Want to switch my gearing Advice please!)

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Dart_Vader

Dart_Vader

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I just bought my '70 Swinger with a '67 383 in it. The car came with 323 gears and came with an extra set of new 355's. I would like to swap out the gears and go for something a little more 'street' if you will. I have a 727 Tranny and my tires are 215/70R14's.

The questions are:

1) How long does it take to swap gears? As in shop time.

2) Will the 355's be a lot more 'fun'? I will be doing some highway driving but mostly city cruising. I do like the 323's on the highway but I find she's a bit of a slowpoke off the line.

I searched for some advice about rear ends here but I didn't find answers to these two specific questions. Thanks in advance for your advice!
 
Are the 3.55's just a ring and pinion, or are they in a complete chunk? If the're just the R&P alone, you will have to have them set up/replaced in your existing housing. If not, then it could be just a R&R with the two center sections. Time really depends on the shop? If the're on the ball, they shouldn't have the car more then a day or so.

As far as the fun factor.....It will accelerate better with the 3.55's, but if it's enough of a difference really depends on your engine/trans combination. It's entirely possible that money spent on a torque converter will give you more "bang for the buck" then changing gears...
 
^^^Agreed^^^. Going from 3:23's to 3:55's isn't really much of a jump in gearing. A decent converter will add way more fun factor IMO. And if you get a good one it'll drive pretty much like a stock converter so you'll still have decent cruise RPM's down the hwy
 
I agree on upgrading the torque converter to a quality unit with higher stall, but you probably also need to sort out the 383's timing, if you haven't done so already. Do a search for a quality converter. Avoid the off the shelf brands, and expect to spend about $400 to $500. It will trans form your car. My 360 runs great with 3.23's.

What initial and total timing are you running in it now? It will probably run a lot better with 14 to 16 initial and 34 to 36 total. Be sure to use the vacuum advance hooked to manifold vacuum for best street performance. You may have to adjust the amount of advance in the vacuum canister to limit how much it adds.
 
whats the engine combination? that will determine the effects of the gear change.


as far as "Will the 355's be a lot more 'fun'?" goes it depends what you want. for me a 2.94 was a lot more fun then a 3.55 or 3.91 in my car. i wanted cruising on the highway ability.

if you're purely around town and want something fast from stop light to stop light then forget the 3.55 and go right to a 3.91 or 4.10.
 
Tune the engine to optimal,better convertor,more tire,if you must do a gear change go with the 3.73/3.91's...aint nothing wrong with those 3.23's lots of people running them,build more torque into the engine and a really good convertor like [Frank Lupo] Dynamic...that alone would be the best money spent..
 
Thanks for all the advice!
I do some highway driving...sometimes to Washington state and even Oregon. So maybe 400-500 miles of driving max for a trip. But mostly it'll be around town, to the beach, to work, to local shows as well. I just find the car to be a bit doggish off the line. Perhaps a torque converter will help!

Are there any sponsors here that may be able to help with that?
 
......Like said b4, get ur timing sorted out 1st, u will b surprised how much optimal timing will make ur car perform..........kim..
 
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