[artistsport3]

HELP!!!!! I recently purchased my retirement vehicle....Drove it home 1100 miles...a 40 Deluxe Coupe with big truck drum brakes (5 1/2 inch bolt pattern) and a 9 inch with 292 gears......With the Muncie (extremely long 1st gear) and the 383 dual 4bbl .....it couldn't spin the tires on an oil patch......I'm really tired of driving around everywhere in first gear (the 20 plus HWY isn't anything to whine about) ......I know " Nothing" about rear ends.....Don't know if it's a 28 or 31....Cost is a huge factor....The car has 8,000 miles on a rotissorie redo...EVERYTHING IS NEW OR REBUILT....I'm really tired of getting holeshot by everything that has wheels.....Questions:
#1.....What is the least (cheapest) invasive fix?
#2....Should I stay around 330....350 or go to 370 rear.
#3....Is there any one out there that wants a 292?

[DoubleVision]

Keep in mind the rear tire height plays a big influence on the gears, the taller the tire the higher it makes the ratio turning a 2.92 ratio into a 2.60 ratio.
If the rear has fairly tall tires then go with a lower ratio to make up for it.
I would go with gears around the 3.73 to 3.90 area.
Another place to look at for lack of low end torque is the combo. Dual fours aren't exactly for low end if the rest of the combo is lined up using large port cylinder heads and a big cam, all these factors kill low end torque in favor of high RPM horsepower. If indeed the combo is laid out like that you add in the muncie then the high rear gears then it's gutless in the low end. What gives away the engine is suffering from lack of low end torque is if you can't spin a tire with a 4 speed something's wrong somewhere as I've seen 350's with high gears blow the rear tires off when the combo was right.
Not sure if the previous owner had it figured out if it's a street bound rod then it needs low end torque and not revs. High torque engines in street rods are a joy to drive. Driving a high revver on the street as you've already come to know is more of a chore that nobody wants to do.

[artistsport3]

Thanks for the info....