Hey guys I have a 455 with a 4 speed manual behind it..I was wondering what is the best rear end swap for the car..Im planning on some highway use
Most common rear end swap for a 87 cutlass supreme
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Do you want to replace the rear end with a 8.5 or 9" or just doing gears. If just gears if guessing 342 or 355 would be a good gear. There are calculators to see where your rpms would fall with different gear ratios.
Am I correct in assuming that your 4-speed manual is a non-overdrive?
I don't know what size tires you have, nor how mild/rowdy your 455 is. Planning on highway use I assume means keeping the RPMs down, and fuel economy may be a concern for you.
What gears do you have currently?
I don't know what size tires you have, nor how mild/rowdy your 455 is. Planning on highway use I assume means keeping the RPMs down, and fuel economy may be a concern for you.
What gears do you have currently?
With a 4 speed manual and highway use I wouldn't go any lower than a 3.23 and would probably go with a 3.08
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Questions like these are easier to answer if you post what budget you're on. 'Get an 8.5 or get a 9 inch ford rear end' is what everyone who has money is going to say every time if someone posts a question like this. Without money, you'll have to just buy a power trax unit and lock up a used gear bought from a forum member off here or ebay. Behind a 455 anything above the stock gear will be an improvement so don't be picky. Without that 5th gear you are going to waste a lot of gas if you go over 3.08 ratio... The ammount of fuel you will use suddenly increases significantly with any choice of gear higher than 3.23. With a huge engine like a 455 you could probably just powertrax the stock unit and still do ok for a while until you could afford to rebuild a decent rear end. The 7.625 is 'good enough' but if you have the old 7.5 in rusty shape it has to come out - just like a wisdom tooth plan ahead..
I'm trying to make it dependable but also a low budget build...I don't know exactly which ratio but I'm sure I have 2. Somethings gears but how would a spool in the rearend hold up with the stock rear end
Get a solid pinion spacer, good used or new 3.08 gears, 28 spline axles and a good posi. A mini spool is brutal on the street and a lock right will eventually break. A 8.5 or 9" rear will do much better if you are going to the track.
The mini spool thing is for broke n*s like me to pretend we have 350s and beat our 307s to death as a joke for a minute in bad neighborhoods to demonstrate for the youth prior to scrapping all that bs and putting the right rear end in the correct way and installing tires we actually plan on lasting a while... Don't put 1 behind a 455 which is like building a house on sand. Yes, a house built on sand will stand for weeks, months, maybe even a year or two but thats about it...
Where are you located? A forum member just offered me a decent looking 7.625 with a 3.73 in it but I'm not sure it's for me (financially) right now. If you're nearby I will fwd the pics to pm. Consider updating your 'location' on the forum. It saves everyone a lot of time so ppl are more willing to help you out when they know we arent just woofing about a bunch of stuff thats not going to happen b/c you're 1,000 miles apart vs 10 miles apart etc etc.
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