[65bluess]

65 Impala Ss 283 4brl:

I Pulled Out The Powerglide And Put In The Saginaw 4 Sp From A 66 Impa Ss.
Can Aanyone Recomend A Good Rear End Ratio For The 4 Sp Street Use? Power Gride Ratio To Low.

[Deuce]

Both are the same in HIGH GEAR ... PowerGlide VS Saginaw 1 to 1

I have found that ( for me anyway ) ... a 3.55 gear is a good around compromise for street driving. If you mainly travel the interstate ... a 3.08 can be good. If you never travel over 60/70 miles per hour steadily ... then a 3.73 or a 4.10 will really wake up that big Impala.

I would have installed a 700R4 ... myself.
3.06 first gear with a OD ...

[65bluess]

thanks for the input, there will be ocational hway cruising. a good compromise would be 3:08? not looking to melt tires. just a cruising speed of 70ish with low rpms. still doing research on factory setup.

[65bluess]

any idea of factory ratio w/powerglide?

[Deuce]

Might be a 3.08.

To be certain ... just pull the rear cover off and count the teeth on the ring and divide by the number of teeth on the pinion

[Deuce]

1965 Impala SS above with 14 inch rims ( original ).



1967 Impala with 15 inch Ralleys.
A taller tire like a 15 inch will effectively reduce the overall gear ratio in the rear. It has been my experience that most factory Chevrolet PG cars from the mid 60's have a 3.08 rear.

FYI ... the Saginaw 4 speed speedometer gears are most likely NOT correct for the rear end you have ... so the speedometer is most likely OFF also.

[65bluess]

you are correct, speedo gear to low, reads faster than acual speed. but i have estamated that around 60-65 mph i am pushing around 3200 rpm. i'd like to drop that # a bit. research tells me that original saginaw w/10 bolt runs a 3.36 gear so you estamate of 3.55 is a good start. i think 3.08 would be to low. 1st gear not even used, if indeed i have a 3.08. still gua git my *** under there and ckeck #s. i may be spoild that my 06 silverado runs at 80mph and only 2000 rpm

does anybody out there have an old impa w/4sp sbc 15" tires that knows rear ratio? and what kind of rpm's at say 70mph?

[jimfulco]

http://novaresource.org/speedo.htm will help you with speedo gears.

http://tciauto.com/Products/TechInfo/speedo_gears.asp has the tire diameter calculator that you'll need.

Chevy dealers have the gears.

[65bluess]

(will help you with speedo gears.) thanks jim, very nice

[SUX 2BU]

How was the gutsiness of the car with the 283 and powerglide? Not too peppy I presume?

[65bluess]

she does'nt even have to breeth heavy. still pretty strong for a 44 year old motor. seems to move out a little better w/4sp. a stock 1965 283 has about as much hp as a 1998 350.
never under estamate the power or a small block chevy
1955 to present.