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Thread: Changing rear gears?

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
    A good 10 inch 3500 convertor with your 342 gears would out preform yours with 4.11s.
    Is that for a 1/8 mile or 1/4 mile or both?

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by 55 Rescue Dog View Post
    Not knowing what tranny, 1st-2nd gear ratios, tire diameters, trap speed, etc. there is no way to give a good idea as to the best setup for your goal. If running an auto, a better plan is a 4 speed for sure, and run closer to the same size tire for track or street. Need to come up with a combo that gets the most out of 2nd gear I would think. Running a non-overdrive 1:1 trans will always be a compromise no matter how you slice it, unless you have a quick change rear, which I have. I can pick from like a 100 different ratios, that can be changed in 20 minutes. This is a 1974 Frankland with a 4:86 10 1/2 inch ring gear with a locker. I get a great launch with a 5:42 gear with a wide ratio 4 speed Muncie. 14.3:1 in 1st gear. I paid $600 for it, and all the different gears are like $70 each.
    Can you run that on the street too? I never even heard of a Frankland before. I'm guessing that was a great price?

    Oh, and back a little I said I have a TH400 and was looking at 28" slicks.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by 55 Tony View Post
    Is that for a 1/8 mile or 1/4 mile or both?
    When I gave up on the NHRA and started racing mostly 1/8 mile I built a 4.88 Dana Powerlock to replace my 4.10 in my 454 Camaro drag car. It screwed up my 60 foot time and 1/8 mile lost two tenths. Reinstalled 4.10 and life was good again. Car is equipped with a 8 inch Doherty bolt together convertor.

  4. #24
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    It's all in the combination. When you change one thing, you may have to change 2 or 3 more to get the results you want.

    I will promise you that you could have made the car quicker with the 4.88 gears if you made other changes too. It's all in how much you want to beat on it, and how much $$ you're willing to spend to beat on it.

    The Frankland is a dirt track quick change. Don't know much about it except that it exists. My last dragster had a Schiefer (later called a Richmond) quick change. We changed gears a lot, I guess part of that was because we could. They were never very common. I had S/N #2 and #6. Also had a bunch of magnesium castings for it to save weight, even had a reverser for the axle to use with a Lenco so that you wouldn't have to use a Lenco reverser with its added length. Looking back, while the ability to change gear ratios easily was a big plus, the inefficiency of the setup was a negative.

  5. #25
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    OK, Thanks everyone for all the info! I think I'm going to buy some slicks and see what it does and go from there. If we get a warm weekend, the track will be open even if it is winter. The way they are running things half assed is just fine for a rookie like me. To make things easier, I can put the slicks on at home and drive about 1.2 miles on back roads and be at the track.
    I'm also going to start looking at the local pull-a-part for a 4L80E. No sense in buying a good converter if a tranny swap is in my future. I'll start a new thread about the 4L80E questions.

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by 55 Tony View Post
    OK, Thanks everyone for all the info! I think I'm going to buy some slicks and see what it does and go from there. If we get a warm weekend, the track will be open even if it is winter. The way they are running things half assed is just fine for a rookie like me. To make things easier, I can put the slicks on at home and drive about 1.2 miles on back roads and be at the track.
    I'm also going to start looking at the local pull-a-part for a 4L80E. No sense in buying a good converter if a tranny swap is in my future. I'll start a new thread about the 4L80E questions.
    I would consider DOT drag radials that could be used on the street, and setup the suspension for better traction, along with the 4L80 using your current rear gear, and go from there.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick_L View Post
    It's all in the combination. When you change one thing, you may have to change 2 or 3 more to get the results you want.

    I will promise you that you could have made the car quicker with the 4.88 gears if you made other changes too. It's all in how much you want to beat on it, and how much $$ you're willing to spend to beat on it.

    The Frankland is a dirt track quick change. Don't know much about it except that it exists. My last dragster had a Schiefer (later called a Richmond) quick change. We changed gears a lot, I guess part of that was because we could. They were never very common. I had S/N #2 and #6. Also had a bunch of magnesium castings for it to save weight, even had a reverser for the axle to use with a Lenco so that you wouldn't have to use a Lenco reverser with its added length. Looking back, while the ability to change gear ratios easily was a big plus, the inefficiency of the setup was a negative.
    If I back halfed the car and installed a Powerglide and 14x32s, they probably would have worked. My 60 foot times went from mid to high 1.40s to 1.60s.

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by 55 Rescue Dog View Post
    I would consider DOT drag radials that could be used on the street, and setup the suspension for better traction, along with the 4L80 using your current rear gear, and go from there.
    I've talked to a few people that tried street slicks and they say they don't work very well. Or are you possibly saying (in a nice way) that with <500HP I wouldn't know the difference? I really don't know what my HP is. Right now on the ROAD, if I'm rolling at 20mph and go WOT they will spin pretty good then grab, then when it hits 2nd the speedometer jumps up 15 or 20 mph and down again. (I have the governor on the TH400 set to shift WOT @ 5500rpm) When it hits third at about 80mph, well I think it has chirped and/or felt is spin already but I wouldn't swear to it. It really bangs third hard.

  9. #29
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    I tried BFG drag radials on my 67 Camaro, no better than my street tires, both 275/60/15s. 28x10.5 slicks now were talking.

  10. #30
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    I bought some Hoosiers that don't need tubes, I think they will arrive today. My poor UPS man, maybe he'll come early to get the tires out of the way. Maybe next week I'll get another set of wheels and some street tires. Merry Christmas to me. I really don't think I'll ever get like you guys concerned over a hundredth of a second, I just want a little fun for a medium amount of money. A little hobby, not a lifestyle. I hope anyway!
    Last edited by 55 Tony; 12-22-2017 at 06:56 AM.

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