2.41 to 3.42 gear help

[megaladon6]

if you're gonna keep the v6, then just save the money and go with a 7.5 rear. with a 3spd i'd actually try for a 3.23 but 3.42 will be good. your RPM's will be high on the highway. also the th200 is a complete POS, you may want to look at swapping to a 200-4r OD, which will work very well with the 3.42's.
if you think you'll upgrade the motor then you'll want the 8.5 as it's much stronger.

 

[supkylesup]

yea i know i need to update that POS th-200 sometimes when i go to put her in drive my entire car wants to shake from left to right i think shes only got a couple more miles left in her but my plans are:
get the rear end i want
then get the 200-r4
do a brake disc setup on the rear
then when im all done install it all
this car is my daily driver so i cant just buy parts and have the car in my garage for weeks in pieces
so ill have to collect all the parts and stuff i want before i can go ahead and install it

 

[dogsht]

Some thoughts; ditto on the 7.5 because a carberated 3.8 will not need an 8.5 plus they are expensive and hard to find.
If you are keeping the 3.8 get the 3.73 & 200-4R to make the most of it.
Some other cars came with the Buick v6 only with 4.1 liters and a four barrel intake and carb. Sometimes you can find these for the carb & intake in salvage yards for cheap. Typically its a good & cheap bang for the buck upgrade for both power and mileage.
80+% of our braking power comes from the front. Unless you are repeatedly pulling her down hard from high speeda discs on the back won't buy you much. Upgrade dollars are probably better spent other places first.

 

[supkylesup]

yea ive heard about the 4bbl carb and intake on the 4.1s
they were on 80s riviera's and toronados
id love to find one cause the intake and carb is a direct bolt on for the 3.8
im gonna have to check some scrap yards around here see what i can find

 

[patmckinneyracing]

omg Blake I was off by one year on the whole monte carlo ss rears lol. I've heard mixed things about 85' ss rears as some had 3.42's and others had 3.73's. Idk if it was a mid year change or what the deal was. Other than that, Blake said the same thing I did lol. So yes this needs to be put as a sticky along with how to ID a 7.5 and an 8.5 rear end.

 

[megaladon6]

you have to remember we are talking about GM. today they still put the "wrong" equipment in. drove us nuts at the shop. we're trying to input the equip data into the snap on scanner and the actual VIN doesn't match what's in the computer. GM would use leftover gen 1 engines in the first year of the trucks getting LS blocks and other things like that.
hell the 1988 monte carlo doesn't truly exist, they're nothing but leftover 87's.

 

[Blake442]

omg Blake I was off by one year on the whole monte carlo ss rears lol. I've heard mixed things about 85' ss rears as some had 3.42's and others had 3.73's. Idk if it was a mid year change or what the deal was. Other than that, Blake said the same thing I did lol. So yes this needs to be put as a sticky along with how to ID a 7.5 and an 8.5 rear end.

It was not just the one year your were off, you listed some of the gear ratios wrong as well.
I'm not going after you personally, I just want the correct info out there for the people that are looking for it.

83-85 monte carlo ss's came with 7.625 rear ends using 3.42 gears. The 86-88 used the same size housing and 3.73 gears.

442's, Hursts, and GN's all had the 8.5's and only 442's had the 3.73's. GN's and Hursts utilized the 3.42

 

[Bonnewagon]

Hey, supkylesup, be aware there is about 3 quarts of smelly oil in a rear. If the rear is in the car on a pile,don't yank the cover off and take an oil bath!!! Also an original posi rear in a car should have a little metal tag on one of the cover bolts indicating it's a posi. Good hunting!