Rear gears

I,ve been running 6.0,s at sunset with 4.30 rear gears so I thought I would put 4.88,s in the monza
see if she would go in the 5,s well sat I managed two runs at sunset between the rains and both passes
were 6.13 kinda slowed down.I thought that was interesting so now I,ll go the other way when I find a
3.73 gear. Motor is 555, trans 1.76 pglide, 9inch rear, weight with driver is 3000.I need to lose some weight it
don,t seem right a little monza that heavy lol

Skip, that weight just doesn't seem right. I don't really know your car, only from pictures, but I'm sure there is some fiberglass body parts on it. If you had the car weighed at your local butcher shop, I think the butcher had his thumb on the scale. lol

What rpm's do you leave the line at and what is your rpm in the traps (1/8th mile rpm) I have a feeling the 3.73's aren't what you want. Maybe something in the 3.90-4.10 might be more reasonable. I think with the 3.73's you'll be in 1st gear way too long.

Monza's are heavier than most think they are. A stock non air, manual brake V8 Monza is a 3300pd car with no driver.

Didn't know that. Thought they were in the 2800# range. Thanks.

I get that from a lot of people LOL but I built the car on scales I have my own 4
corner set the only glass on the car is the hood rest is GM with the exception of
the floor pan and tubs, all sheet metal.I have had a 4.10 in it and did very close to the 4.30 but Dan you called a good number with that 3.90 maybe I,ll try one of those the 3.73 prolly would be to far out. Oh I also leave on the brake, gas pedal to the floor with no stutter box and have launched with a 150 shot of nitrous rear didn,t like that much LOL Lil Toot has the video.

We've played with gear ratio's before an from our experience , with an auto trans ya won't see much ET change till ya jump or drop about 3 gear sets (from 4.30 to 3.89 example) we went from a 4.10 to a 3.73 before ET dropped a tenth. The right torque converter will compensate for small changes very well, in some cases going to a smaller number (higher mph gear) will work the converter better an have no drop in ET. Bigger number ratio's will (lower mph gear) will let the converter tighten up quicker an work less, thats why small changes in gear with an auto have no or little change. If ya want some gains call a converter company an get one matched for your combo, its the most overlooked piece of equipment in your car, the motor is #1 an converter is #2 ahead of the trans or rear gears in my opinion as far as power is concerned. The trans can be a glide or 400, transbrake or footbrake-don't matter except for consistency, an the rear gears can be set up for max mph at the stripe give or take a little, but if the converter is off your a lot SLOWER!

Don,
Excellent post on your part. And good advice in recommending contacting a converter builder too. It's almost a black art getting the correct converter for each combination and it's probably why most racers have a half dozen sitting around in the garage !

Thanks Andamo, I ain't sure what come over me, I ain't usually that smart.

Every once in a while we all have our moments and you wonder ''where in the hell did that come from'' lol

Indeed and contact a quality manufacturer. Go with who the record setters in classes use. Some get custom converters that aren't any better than a off the shelf TCI.

You guys are right that converter will make you or break you and it is pricey but
prolly the best money spent but save some for Nos lol

If you call a converter manufacturer and they try and sell you one without asking a whole lot of questions about your car and combination, do yourself a favor and hang up and stay away from him. Marco Abruzzi is very knowledgable and easy to deal with and it helps that he's local too.

You know I have talked to Marco and that guy is great he will take whatever time he has to just to help he,s a good guy and like you said Dan very knowledgable !!