Well, the rear end in the beast is 2:56 and it is just too damned low for a standard. plus in 4th I'm almost lugging at LEGAL highway speed LOL.

Whats the simplist fix, can one just change out the RE gears? Any one point me in the right direction? I'm thinking 3.23 as I don't intend to race but want something good on the highway as well.

Thx

You can change the rear gear ratio..

-you have to change the ring and pinion..

-Not too hard but you need to be sure that the gears are aligned 100%..

I did mine and went from 4.56:1 to 3.55:1 and I am very happy matches up nice to the M21.

3.55 ratio is the lowest you can get new. Otherwise, you have to go used.

3.23 gears will give you about 10% less rpm than running in third with your present gear, 3.55 gears would be almost exactly the same as third gear!

Simplest fix is to drive fast enough not to lug the engine.

very true vikki, but it would take so long to get there with 2.56 gears

Autobahn gears!

I like the 3.55's. I don't do the expressway thing much though. 40 miles on Sunday was enough to get me looking for a good exit. I wouldn't trade to anything higher because I might lose my chirp when it hits third. I did notice that you get a lot of respect on the expressway with these old cars. People can't believe that you have one that is actually not a trailer queen and you can drive it some distance. I got a dozen 'thumbs up' signs in those 25 minutes.

I'm sure that Bjorn will agree that it doesn't take very long to get anywhere with 2.56 gears! Cruising at 80-90 mph is easy and I don't have to stop every half hour to fill up!

With my '69 and 2.56 gears the only place the car was "slow" was 0-30 mph at 3.4 seconds. The next 30 mph was faster, and a chirp when shifting at 70 mph is a chirp, whether going into second or third!

I found 3.23s with 255/60-15 tires to be a reasonable compromise with a 4 speed, could blitz the tires through first and into second while still being able to run 85 mph all day long.

Thats why I was thinking 323s. As I do like to cruise the beach once in a while and the 256's I'm clutching a lot! Plus the back country road I am either over revving in 3rd or going to get a nasty ticket in 4th!!

She's still got plenty of GO once I get it rolling...

so I can't get 323 gears new?

Richmond Gear is about the only way to go and their lowest ratio is 3.55. Take a look at Summit Racing's website.

the only time I has 2.56 gears was before the build
i had a dying powerglide and 326, it was slow from 40 mph+ and slower from 0-40
so it was just me, but i though 2.56 gears sucked, oh well i guess not

That was the two speed trans. It's second gear and third, not first and second. Combined with that axle you would have gradual acceleration.