RAGNAROK

I am about to swap the 8.8 over from the cougar to my 1991 former 4cyl Knotchback. Here are some questions I have.</P>


1) Will the quad shocks bolt right up? i heard that eventhe 4cyl 7.5 cars had the mounting points for the quad shocks. If not what should I do?</P>


2)how hard is it to change the gear ratio ? I am a novice and I don't want to have to pay someone to do it for me , can i do it? I have the 8.8 out and laying on the ground , better do it while it's out I guess. </P>


3)I need advice on the gear ratio. Here is my delimma , I have a C4 tranny. I could care less about gas mileage really because i live in a small town and I won't be driving long distances . So I would prefer 4.10s or 3.73s . BUT , here is the big problem , my girlfriend goes to college 120 miles away , and I go visit her 1-2 times a month. So I guess I will be forced to get some crappy gears soI won't be doing like 14,034,256 rpm going down the interstate. Can someone give me advice on this?</P>


4)Since I am changing from the 7.5 to 8.8 what will happen with drive shaft length? The C4 and 7.5 rear scared me at first but the GT driveshaft I bought bolted up fine. Is it still going to work when I put the 8.8 in? The reason I ask is because the C4 is a pan filled 164 tooth flywheel . I've heard they are a tad longer than the 157 tooth ones.</P>


Thanks for any help</P>

RAGNAROK

Anybody? I gotta get this thing done sometime before this weekend so any help would be appreciated. Also does anyone know if I can keep my mater cylinder from the 4xyl or will I have to get the one from the 5.0. I already have the brake lines from the 5.0 ready to go in , just curious if i should go ahead to get the master cyl or if the 4 banger one will be ok

horatio102

c4 3rd gear should be a standard 1:1 ratio

If you want to play with the numbers use a calculator and see where your RPMs will end up.
http://www.randysringandpinion.com/calculators.shtml

What size tire are you going to run? IIRC a 245/45r17 is about 25.68" in diameter which with a 4.10:1 rear end and a 1:1 third gear equates to about 3200rpm at 60mph and 3700rpm at 70. Top speed would be around 115mph @ 6200rpm.

The 3.73 brings it down to 2900 @ 60 and 3400 @ 70, with 130mph coming in at 6300rpm

I'd go with the 3.73 personally. I don't remember what kind of power you're going to end up with, but the 4.10 sounds like it'll be running out of steam by the end of a 1/4 mile. Nothing better than high ETs caused by bouncing off the rev limited the last couple hundred feet.

RAGNAROK

Well i'm not really sure what size tires I got , all i know is the things rub inside the wheel wells when i turn sharp or hit even small bumps. So they are pretty big i guess. The 3.73 sounds pretty good though. More reasonable I think . As of right now I don't think i'm going to end up with much power because of my crappy heads. If I get the money together i'm buying some AFR 165 heads soon , but probably way after I've already started driving the car around some. Thanks for your help

WhiteHawk

I do alot of HWY travel so I'm keeping my "find traction in a sandbox" 3:08 gears.....at 2000rpm I'm doing like 70-75 mph I've put that thing to about 135-140 at an abandon airport strip over in Brooklyn, (next to Kings Plaza) and it still had more oooomph to it....just ran out of space..... anyway....I'm down in FL now and not a fqn track in site thats not 2 hrs away.....</P>


....oh, yeah back to the point..... if you get your tq in lower rpm and hp at higher then you can lower your gearing and still have good strip ETs.</P>


</P>

RAGNAROK

Do you think 3.08's are pretty nice? I think maybe I should go 3.08 after all. I think I'de rather get better mileage than power right now. I'm not gonig to get much from this engine the way it is anyways so maybe I'll go with 3.08 and get better gears when I finish my short block. My GF has already told me she would be mad if I use my car as an excuse to not come see her hahaha. Last year I kept bitching saying I was afraid ,my car would break down because of it was always acting wierd. So as soon as I swapped in the 5.0 she said I better not use my car as an excuse this time. <IMG src=smileys/smiley1.gif border="0">Maybe I should just keep dragging along and not finish my car until next year that way i dont have to go see her way out there. But maybe I should go with the 3.08 , I'de rather have a lower rpm during cruise than better acceleration I guess for the time being. Can the gears from my 7.5 swap over to the 8.8? I know the answer is probably no but I thought I'de just ask

vfast

3:27
no the gears from a 7.5 will not work for a 8.8 I'll look around I may have a set of 3:08 you can have if you pay the shipping

RAGNAROK

That would be cool , just let me know about them . Is is fairly simple to change the gears ?we will probably have the rear end out for a while longer so I guess now is the time to change them.

84stang

My two cents= Screw gas mileage and atleast go with 3:73. Your motor isnt all that powerful right now so get a better gear. I think its worth it to spend a couple extra bucks in gas right now, think about all the work you will have to do to change the gear again later. Right now i am looking for a 6-speed tranny so i can go 4:10, when i just put 3:73's in 3 months ago. But thats the price you pay to go fast.

Also i see you are going with the AFR heads. I got mine about a week ago and they are well worth the money. I went with the 185 and they really made a huge difference in my car. I'll see how much they helped at the track next wednesday.