4-speed worth looking at?

[t5montecarlo]

I have chipped teeth on a few 3.50 Saginaws. The 3.11 version has a more even gear spread than the 3.50 version.

Did you ever see the pictures of my exploded 3.11 Saginaw? It was behind my 305. It did not like a first gear clutch drop while already in motion, which I had done many times before. First gear peeled off the cluster.

You probably have been lucky because you don't have limited slip and are spinning a tire rather than gripping the road. My wagon had limited slip and 2.73 gears.

Multiply 1st gear x your diff gear to simulate other combinations. I have 2.95 first gear and 3.73 (=11) gears in my Monte Carlo and it is wonderful. The 3.50 1st gear and 2.73 rear were a great 1st gear combination (=9.56) in my wagon. I found 3.11 and 2.73 (=8.49) a bit more difficult to deal with in first gear in my wagon.

 

[Doober]

That's what I'm scared of happening :lol: Right now in 1st gear it just spins at anything over half throttle, and in 2nd it starts to spin when it gets up into the powerband.

 

[t5montecarlo]

I have a lot of broken Saginaw parts from that wagon.

 

[Malibu Monte]

Asking price seems high for what is there.

 

[Doober]

I was going to offer $50 for the shape it's in, I would have to tear it all apart regardless. I paid $150 for the one in the car now and it worked fine until those teeth chipped somehow...

It was the weirdest thing, I simply forgot it was in gear when I started the car, and I let the clutch out while the engine warmed up a little... stalled, started it back up and then I heard it from the moment I left the parking spot.

 

[t5montecarlo]

I looked at the pictures again and the tailhousing is from an H body, so it is likely a 4 speed. Check the number of rings on the input shaft to determine if the first gear is 3.50 or 3.11; those were the only 2 ratios that came an H body.

In a Saginaw of that era, the cluster and 4th gear are a set. First, second, and third are the same for all ratios.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

$100.00? I remember getting really GOOD Saggy's for that or less in the late 80's...

Tommy

 

[t5montecarlo]

In the early 90s, I paid no more than $35 as a rule.

Unless they came from a babied Monza, 2nd gear was usually no good at a minimum.

 

[Doober]

The first 4-speed I got was one of the 2 tallest gears, I forget which one, don't think it had any rings on the input, made a heck of a ruckus because a bunch of bearings chewed up the gears.

 

[t5montecarlo]

I found this detail in a forum:
No grooves 2.84, 2.01, 1.35, 1.00
1 groove 2.54, 1.80, 1.44, 1.00
2 groove 3.11, 2.20, 1.47, 1.00
3 groove 3.50, 2.47, 1.65, 1.00

I was once told that the 2.54 is hard to find. I don't know what it came in.

The 3.11 was used in V6 Monzas
The 3.50 was used in Vegas and 151 Monzas
The 2.84 was used in 2nd gen F bodies

There may be other applications; those are the ones I have come across.