Inliners International Forums General Discussion Bench racing new project

like i need another! a 66 nova 2dr c-dan sag 4speed (3.50) 1st gear 230 inline. now do ya think the gear is 2 steep 4 a 3.73 rear? is/will be street/strip car. don't want 2 use the stock 3.08 rear(8.2) for fear of blowing up (they r getting rare). have a g-body rear's (same width as the nova but they r 7.5 which i have plenty of. so if goes or blows i put another in. have 2.41,3.42,3.73,4.10 gears 4 the 7.5

My old 66 sedan had a 292 with a 2:85 first Saginaw, 26" tires and 4:10s.It launched hard and was still easy to drive on the street. As long as you stay in the powerband of the 230,you should be fine with the 3.50 first. Probably a 3:11 first would be optimal for your combo. Maybe find someone to trade with?

The 8.2 rear will take all that you can give it with a 230. The only issue I had was breaking a then 30+ year old left side axle. I would keep the 8.2 and buy a set of axles....

If your going to race it I would get a C clip eliminator kit.As braking the stock axles They may not be a hard thing to do.As i have broken a set of 31 splined axles with my 250. The weak spot on the Saginaw trannys is the cases when going from first to sec.gear Which i have seen and heard about.But mine did live But then agian I didn't keep it in the car long anyway.Plus i didn't run any type of slick either,Nore did i have the same clutch set-up with it either.That I ran with the Munice & slicks.The clutch that i was useing and with slicks I'm sure i would have broken the saginaw.

I dont think the 7.5 rear end will last too long when launching hard w/sticky tires & a 4spd. Just my opinion.

I also, do not think the 1st gear ratio of 3.50 will work well w/373's 1st gear will be way too short IMO.


MBHD

The 66 should have an 8.2" rear; the 7.5" was last used in early 64's.

If the Saginaw is a good one to start with, it should hold up. I beat the heck out of mine and never had a trans problem; I didn't run slicks on the 66 but it did have 235-15 drag radials.

The only way to truly get a good answer regarding how the car will run is figure out what rear tire diameter will be used and figure out where the 230 makes it power. Then see if the RPM range matches the trans ratios. Patick's catalog had a great chart on Saginaw gear ratios and where the rpm ranges fell; don't know if his current catalog does...

The saginaw I had I gave to a buddy of mine who put it in his pick-up and with-in two weeks of him beating on it with 32in mud tires Broke it.it split the case between 1&2 gear.

Bruce,
curious as to your track times, 60 ft 1/8 1/4 mile?

I do not have the time slips any more, but the best quarter was a 14.30 at Woodburn and a 14.51 here at 2700ft. 60ft times were over 2; I think they were around 2.15 here. I didn't think it was too bad for a all steel street car (3100 lbs with me in it) with a complete stock interior. For comparison my 63 all steel but gutted drag car runs 13.0s here and 12.60s at Woodburn and it is definitely not a "driver" (2890 lbs).