I have a TH400 S/P and 3.08 rear end gears. I would like to get a better hole shot but I also want to drive the car on the freeways. I was thinking about switching out my rear end gears to a 3.42 or 3.55 but then I thought why not change my first gear in the tranny???? I could have the best of both worlds! Has anyone done this?? Is this a good idea? Is it difficult to do?? How much would the parts cost?? Thanks Tim
Tim, Alan Wander (69GS400's) has done this in Big Red. He has the 2.75 low gearset, which I think has a 1.57 second? The only downside is that the low gearsets are a little weaker than the standard gearset. Alan hasn't had any problem though, and you see the way he flogs Big Red.
I did this a long time ago in my '70 GS 455. It's always had a mild set up so it would be hard to say if it really helped or not. I think for the money you could do something else and get more benefit from it. I think it would make more of a difference in something heavy, like a tow vehicle or an Estate wagon. Does make it a little easier to grab rubber on the shifts, though! :TU:
Thanks Larry, I was just thinking that it will cost me about $300 to switch rear end gears (I already have 3.42 gears) and then I will suffer on the highway with steeper gears. So by changing the transmission gears I figure it would be about the same $$$$ but I would not worry about the highway driving. Oh well, it sounds like not too many people have done it. Tim
