i was thinking, a 2-speed tranny has a difference between 1st and high gear of .76, 1.76-1.00=.76 a turbo 350 or 400 has a difference between 1st and 2nd gear of 1.00, 2.52-1.52 or 2.48-1.48=1.00 thats a bigger spread then a 2-speed. also you only rev the engine to red line once in a 2-speed low to high, in a three speed you have to rev it 2 times, low to 2nd and 2nd to high. thats 1/2 the wear on your motor with a 2-speed. yea i know i shouldnt think. lol
I'm totally buying into that. Obvious benefits aside, have you done anything to your tranny? I understand your car is pretty quick. I guess while we're on the topic, what is your set up? Gears, Dual quads, etc...? I know you're in the 12's - How does it 60 ft?
on the tranny had it rebuilt nothing fancy, opened the oil feed hole like you did. the converter was rebuilt and got maybe another 250-300 stall out of it. 12.85 with a 60 ft time of 1.85 with wheel spin.did not do any of the suspenion work that you did which would really help a lot. dual quads with 3.23 posi that was all with my old motor that 66gsconv(Bob) is running now...on the engine i have now the dual quads loss bottom end and felt a little lazy because i went one size bigger cam then what Bobs motor has, so then change to a 800cfm edlebrock and docs mod which helped get the bottom end back and added 4* more advance on the timing gear. this motor run 12.75 on a hot day with a bad 1.92 60ft time again with wheel spin, will be getting new slicks the old ones are shot.the engine is now apart going over a few things that were not right also going with a solid lifter cam this time.like to be mid 12s (with some luck) this season. this is the mini stroker motor 446ci that am talking about.
Thats freakin awesome. Those are great ET's and 60fts. Where do you run? Are you still running the 8.2 axle (from all I've heard they dont hold up with the kind of HP you're putting out..) I am very happy with the suspension work I did, and it would be even more effective on your car probably. The stuff that paid off the most was getting the front end to come up, and the big contributor was the lower control arms...If nothing else I learned there's alot of ET in the suspension,and now when I add HP I know it's gonna get to the ground. Tom and I are going to the Northeast GS/GN chassis suspension seminar in March, I think you're in NY, right? Might be worth your while and there are still slots open... http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?261086-Dave-morgan-chassis-seminar&p=2151154#post2151154
i run at esta drags, yea the 8.2, never hook it so its not that hard on it. am in central ny. near syracuse. a good 400hp and 500 torque the old engine Bobs got was dyno at 400 hp-501 ft. i will get it dyno after i put the solid cam in and work out a few bugs.its a mild street car idles at 700 rpm in drive, just go to the drags to get 1/4mile times after i do big changes like a different cam.
The TH400 and it's 2.48 first gear would allow your rear gear to be a 2.56 and you would STILL have more first gear than you have with the ST300 and a 3.23 rear gear, 6.34 with a 400 & a 5.68 with the ST300. Multiply the rear gear by each of the trannies gears to get the effective gears. Ultimately a 4-speed auto would be the way to go. The gearing more than makes up for power loss due to drag. 3.06 first gear and .68 for the final gear which makes the 3.23 act like a 2.20 final gear! Easier to enjoy the rides more often and a way to surpass 20MPG with a BB muscle car.
already have bad traction so a lower first gear would make it worse. i know someone that raced every week with a nailhead, he said on a bad hooking track he would take his 3-speed sp 400 and put in his 2-speed. the difference he said was the 2-speed would be a tenth slower but go 1mph faster. so theres no way i would ever change over. if any thing i would do a 4-speed overdrive if i was going to drive a lot of highway miles, then theres even more of a traction problem. but most of all when i run 12s at the strip or beat some one on the street and after they ask what are you running i tell them 323 gears and a 2-speed and a 1.5 inch exhaust vavle, the look on there face (price less). one of my mopar friends at the strip (he knew my setup) ran over made me pop the hood started looking for the nitrous shot under the carb. no am as happy as a witch in a broom factory, with my 2-speed tranny .:grin: oh yea, you can do all math you want but from 1st to 2nd gear on a 3-speed its still 1 point difference and thats more then .76 difference for the 2-speed. ---------- Post added at 02:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 PM ---------- there is one reason-:dollar:. lol
Math it is. 1.76 to 1.00 is a 43% drop and going from a 2.48 to a 1.48 is a 40% drop. Recent auctions have shown that original cars with added OD trannies are not hurt($$$$) as it seems the cars are driven more now than a decade ago. Even so since you are running into the 12's I'd leave it alone too unless extended driving was the goal. Starting from scratch I believe the 700R4 is the way to go. The converter will lock and even a lower stall could be run keeping tranny temps down. I'll bet many are surprised with the times and the setup!
I'm with GSGTX - I cant believe I'm gonna defend the two speed, but for whatever reason they just work really well. I totally get the RPM drop from 1st to 2nd is like falling off a cliff, but somehow puts the RPMS right back in the torque peak and you barely notice. All the math in the world wont stop a guy (or woman) from scratching their head and wondering why this tranny works as well as it does. I love my TH 400's, greatest tranny in the world and I've driven enough 200 and 700 R4's to appreciate their top end potentilal. But even knowing all that, I cant bring myself to swapl the ST300 out. And I have a complete, known good ST-400 and all associated hardware sitting right on the floor next to the car, staring at me!
GSGTX's high 12's is a testament to the fact the 2-speed works. As long as the motor makes enough torque. If you want to drive any distance an OD tranny is the way to go and id a guy has a suspension that hooks..................
I agree a 2 speed is good for the drags,many fast cars use modified 'glides.However I think 3 or 4 gears are much better on the street.
No arguments there, but I will admit the switch pitch allows the use of a taller gear without penalty. I'm running 3.23's, and 60 fting where 3.73's cars generally wind up - 2.10 It's not a perfect formula, and I tach out at 3k or better all the way to the track. But I've blown by guys with 4.11's on the way!
why 700r4 over the 200r4? beefier and or the lower 1st gear. ---------- Post added at 08:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:50 PM ---------- Rhett, theres is a big drop like you say. on my original motor it would have to catch up. but believe me with the rebuilt engine and the right cam and switch pitch on high stall it keeps pulling as hard after the shift as before the shift. thats the one thing i kept thinking about with the built it had to keep pulling between the shift.
Cool link - I'm going to have to think about that one for a while. The net of it is, everybody has a horse in this race....
Idk, I am impressed wth a tire spinning 12.70 something with 2 speed and 3.23 rear. Everyone knows nailheads cant run 12s NA:gp:
Bob just think what your 60 ft time could be if you hook up, with 3.73 gear and 200r4 low 1st gear. good thing buicks have a box frame.
Joe, If everything works out I plane on getting to the track somtime this summer with this ratty looking and old top gs. If I can borrow some slicks from someone I have hopes to break in to the 12s.:laugh:
Didnt that rock guy sammy hagar have a song where he is yelling about not being able" to get my car out of second gear":laugh:
