I'm pulling a 2.56 gear with my heavy, automatic '67 GTO convertible, and it does just fine. It's a 9.3:1 400 (406) with an 068 cam and #15 heads (87cc with small valves). Stock intake and ignition. Not a ball of fire off the line, but no slouch, either, and a real terror on the open road. Cruising 75-80 mph and getting over 20mpg doing it doesn't hurt much, either. My firm belief that even in a stickshift car, a 3.55 gear isn't needed, and is a detriment to street driving. BTDT, and changed the gearing on my 389 powered '65 GTO to 3.36, and would have gone to 3.23 or 3.08 if the carrier would have accomodated it. Tall rear gears like 2.56-2.93's will do better with a low-end torque type of engine combo, especially in a stickshift car though, and a mild cam is a better choice. FYI, the tallest oem gear that Pontiac offerec for manual trans cars was 3.08.
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Jeff 
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