What was your favorite engine transmission and rear gear combo for the street
 

Since we are in a world where to much is still not enough and consumerism is at it's apogee

So in the spirit of going back to the basics of what really got us into this hobby

I'd be curious to hear your stories 'bout what was your "bestest" , most fun and favorite engine, transmisison and gear combo you've ever owned.

You are welcome to extrapolate on cam, induction , etc...

Can be any car not just Ponchos :p

Most fun ...not necessarily always the fastest.

Peter

400-3-Speed into a 2.54:1 Posi. 70 GTO
462- TH400 into a 2.73:1 Posi 68 GTO
469-4L80 into a 3.54:1 Posi 68 GTO

'77 Trans Am
Best daily driver combo: 400 with Super T-10 and 3.23 gears
Best stoplight combo: 455 with Super T-10 and 3.73

Eric

I find that the 3.23 gear is a great compromise gear on the highway with a TH350/TH400. You can run 65-75 without overreving the engine. The most carefree part of my 67 was when I had a throw-together 350/TH350 and 3.23s. It would run 80 on the highway and I didn't care if it blew up. It impressed my friends with the sound but didn't make quite enough power to break anything. The irony is the P350 took a lot of abuse and never failed, other than 1 head gasket. I put a set of gaskets, a set of 670 heads and a XE256 cam and ran it for another year.

One favorite truck was a 96 Dakota with the 318 magnum and some bolt ons. 3.55s and a powertrax locker. That truck would really scoot. Shame I couldn't keep a transmission in it.

I have too many to list but the better ones I remember are up there in the 4.10 gear range or more. But I grew up in an era where more was better. Back then we just daily drove them that way and it was fine.

Today, I still like more rear gear but prefer to have an overdrive in front of it to tame it down on the highway a bit.

Love 3.73's and 4.10's with an extra gear for the highway, probably my favorite these days.

A fun car I had was '67 Lemans Sprint, 3.90 posi, with a 5 speed OD installed to tame it at road speeds.

George

455, M20, 3.23/26" tires works pretty good.

I'm definitely enjoying my current 462/th400/3.36 combo over the same combo with 3.73's. The 3.36's still have a good bit of ratio to them for the big 462, but allows the engine to spend more time making power. The car is currently having a 4l80e installed. I'm assuming that will be great as well.

Outside of my Firebird, really the favorite drivetrain I've had was in my 1999 Mustang Cobra. The combination of the high strung aluminum 4.6L with the 3.27 gears was pretty fun. Not a ton of power below 3000 rpm, but that combination sings all the way to 7000 rpm. It's a fairly visceral experience that gets better when you put the car through its paces on track. It didn't pack the punch of the 2003 Terminator Cobra I once owned, but it was really well balanced in all of it's performance aspects.

370" LS, 228/234 .600/.600 cam, 4l80e and 3.73's in my 71 Cutlass is great everywhere. Makes me really want to slap a tkx in my 63 Catalina behind the 462 with the current 3.23's.

1970 GTO - 461/T-56/3.73
1970 T/A - 433/T-56/ 3.73
1973 T/A - 496/ T-56/3.73
1978 T/A -461/ 700R4/3.73
1978 T/A - 406/700R4/3.73

You know what they say, once you go overdrive you never go back. No wait, that doesn't rhyme, how does that go.......

LOL. This list doesn't count my stock 1987 T/A - L98/700R4/3.27?

I had an 88 Iroc with that setup. That was a nice driver and ran pretty decent for it's time.

Would have to say that my 79 Trans Am which I bought in 2005 and had it up and running in 2006 is my overall favorite. With the original 403 which I rebuilt, and the TH350, and 3.73 gears the car delivered a perfect balance of performance and street friendly manners. I could take it to the track and run 12 teens all day long and then drive it on the street like my daily driver. With the Q-jet it would idle at 800 and with the Dynomax turbo mufflers the sound level was very acceptable. I did drive it a few 40-50 mile trips but will admit that with the 3.73s it was not the best. I have thought about putting the 403 back in the car at some point and adding overdrive so I could take it on longer trips. Then I would put the current 463 into a dedicated race car. May be getting too old for that but you never know.

1967 Catalina- 6X-4 head 462, T-400 w 2.75 1st, 2.56 posi.
1971 Olds 442-Shafiroff 540 pump gas Chevy, T-400 w 10"Coan, 3.08 Moser 12 bolt posi.

1961 Falcon
302 with 8.8;1 compression and a 214/224 cam
C4 with shift kit
4.11 gear

If the street criteria included driving in wet/snow conditions, I like the Ford C4's ability to be in 2nd gear from a stop. A 3.0 or 2.75 rear with the C4 helps to avoid wheelspin on slippery roads.

RAIII 400 setup with a M20 or TKO and 3.7 to 4.1 rear gears
great all around fun
or anything with iron heads and a solid flat tappet cam, just the sound..... so soothing..... so hypnotic

62 Tempest 389 Tri-Power, 700R4, 3.50 rear end. Yea I know the rear end is a Ford 9 inch.