What rear end gear?

[Bad81bu]

I have been in a wheelchair for about 10 years now and i built an 81
malibu with a 406 sbc, Edelbrock RPM heads, Tunnel Ram w/2-450
Holleys, full MSD setup, cam is crane 300 dur 510 lift, with a Pete
Jackson Gear Drive, stall is
2800-3200 th350 trans, i am currently running the stock 7.25 inch 10
bolt w/ a spool and 3.08 gears, i have lakewood lift bars also. it
gets out of the hole good with the stall and the torque of the 406
but
my friends all give me crap about my 3.08 gears. dont hear em whining
about it when i blow their doors off though. what should i do? keep
taking the crap or go to a diff gear? what will it do to my setup?
how
would the car perform, and what do ya think i am running for hp out
of
it? its a 1972 block w 2 bolt mains.
Thank You All
Brett B.

[silicon212]

#1. If it's a 1972 block, it won't have two bolt mains. 4-bolt only on the 400 through 1973. If it's a 2, it's not a '72.

#2. With all of that engine, your friends are just in ribbing you on the 3.08s. Those are really too tall for that engine, unless you're going for pure top-end speed. You're much better off with 4.11s or lower ... you might want to consider a good built TH700R4 for the transmission in place of the TH350 for economy's sake.

[bigd7315]

if u could find a 3.42 out of a s10 or s10 blazer this would be nice with the 350 turbo but not too steep to still get decent mileage but with a 4o6 u are not worried about mileage anyway i got a malibu wagon with a 383 and 2.41 gears i can't lauch too good but from 40 mph up it runs great and i am going to a 700r4 and 3.73 for my set up

[Bad81bu]

Would that rear end hold my motors horsepower though? im suprised this stock one has lasted as long as it has hahaha. A 3.42 you say? i guess i could always give er a try, i think the reason it gets out of the hole soo good is due to the stall. and on the mains i was mistaken, it is a 4 bolt. still i have my rev limiter set at 6200, just dont feel like it pulls anymore after that, or should i turn it up a bit?

Thank you for your prompt responce, i appreciate it.
Brett B.

[67chevypickup]

I am running almost the same setup in my 67 truck but im running a 8-7/8" ring gear with 3.73s it wouldn't hurt to put the limiter at 6500, but the gear all comes to are you happy with it?

[Bad81bu]

Yeah im extreeeeeeeeeemley happy with it, its just i feel a little wierd cuz all my friends are running like 4:11's and 4:56's even one runnin a 5:12, they have never beat me however so i think im the right one and they are the wrong ones hahaha. i really need a tranny cooler tho, i think that would help alot from what i hear. I mainly drive it on the street, it has never seen the track as its too hard to stage it using my hand controls, but eventually i would like to give it a run just to see what it would do.

Have a good one
Brett
P.s. what kinda truck ya have?