i building my 64 special its a 455 car right now it has 2.50s in the rear i was thinking on puting 4.11s in but ppl tell me thats too much gear for the motor if i wana still be steetable
If all you're doing is around town jaunts, no problem...but you won't want to spend any time on the freeway, in my opinion. Tall tires can help compensate, but with a well-built 455 I think you'll really like something in the 3.08:1 to 3.42:1 range, with a 26" - 28" tire. Devon
Devon's got it right :TU: 4:11s sound cool but if you have to DRIVE on the HWY --forget it! I have 342s with my 455 and 26.5 tires and it is starting to really bother me at hwy spds 65/70= 2700 to 3000 RPM which is really high ---a LOT of engine revs per mile :ball: --I am really considering 308s---the 455s torque REALLY helps and I doubt if I really lose a LOT of performance by going down to 308---I should have followed George N's recommendation he gave someone else a awhile back for 308s :Smarty: Just my opinion,Pete
Precisely why I'm keeping my 3.07:1 setup on the shelf while I try the 3.42:1 in my car...I have a feeling I'll be wishing for the 3.07's after awhile! Devon
Ch*vy and F*rd guys like deep rear gears because they don't have any torque and have to rev to high heaven just to get moving, which is why you see them slobbering over stuff like 4.11's... Used to have a car with 4.11's and a 4-speed - you could start out in 2nd if you wanted, and it'd would really accelerate, but ANY time driving at 60mph or better was just silly - you could see the gas gauge heading for "E", and the engine was just screaming. I looked into changing rear gears a couple of years ago from 3.08 to maybe 3.42 or so, but decided against it, even in a big heavy car. The highest I'd go is 3.23, but that's just me. 3.08 is the perfect street ratio, 3.42 for the strip, and anything deeper is strictly for the racetrack. (in MY humble opinion...)
Like jamers said the Buick has so much torque you don't need that much gear. I would go no lower than 3.08 in your combo, unless your building a race only car. In fact I'd try out the 2.50s gears in it now before changing gears, what rearend does it have now? I dropped from 3.42 to 2.56 and lost only .04 seconds in the quarter mile, in a 72 Lark at 4100#, and dropped the cruise RPMs from 2500 to 1850 with a coresponding increase in gas milage. The ultimate setup seems to be 3.42 or 3.73s with a 200r4 overdrive trans, mines just the poor mans setup. Dave B
4.11's I'd say are not streetable unless you had 200r4 to bring it down to about 2.75's (4.11X.67 overdrive gear) another thing you could do is but the 200r4 with your 2.50's as first gear in the 200r4's is much shorter and will give a better launch.
i ran 4.11 's for years behind my mild 430 with a 400 turbo . it was crazy torque'y and serious off the line . yet was too much gear ,first gear was short . i ended switching to 3.90's . got a few hundred rmps back at cruise speed . for performance loss i barely noticed any. yet i run 255/60 15's , tall tire .
I have 4.10s in my car and like them except in wet weather , dangerous ! Rear tires are 275.60x15 . Dry take of is feather the throttle but I still like the gear , but that is just me .
My '71 Lark 462 has 4.11's and is VERY STREETABLE ..... just not very freeway friendly. :laugh: I have 28 x 12.5 x 15 's on the rear, which does help out on the hook up and cruise speed. At 60-65 with converter slip I am about 3300-3400 RPM, which is more that I want it to be. I drive around town and a 3 mile freeway trip to the 1/4 mile track. Good weather only, once got caught in rain and I was unable to keep it hooked up around corners :3gears: What is the tallest tire you can fit in your tubs? What converter are you running? What kind of driving are you doing with it? Are you interested in going with a TH200R or $$$ gear vendor overdrive? If you are doing a bit of cruising and the occational 1/4 trip and a freeway flyby, I am sure 3.23's or 3.42's will take care of it. I am considering either the GV-OD or switching to 3.50'ish next year. Thats my view on it, good luck and have fun- Jim
4.11s can be streetable, just not fun on the highway. Give you lots of torque you never expected and is very easy to break thr tires loose. But expect to do aroun 3500-4000 rpms at 60mph with 26" tires. Like they said above, stay in the 3 series if you do hwy driving.
3.31's perfect! I have a BBB 455 with TH350 and 3.31 gears in a 12 bolt. It is perfect in my opinion. Tons of power over the whole rpm range. I run in the 12's in the 1/4 & it was .17 faster after switching from 3.73's to 3.31's. I hated driving down the highway at nearly 4,000 rpm. Top speed was like only 90mph. I hear they do not make 3.31's new anymore. :-( Mike
i have 3.42s in my lark convert with a 430 with a 350 trans decent setup the overdrive transmissions mentioned have a great first gear and you still wouldnt need 4.10s you could go 400 trans gear vendors overdrive but is not cheap 3.42 or 3.73 would be :TU: good for all around decide if you want gas mpg or go go go and decide from there
the 455 a torque monster so make it pull, try the 2.50 gears you've got as you can always change it out later. You may be pleasantly surprized...
Amen to that!! Torque makes all the difference. I used to own a Dodge Royal Monaco with the U code 440 and 2.7 something gears and it was a slug out of the hole, ran great from 20 MPH and up. Had a 1.96 sixty foot time at the track a week ago with 2.56s in a 4100# car.
