I got a 4 door 81 malibu. I'm trying to put it together on the cheap for a footbrake bracket car. I'm probably gonna gut the interior, relocate the battery and drink some slimfast to save some weight. I got a tbi 350 (193 heads) with 420/442 rv cam 1.6 roller rockers and long tubes, 600 holley, performer rpm intake and a fresh th350 to go behind it. Im probably gonna put a mini spoil in the 7.5 cause I will only be driving the car 8 miles to the track and back home so its gonna see virtually no street time. I don't really count on the car having enough grunt to break anything anyways lol. From what I read I guess I can fit a 275 60 r15 on the rear. So my question is with the combo above what would be the best choice for a converter and gear for the 1/8? I know the car will run out of breath around 4500 probably and pull the hardest 2500-3000ish so I was thinking cheap jegs 2200/2400 stall and 373s..but I would much rather have someone's opinion....thanks
Help me decide on stall and gears
- Thread starter jmc1982
- Start date
My two cents would be since its not on the street to put the biggest gears in that you can, which would be 4.56, and leave the stock convertor cause your going to be all bottom end.
Don't know where you live but this has you name on it - He is down to 250 and you can probably get it cheaper - parts for sale
7.5 with 4.56 and mini spool *make offer before I scrap it*
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Amateur Racer
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 4:50 pm
Posts: 201
Location: Pantego, NC I'm going to upgrade the 7.5 axle in my 85 Monte Carlo SS. It has a 4.56 gear and mini spool. I think the gear is Richmond and the spool is Speedway. The rear cover is the aluminium Trickflow girdle. I bought the car this way. It was a foot brake bracket car and ran 7.80. Complete and ready to bolt it. I'm not interested in parting it or shipping. $300 and its yours.
Last edited by 87SS-ZZ3 on Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
7.5 with 4.56 and mini spool *make offer before I scrap it*
Moderator: Moderators
Amateur Racer
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 4:50 pm
Posts: 201
Location: Pantego, NC I'm going to upgrade the 7.5 axle in my 85 Monte Carlo SS. It has a 4.56 gear and mini spool. I think the gear is Richmond and the spool is Speedway. The rear cover is the aluminium Trickflow girdle. I bought the car this way. It was a foot brake bracket car and ran 7.80. Complete and ready to bolt it. I'm not interested in parting it or shipping. $300 and its yours.
Last edited by 87SS-ZZ3 on Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
With that head and cam setup I will go with something like a 342 or 355 rear gear since you are driving 8 miles one way and the stall you mentioned will work OKAY.
I built the 350 for my 86 GMC with that cam,stock dished pistons,performer with Q-jet and a set of 305 heads with 1.84/1.5 valves to bump up the comp. I run a 2000 rpm stall of unknown make. The rear has 2.73 gears and 235/75/15 tires. My point to all this is that this combo is a nice stump puller with lots of torque and works great with that stall especially considering the junk gears and tall tires.
Hey sorry bout the long delay in updating this thing. I got the motor in a couple weeks ago and waited this long for a chance to put the transmission in. I ended up dual feeding the direct drum internally, and drilled out the valve body spacer plate left out some check balls as per a set of b&m instructions I found online said to do, and I eliminated the 2-3 accuator using the "shadetree" method of removing the spring and placing a thick enough washer under the e clip. I reused the old converter because it worked and I've never rebuilt a transmission before so ill let this one be the guinea pig. I just kept turning it over and dumping the fluid out to flush it the best I could. I notched my crossmember and will have it welded up to install tomorrow or the next day to make room for my exhaust. Now I'm just waiting on a payday or two so I can order headers, centerbolt valvecovers to clear my rockers, and a couple odds and ends. I'm gonna dot my I's and cross my t's first and after I know this thing is gonna run I'm gonna toss a mini spool and find a junk 4cylinder 5speed s10 and steal the manual steering box and whatever gear it has in it lol...its a shame cause this time last year I hauled one off for scrap..lol sorry bout the long ramble I'm using my phone and can't really proof read...ill update as soon as I have something worth contributing...thanks guys
In bracket racing its more about consistency than speed. When I lose its almost always to slower cars.
