I was asked off list about the adviseability of putting a Muncie 4 speed tranny against a low 3's or high 2's ratio final drive . Really , asking this opens a whole Pandora's Box as the variables of your engine (216 , 235 , 261 , is it a strong one or wheezy & clapped out) , your tires outer diameter and so on , all come into play . If you have a decent 235 that runs strongly , 16" tires that are about 30" diameter and a Muncie SM420 , you should be able to use a 3:55 final drive *but* you'll find you may need to down shift on hills when you're loaded or if traffic slows you down below 70 MPH at the bottom of the hill . On the other end of course , you may begin using the compound low gear that you've never used before to get the truck moving from a standstill , esp. when facing a hill no matter how gentle . This is one of those things that can only be tested as each trucks' power available is different . I'd think that adding a dual carby set up would help greatly here , once the carbys are well and truly synchronized the thing will be to resist fiddling with them as you encounter normal running difficulties . The thing to remember with multi - carby setups is this : carburators DO NOT GO OUT OF ADJUSTMENT ! . if you keep a good paper element fuel filter in the inlet line (or better yet , one for each carby) all you needs do is change the filter anytime you see any dirt , water or (God forbid) rust particles in it and you'll be fine . I hope this helps.....
REALLY~ IT WASN'T ME! I sure am glad someone brought this up though! I could tell by that way-cool page where you plug in speed and RPM and it tells you what gear ratio that I could find something to get my mighty G rollin' down the road- but then I got to thinking, well, yeah, I can go 70, but what will in-town driving be like? Will first gear be a real gear? I'm sold on tall TRUCK tires, so... I guess I'll be very happy with the rideability of my truck when all is done! New springs, tie rod ends, drag link, sway bar, (if they make one for my G) New gas charged shocks, tall wide whites hooked onto disc brakes up front... Oh yeah, baby~ OOOOOOh yeah! And all do it all myself~ with a lotta help from my friends!
Zig, correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't you tell us that you were sliding a '54 C, not G frame under your truck? If so, you can find a sway bar for it.
Got you! Sorry, brother~ Once upon a time, yes, that was the plan. But! (and it's a BIG but) my long motor was not going to fit the space that the smaller (but none-the-less "manly") Chevy blocks need. Yes I coulda done this, and I coulda done that, but once I found I could stick the 1/2 ton front axle on my 3/4 front end... I said b-bye to the 1/2 ton frame. I just figured that I'd have less surprises if I stuck with what I had. My main thing was getting away from all those lugs and that Fred Flinstone rear end! I complicated the sway bar issue because, like I say, I have a Chevy 1/2 ton axle in a 3/4 G frame. I'll be using Eaton 2" lowered 3/4 springs, if that helps.
