A couple of weeks ago I decided to "retire" my 56 for a while. I bought something else to drive . I drove the "new" car for several days then decided that I don't want to drive anything else right now. I am going to deal with a few issues on the 56 to make it a better daily driver. It has a volare ifs , a 472 Cadillac engine , and a 68 Dodge rearend.I need to install wipers as it has none right now.I have been using Rain-x on the windshield. I have good heat , the original set-up,but no defrosters.It sits a couple of inches lower in the front than I would like. The chatter about volare front suspensions being adjustable is misleading , but I have already talked about that in another post.The Dodge rear is geared 3.25 . I would like to have a 2.76 gear, but have not been able to find one. I have located a 9" Ford rearend that I believe is about the ratio I want.Happy motoring to you & yourn.

 

Ok mister!!!!!




Drop down and give me 20!

Tee hee,
Julie

 

You's a pretty girl Julie but weren't you supposed to post this in another thread.

 

Oh, and thomc, you're are forgiven and hope you get your issues sorted out.

 

aw yer forgiven . i keep saying i'm gonna park mine and buying other vehicles then selling them as i DON'T want to park mine . dain thing is like this drug that gets me the highest i have ever been and like an addict i cant live without driving her !!!!!!!!!!! hades i went and got a y block from stu to clean up and dump in her while the flatty is out , if it needs to be out , so i can keep driving !!!!!!!! i even almost have my wife convinced to let me buy another old truck i posted pics of in another thread to drive while i " repair " mine . yeah right as she knows it's just another old truck / project for me to get goofy with ............ LOL ........oh and i wont say whats going through this dirty old man's mind about that pic julie .................

 

That gear ratio sounds awful tall. I had 2.75 in a 9" and short tires. It was like I was taking off in third gear.

 

Thanks 56,

Buuuuut, that's a picture of Actress Leslie Easterbrook who played Sgt Debbie Callahan in the "Police Academy" movies! It was a funny. Sorry to dissapoint.

I'm a brunette, 2 inches taller, longer in shape, and not quite so "statuesque" - but close - she's a "Big Girl." I'm also 14 years younger (and hope to God I look as good as her when I'm 57!). Sigh.



You guys - you worry me sometimes - always talking about front ends and rear ends here on FTE! Tee hee.

A 2.75 will put you at 65 MPH at 2300 rpm in a direct drive transmission (which is every non overdrive transmission made) with 15 inch back wheels. The Ford Camper Specials and mid 60s "Big Fords" carried a rear end variant of the 9" - a 9 3/8" rear, which could come with a gera ratio of 2.80 (actually 2.79). That's what I carry on my truck and it is close to perfect (if you want to drive 65 - I plan to further reduce it with a US Gear 20% bolt on overdrive - I like 80)

J!

Ps Interesting trivia point (before Bill brings it up) Leslie Easterbrook sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVII (17)!

 

oh trust me julie i know who she is , i was a fan of the first police academy just because of her ........... only 80 with that tall a rear gear ?????? good lord my 70 bird had a 2:37 in it with a nice healthy cj and sh'ed run a GOOD bit more than that ..... i got clocked at 162 by the williamsville police cheif one night while arguing with the ex. my then father inlaw a state cop began to understand i wasn't full of it when i told him i'd eat his caprice's a-- alive .......

 

Off topic but Police Academy were great movies, I especially liked the one with Big Foot!

 

With that big torque monster Caddy engine the tall ratio will be just fine. I think the car I pulled my 500ci engine from had 2.65 gears.

Right now I have a 9" with 4.11's, I definately need a gear change. I was thinking something in the 3.23 area. I would also like to toss the TH400 trans for a 4spd auto...............someday

Bobby

 

Thanks for the responses. With my current set-up I am running at 3000 rpm at 55 mph. I would like to drive my truck to Wilmington NC , where my daughter attends UNCW. It is a 5 hour drive from here, on I-40.I have a cruise control on the truck , but have not yet put a speedometer cable on, so the cruise doesn't work.That's another thing on my to-do list.I plan to change the wheels and tires on my truck.Now I have aluminum slot wheels with 205/70/15 tires.I would like to have some 17 inch wheels and tires off of a late model Mustang.I think the gray wheels that look like a Torquethrust wheel would look good on my truck. Or, I would like to switch to a painted (red) steel wheel with poverty caps , or dog dish caps as some people call them.I realize that a change in wheel/tire size affects gear ratio.Thanks again.

 

I've always liked the Torque Thrust wheels and would love to have a set. I have a set of Cragar SS 5 spokes and a set of slotted mags. Right now I'm running 235/70/15's. I definately wouldn't want to spend 5 hours at highway speeds in my truck. I'm running approx 3000 at 50MPH (kind of hard to say as my speedo is approx 15mph fast).

As I said before, the Caddy's originally came with a highway gear, I think 2.65. I was looking to change my gears to about a 3.25 but from what you say I might have to rethink that. I'll have to check my gear ratio now, I had thought it was approx 4.11 but I could be wrong. My 9" came from a 1960 F-100 and there is no tag on it (naturally)

Bobby

 

I would like to have a set of old school ET mags for my 56. I had them on my 1st 56 and want them again. I have cragars also on the avanti,but the torque-thrusts are nice and expensive.
If you want to get rid of some et type slotted wheels for 5 x 51/2 bolt pattern...I may be interested. If the shipping woun't kill me.
Bill

 

The rearend I bought turned out to be from a 57 passenger car. The tag was gone so I didn't know the ratio until I got it apart to count the teeth. It is 3.88 . However , I was able to swap the center for a 2.75 punkin over the weekend. I plan to get the rear ready to bolt end and change it out in one weekend.I cruised awhile in the slow lane on the way to work this morning at about 2200 rpm. I could stand to listen to the Caddy on a long drive at that rpm with no problem.The event in Pigeon Forge is a three hour drive for me , about half of it on I-40.I plan to be there in June.Now to get my cruise control working.

 

I have a 500 Caddy, th400 trans and a 9" rear end with 275 gears. Rears are 265x70x15's. Makes the height nearly identical to 710x15's. Not quick, but very strong out of the hole, and will smoke em if you jump on it. Cruises about 70 at 2200 RPM. I think it's a good combination.