From Drag car to Touring machine

[SR71]

Originally Posted by ratman67

i would leave the big roller in the engine, just do susp, brakes, t56, wave loc posi w/ a 3.73 gear and you will be good to go...

then he might as well keep the non-od auto and high stall convertor because he would just be using the first 4 gears of the 6spd.....with a big roller, t56 and 3.73's, he might be able to use 6th gear if he decides he wants to cruise at about 120mph.


if you are going to keep a big, lumpy cam in the car, unless you have a programable timing curve, keep the 4.56 gear. my car had 3.73's when I bought it. later on when I put the t56 and the smallest comp thumpr hyd cam in it, the car bucked in 6th gear under light load at a constant 70+ mph cruise speed. it would show you every bit of slack in the drivetrain. so, I installed a set of 4.56's and the car is now smooth in 6th gear at highway speed.

I believe that 4.56 is the PERFECT gear for a t56 with a cammed and carb'd small block. with a 28" tire 2000 rpms is a smidge over 72 mph.

now if you have efi or a programable timing curve where you can crank alot of advance into it just off idle, that would be a different story. that would smooth the engine out and let you run less gear.

[MaxHarvard]

Originally Posted by SR71

then he might as well keep the non-od auto and high stall convertor because he would just be using the first 4 gears of the 6spd.....with a big roller, t56 and 3.73's, he might be able to use 6th gear if he decides he wants to cruise at about 120mph.


if you are going to keep a big, lumpy cam in the car, unless you have a programable timing curve, keep the 4.56 gear. my car had 3.73's when I bought it. later on when I put the t56 and the smallest comp thumpr hyd cam in it, the car bucked in 6th gear under light load at a constant 70+ mph cruise speed. it would show you every bit of slack in the drivetrain. so, I installed a set of 4.56's and the car is now smooth in 6th gear at highway speed.

I believe that 4.56 is the PERFECT gear for a t56 with a cammed and carb'd small block. with a 28" tire 2000 rpms is a smidge over 72 mph.

now if you have efi or a programable timing curve where you can crank alot of advance into it just off idle, that would be a different story. that would smooth the engine out and let you run less gear.

Is first gear even usable with that gear?

[LUACE]

My other camaro I have 4.11 and a 4 speed tranny... 1st gear feels great, 4th not so much above 70mph. I imagine that 4.56 would be a little too much for 1st. So I imagine 4.11 would work best with a T56, but still haven't made a final decision.

As for the engine... I've made the decision to go to an LS eventually, but for now I am sticking with my big roller SBC. I will be building an LS on the side.

[SR71]

Originally Posted by MaxHarvard

Is first gear even usable with that gear?

of course it is. IMO driveability was much improved over the 3.73's. and with my 19/20 wheel combo, a little extra from a stop is great.

a few yrs ago I owned a c5 that was rather infamous in my area. it went through several incarnations. at one time it was a supercharged, 6spd, 4.10 geared, 660 rwhp daily driver....on 26" rear tires. and if you crunch the numbers, 4.10's + 26" tires = 4.56's + 28" tires. the car was geared perfectly. it was much easier to drive with the 4.10's and the very aggressive clutch that it took to hold 700rw AT THAT TIME. oh and the car went a spinning 10.34 @ 134mph on 26" et streets and bone stock c5 suspension. at 60mph on the highway you could drop to 3rd, pin the throttle and watch her black track in the mirrors....all while getting 26mpg at cruise.

I think there is really no way to go wrong with a lsx/t56 combo.