My dad had a '69 Charger with a 4.56 in it and it was a blast around town but ****ed on the highway. I had 3.96 gears in a '71 Skylark and even that was too much for my taste but at least it wasn't killing the car as much. If you're driving around town, you'll probably like it just fine. And if you get tired of shifting you can just start in second gear and pretend you have a 3-speed! A 3.42 is a good compromise gear.
It's a 327 it will live, its not ideal but if you don't plan on long trips it will certainly not kill it. My brother has a street car with 5.43 gear and 4 speed now that's not highway friendly!
Ditto. My old 78 GMC one ton had a 350 & auto trans with 4.11's and at 60mph it tached 3 grand. Drove the hell out of it and never thought that 3 grand was reving too much.
Ideal.... No! Won't kill it....... Well then explain why cars today get 200,000 - 300,000 miles on them without batting an eye while cars of the 70's and before were considered "tired iron" when they reached 80,000 miles? Answer: Overdrive transmissions Why: Much lower engine RPM's which equate to much less "wear & tear". It's more than just fuel economy.
Another factor is that we rarely if ever drove on any interstates years ago. Most or all of our driving was around town or maybe on a country two lane road. So those 70,000 miles were all at fairly low speeds. These days we want to jump on the interstate and go a lot further and faster than we ever took our hopped up cars in the past. I ran 5.13's in a 64 Chevy and 4.88's in a 68 Mustang and those were my daily drivers. But times change. Don
Ha Ha! I remember an old Bardahl commercial that went, "when your car reaches 60... 60,000 miles that is". Because car's engines were getting tired by then.
ricmond have a calculater for this and put in numbers is a good idea before you buy parts. if you want speed good number is 10.0 with a manual on first gear.thats why bonneville cars sometime need push cars to save cluch.
Uh, did you mean 235/70? no such thing as a 237 a 235/70-15 is just under 28" (depending on brand). At 65 you will be turning 3563 RPM and at 70 3837RPM. Anything slower than that would get you run over in So Cal traffic most of the time
The '55 Chevy in my avatar was my daily driver back in the '70's. I commuted to work everyday in rush hour traffic. Having 4:56's with a 327 and 4 speed wasn't a big deal because traffic was so slow on the freeways. Gas was also 65 cents a gallon, up from 25 cents a gallon, due to the "fake" shortage. My '68 Vette had 4:88 gears with 454 and 4 speed but it was a Saturday night car.
Yeah, I don't know where some of these guys are coming up with 3000 rpm. Ain't gonna happen! Like I said, closer to 4 grand!
I had a 63 corvette coupe several years ago with that same set up. Boy, That ****er could sure fry tires and was very hard to hold straight !!!! Sure wish I had it back LOL
Stoplight to stoplight, you've got killer setup. Great fun, but with a price to pay. Plus, sooner than later, you'll get to learn how to rebuild that 327! Had a buddy way back in high school, '67 Stang, 289/4spd. Put a set of 4.57s in it. Thing was a blast, and rightously quick. He couldn't keep his foot out of it. Poor little 289 was puffin' smoke pretty good within a couple of months time. Enjoy!
That's quite a few revs even for a 327 long term. How is the 327 built? If it was put together to suit the Muncie and those gears it probably won't run very efficient at low rpm. Sounds like fun but as mentioned can you afford to pump the gas into it? I agree with those that suggested a 5 speed, not only do you get the o.d. but normally also a better first gear. Should run like a scalded cat and will probably be the most cost effective solution.
Don’t let these old goats talk you into turning a cool “Hot Rod” into a cute little street rod! Next they will be saying to put a dang 700R in it! If an old guy like me can handle 3:73’s and a real d**m 4 speed, a young buck like you can handle 4:56’s. I just cruise along at my own pace looking cool and let the rest of the world p*** by. The time will come for overdrives and 3:08 gears soon enough. Then you can turn that little Hot Rod into a old man’s street rod. But until then burn those hides off little buddy!
We didn't pluck the number from thin air, simply put 4.56, 28" (cause i had no size to reference at that time) 55mph into the RPM calculator and you get 3010 rpm. Regardless, it's not the ideal gear for street use at higher speeds, most of us can agree on that anyway. RICHMOND Street Performance Calculator will give you the same answer.
Thank you!! I was just about to invoke the same sort of comment. My GOD.... Try it out and have some fun with it. If you absolutely hate it, then make a swap. Then you'll at least have knowledge of what those gears are like. Gears are like camshafts and different kinds of Women......you think you like red heads the best, then you try out a blonde or a brunette and those are good too, but different things are better, they handle different. But then you've go the experience. No better way than to learn about cams than to try different ones in the same engine. You'll figure out what you like.
Fitting a 28" tire into an early Nova is a task in itself. ON a 28" tire, 70 mph is just a tick over 3800. On a 26" tire (which is like a 235/60-15) it's over 4100.
Big difference between a 700r and a Richmond 5 speed. Look for a used/rebuilt one. the shifter sits about 2'' farther back, but reworking the shifter lever ought to work. you decide when to use 5th gear O.D.
" Well said...And when you switch from the 4.56's to the "HAMB street rodder approved" 3.42's yer gonna think two plug wires have fallen off. Also ask yourself how much of your driving is actually on the freeway, at freeway speeds and how much is on 40mph secondary roads. If your anything like me, its about 10/90, and the big gears are WAY more fun in town. PS: 52 and counting, and when I start putting 3.08s in my cars, I know its time to break out the depends and put myself in a home.
He asked about Cruisin on the Highway though - and Cruisin down the highway at 50 because you are gear limited is NO Fun at all. Around town the 4.56's would be a ball, but watching the world go by while you rev the piss out of your motor, and getting rear ended in 75 MPH traffic, ****S And since your 3.73's would be under 3 grand at 65 with the same tire, it isn't much of a comparison to his at almost 3600.
exactly,i ran 4:88 in my nova for a long time.then i had to drive 60 miles one way to work every day and detuned it and put in 4:11s lol.if shes screwed together right she will last.i say let her eat.
To be totally honest here, 4.56s with a tire under 28" are pretty short, 4.10s would probably be a better compromise. By the same token, I had 4.56s with tires a tad over 28" and an automatic in my last car, but I would consider it a full-on street racer combo. My 327 powered chevy II is getting 4.10s, 26" tires and a 200R4, and I consider that a daily driver combo.When we were his age, everyone on my circles ran similar combos, and anything taller than 4.10s were "geezer gears". He's only gonna be young once, I say cruise it at 55, and BANG! SLAM! Glovebox door flops open on sudden WOT! This stuff is supposed to be fun. IF you get it out of your system (I never did) THEN plug some 3.91s in. A 327 with 3.08s behind it is gonna get beat up on by soccer moms in Escalades, and thats just WRONG.
My 55 Chevy sounds similar to your car. It was mostly for running from hang out to hang out. The interstate is not where you want to be with that set up except maybe to go through the gears to blow it out after a night of cruising around.
"And since your 3.73's would be under 3 grand at 65 with the same tire, it isn't much of a comparison to his at almost 3600." Well I'm taking into account he is about 19 and I'm 56! I figure he should spot me 600 or so RPMs. But for those rare accasions when I'm feeling like showing my old ***, I do have a 5:13 setup on the shelf to drop in! Try those kid, you'll like it! <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
fuel injection, cleaner gas, better filters all contribute to the engine life also higher operating temps---4.56, 4speed,327 is a fun combo for a young guy---ran 5.13s (in the day) around town--3.70s for a highway gear---have fun
to check yourself for current set up and what other gear/trans combo would do for your ride: project33.com and click on calculators
Ha Ha! You gonna buy him his gas and tires Skipper! Ha Ha! That's some funny **** right there! ^ ^ ^ You're absolutely right! That's exactly what happens almost every time I launch. Damn I wish I knew how to fix that. Oh and George, you forgot to mention that everything in the glovebox ends up on the p***enger's seat and all over the car.
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