833 behind a stout 440?
I have the iron 833od 4 speed and it is not made for fun. The ratio's are way too far apart and it make the shifting difficult and downshifting almost impossible. I have 2 of them if you want to find out for yourself I let them go at a reasonable price. :)
Hang on trapster
I agree; that the ratios are too far apart for a high-revving cam, like a 230 or bigger. But with a 220 or less it ain't all that bad.
I agree that downshifting into 3.09low is a bit of is a bit of a stretch unless you blip the throttle. Otherwise, once you get used to the splits, downshifting into the other gears isn't that bad. It certainly ain't any good for any kind of track work, but for a mild street build it ain't all that bad. So
I agree that in stock form that it is not made for fun. But in a lo-performance application like a smogger teen with 3.91s or better, it ain't all that bad.
Ok now;
That box needs a torquey low-rpm engine. Perfect for a slanty or stock 318.
if you street slickshift second, and rough up the shift cones, and run ATF, and run 4.10s, then badaboom; now it is fun time. This makes 60mph at the top of second to be 5100rpm, about perfect for a teener with a bit of a cam. The starter gear is 12.67, and you just have to hold it in first a lil longer than you are used to, before grabbing second. Then it buzzes up nicely to 35mph at 5500, dropping to 3000 in second. So then yes it is a bit of a pull to 60mph with that combo,so don't run a 108LSA cam. The factory 318-112*LSA cam does pretty good with 340 springs. And the bonus is that 65=2400rpm.
I ran that box with up to a 223/230/110 cam in my HO367 @
10.9Scr,(aluminum heads and 185psi-cranking) and with 3.55s for a couple of summers, and I agree that it wasn't the best idea I ever had. So I got me a GVOD and started splitting gears. I set it up with 4.30s in the back and the first four Road-ratios were; 13.29-10.36-7.18-5.60, so second/over was 73mph@5000 with the teener, and 100@6950 with the 367, and the splits were .78-.69-.78.. So that was two electric shifts and one tug on the stick; perfect for the 4bbl/otherwise stock, smogger-teen; and also perfect for the 367/223 cam. And 65 was still 1980 rpm. I ran that combo for a fun couple of years, until that 223 cam started dropping lobes.So then I up-cammed to a 230/237/110 cam, and that was the end of that combo. And also the end of swapping in the teener every fall, swapping in the 367 every spring.
So I guess what I'm saying is; while I agree that box ain't icing on the cake; for a streeter there are ways to make that overdrive box work. And for my swap-meet buy-in price of $50C for the box plus $2300usd (in 2005) for the GVOD, I thought it was a reasonably good combo.
