Finaly bought a 6 speed car!!

[white97z28]

my buddy that has built some old 8.5 10 bolts says he welds a leaf spring to the top of the axle over the pumpkin to both tubes. He was trying to talk me into welding the tubes, instaling the gears, doing the leaf spring, and installing the girdle cover my buddy has to sell me for $75

[hoogiesngrinderz]

Yep, but you need to find a damn good welder to do that. Everything needs to be preheated prior to welding and the proper filler rod must be used, and the housing should be wrapped with insulation during cool down. This will insure a proper weld with no cracking. I have my father do all that, he was Army trained to weld tank armor.

The TA cover will preload the caps, not much...maybe 5 ft-lbs if I remember right, but any bit helps. I think mine added a half quart of capacity if I remember right

[hoogiesngrinderz]

Also, the gusset setup like Joel has isn't a bad idea.


You need to draw a line in the sand. How much is too much for a built 10 bolt?

[white97z28]

Also, the gusset setup like Joel has isn't a bad idea.


You need to draw a line in the sand. How much is too much for a built 10 bolt?

Thats what im thinking to is all this worth it for a 10 bolt is ther even the slightest chance doing any of this that it will hold even half as long as any of the aftermarket axle swaps

[hoogiesngrinderz]

My cars will see little (if any) strip sessions and nothing more than 275 street tire. I'd likely get the boot if I took them down the 1/4

I do plan auto-x though. Don't need a 9" or 12 bolt for that.

[JoeliusZ28]

my buddy that has built some old 8.5 10 bolts says he welds a leaf spring to the top of the axle over the pumpkin to both tubes. He was trying to talk me into welding the tubes, instaling the gears, doing the leaf spring, and installing the girdle cover my buddy has to sell me for $75

A gusset over the top is more for payload reinforcement than delivering power which is around the back. Top/bottom gussets are common for off road or vehicles that are going to be jumping railroad tracks.

Also thats not my setup above, just one i grabbed from the interwebs.

For me personally a 9" isnt necessary. Im only tempted because i want 4.10s... My posi is getting tired, driveshaft is out of balance, how much money do i want to invest in a tired horse? But right now a house is more important than a 9"

[Mods89]

Looks good nick!

[nascarnate326]

Having driven 4.10's for a while, I would never have them again. The shift points don't seem natural and for the kind of driving I do, they were a pain in the ass. First gear is 100% useless when you actually what to go anywhere, and they draw more attention to your car since your shifting all the time.

3.42's are perfect, 3.73 would probably be better but I have never driven with those.

[JoeliusZ28]

Having driven 4.10's for a while, I would never have them again. The shift points don't seem natural and for the kind of driving I do, they were a pain in the ass. First gear is 100% useless when you actually what to go anywhere, and they draw more attention to your car since your shifting all the time.

3.42's are perfect, 3.73 would probably be better but I have never driven with those.

I really need to drive a car that has them so i can get a feel for what its like. 3.73 or 3.90 might be better but im confident 3.42s are less than optimal for my engine. My power band is shifted a good 1000 rpm of what it was stock (both down low and up top) so in all conditions it would be better to be turning a little more RPM. 6th is practicallly useless until 75 mph... Any less than that isnt enough umph to accelerate.

[FASHOOTER]

Glad to see you got it running! Had the same thing happen to a water pump, it let loose at Milan 3/4 of the way down the track. Almost lost it!

[nascarnate326]

I really need to drive a car that has them so i can get a feel for what its like. 3.73 or 3.90 might be better but im confident 3.42s are less than optimal for my engine. My power band is shifted a good 1000 rpm of what it was stock (both down low and up top) so in all conditions it would be better to be turning a little more RPM. 6th is practicallly useless until 75 mph... Any less than that isnt enough umph to accelerate.

6th gear is really just for mpg. I use anytime 60 and over. If I had 3.42 I could do 55 and 6th.

[JoeliusZ28]

6th gear is really just for mpg. I use anytime 60 and over. If I had 3.42 I could do 55 and 6th.

Put a bigger cam in your car and youll understand. My car is not happy in 6th gear at 60mph. It can maintain speed and accelerate maybe at a snails pace but you can feel it is not happy about it. When it was stock the car loved cruising at 1500 rpm. Now it wants 2000-2200.

[white97z28]

Glad to see you got it running! Had the same thing happen to a water pump, it let loose at Milan 3/4 of the way down the track. Almost lost it!

Holy Crap thats not good man!

Put a bigger cam in your car and youll understand. My car is not happy in 6th gear at 60mph. It can maintain speed and accelerate maybe at a snails pace but you can feel it is not happy about it. When it was stock the car loved cruising at 1500 rpm. Now it wants 2000-2200.

Agreed there. My car doesn't like 6th gear at all any speed under 60mph. It doesn't like trying to cruise under 2k rpms

[JoeliusZ28]

Yeah i can manage slower speeds but it doesnt like it. I took a pic the other day... 77mph is where my car becomes "happy" in 6th. 2k on the factory tach, 1800 on the digital.

[white97z28]

Yeah i can manage slower speeds but it doesnt like it. I took a pic the other day... 77mph is where my car becomes "happy" in 6th. 2k on the factory tach, 1800 on the digital.

Does this pic show that the factory tach is showing 2k and your digital one is 1815? Is the factory one really that un-acurate?