What kind of gears should i get for a 1978 el camino?

Question

i wanted to ask which would be the best gears i can get.i have a 305 with 2.43 gears,but soon I'm going to put a 350 and i was thinking what kind of gears to get, me personally i was thinking about 3.73 gears.

Answer 1

If it's a street runner and you wanna drop by the track sometimes than go ahead with the 4.10's.

The MPG difference between 3.73 and 4.10's isn't usually enough to overcome the fun of the 4.10's.

If you do alot of highway driving,then go ahead with the 3.73's,only if it's alot though like 2-3 hours a day or more.

Less than that and the gas difference isn't going to break  you.

You'll be faster due to the extra power of the 350 anyway,so even going to 3.73's will be gravy on the biscuit's.

If you feel good with the 3's than do it,just don't settle for them and regret not getting the 4.10's.

Go with what you want.

Answer 2

depends a lot on what you plan on doing with it, if you're gonna drag race it then i'd look into a little bit taller gear 4.10s and a spool

Answer 3

I have been out of the game for a while, but I remember that you need to know the final drive ratio of the transmission before you make any decisions. Another thing is to think of what sort of cam you will be running and where your powerband is going to be strongest. There is no reason to rev the daylights out of an engine that has been tuned for low end torque and an engine that doesn't wake up intil 3,500 RPM will be a dog with that 2.43.

If you are just going with a mild street engine then look for a combination you already know works. I see a lot of 350s running gears in the 3.73 range. There will also be a lot of good solid junkyard rear-ends for you in that range if you are doing this on the cheap.

Good luck.