears and tall bias ply tires.

[Formulajones]

Well.... My vote for best all around performance and drivability is short gears, with an overdrive. Best of both scenarios with no sacrifice on either end. Without the overdrive, one way or another you have to compromise one end of the spectrum, there is no way around it, that's just physics.

I do like the short gear and tall tire scenario, although I don't know what you consider tall. 27-28" is about normal on a muscle car in my book and we run a few cars this way.
But if you want to kill some gear for drivability you really need a 30" tire like a 255-70 or something like that if you really want to do something and make a change, and you can switch back to something shorter for a track day. We've done that for years on some cars but even that gets old after a while.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by David Jones

So, the vote from the PY forums is......back to short gears and tall bias ply tires.

flat tappet cams, leaded gas, styrofoam burger containers, and DDT for those pesky mosquitoes! Lead paint on the baby's crib and maybe get him one of those three-wheeler ATV's when he gets older. Put the kids in the bed of the truck and let's head out on the highway to go pick up a pack of smokes!

[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by i82much

flat tappet cams, leaded gas, styrofoam burger containers, and DDT for those pesky mosquitoes! Lead paint on the baby's crib and maybe get him one of those three-wheeler ATV's when he gets older. Put the kids in the bed of the truck and let's head out on the highway to go pick up a pack of smokes!

i82much, we used to drive down a country (gravel road) chasing coyotes with 2 in the cab, 3 in the bed, (standing up and leaning over the cab to fire the Winchester rifle (coyote killers) while running 75 mph. Oh what fun!!!!

(Lucky I am still alive from that time frame). Course everyone knew about guns but we still did stuff, like driving that fast on a gravel road with no seat belts anywhere on the vehicle and firing weapons. But again that is off subject and talking about what we did 50 years ago vs todays reality. Todays reality is a F-150 crew cab truck running 75 mph at 1750 rpm with a 10 speed trans and the ability to tow a 24 foot speed boat.

Tom V.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

i82much, we used to drive down a country (gravel road) chasing coyotes with 2 in the cab, 3 in the bed, (standing up and leaning over the cab to fire the Winchester rifle (coyote killers) while running 75 mph. Oh what fun!!!!

(Lucky I am still alive from that time frame). Course everyone knew about guns but we still did stuff, like driving that fast on a gravel road with no seat belts anywhere on the vehicle and firing weapons.

Tom V.

I have done the hunting from the back of the truck thing as well! Model 94 .30-30 lever action, back of a 68 Chevy truck, in West Virginia.

These days I get in my 2016 Silverado with air bags, stability control, and antilock brakes, hump around in the north Idaho woods looking for mule deer, using topo maps on my IPad and carrying a Tika stainless .300 win mag.

I have an old pre-62 Winchester 94 that I'll put out every now and again and walk through some brushy bottom land looking for whitetails. Maybe I'll fire up my old 72 Chevy and take it out hunting when my son gets older.

Still haven't completely given up on mud flaps, snow tires, and a daily driver policy for my 65 GTO ... I wonder how far into the woods I can get with tire chains and a Truetrac

[Half-Inch Stud]

Never liked a lot of rear gear.
Never liked to need a hi-reving engine just to move about. (( OHC-6 is an exception ))

Best Street combos practiced in my past were:
3.23:1 posi with a TH400 350/428/455
3.55:1 posi with a Stick OHC-6 SPRINT
2.54:1 posi with a Stick 400 (simply amazing)
2.73:1 posi with a TH400 455 ( wonderful )
2.73:1 posi with a stick 455
3.31:1 posi with a TH400 455
3.54:1 with a 4L80 455. ( OD saves te combo!)

Worst combos practiced in my past
4.10 posi with TH400 455
3.90:1 posi with TH400 455
3:55:1 posi with Stick 455 (yeap, too much gear)
3.54:1 posi with a TH400 455 ( yeap, too much gear)
3.55:1 OPEN Th400 400 (the worst)
Any OPEN Rear with a Pontiac Engine (open rears are for big-car safety on highway off ramps, and stationwagons)

[Dragncar]

Originally Posted by i82much

flat tappet cams, leaded gas, styrofoam burger containers, and DDT for those pesky mosquitoes! Lead paint on the baby's crib and maybe get him one of those three-wheeler ATV's when he gets older. Put the kids in the bed of the truck and let's head out on the highway to go pick up a pack of smokes!

Back when I was 11 and brother was 13 we used to get my mom to takes us up a small mountain just outside of town in our 66 Catalina station wagon with our Schwinn's in back. Took us too the top and she turned around and drove home.
We passed her up 1/4 way down the mountain, no helmets, pads, nothing.
Got home, re packed our rear coaster brakes with grease and did it again.
Who needs stink-in video games !
Hey, it started out in a Catalina so its a Pontiac related story !!

[Steve C.]

Onward thru the fog......

Consider a 4.250" stroke combo with 260 cfm cylinder heads, the ever popular Crower 60919 cam, Performer RPM intake and a Q-jet that would make peak torque at about 4500 rpm. With a 28-inch tire at 70 mph. Not practical, but for interest now determine the gear ratio that would place that highway cruise rpm even near that engine's torque peak. Why not, it damn well will provide crisp throttle response for passing on the open highway without the need to downshift.

The necessary gear ratio would be 4.56 !

.

[indymanjoe]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

You have too many people on the road today in Detroit, that come up on a car (in the right lane doing 65-70 mph) and attempt to cut in front of a vehicle that is doing 75/85 mph in the left or middle lane and then you have accidents.

I see out of town license plates occasionally on vehicles doing 55-60 mph and few do 55-60 these days and this causes accidents because the flow of traffic is not moving smoothly when they are blocked by these cars.
Cars swerving into the other two lanes to get away from the "turtle" vehicles.
Most trucks here run in the faster center lane vs mess with the right lane.

So I can see driving 65-70 out west in places like Denver or Salt Lake City but those towns are not Detroit. You can be a hazard for driving too slow and causing traffic issues as well as driving too fast. FLOW OF TRAFFIC IS MY WAY OF DRIVING. Have not had a ticket in 45 years.

Tom V.

And when ya mat the gas at 70+ its nice to run right around the slow guy,s.

[indymanjoe]

A lot of my driving is in the metro det area. with spirited drives to the UP..