Too many macs

[gooser]

4th gear(top) is 1:1. I haven't measured, but 3.9:1 is the standard rear end for a "B" roadster. Overdrive-or "4 1/2" will get you to .82:1 in 4th which makes interstate cruising a little more enjoyable and I think will knock off about 500 rpms at any given speed when engaged. I'm tired of grinding 4th gear in it(weak synchro) so may drop in an O/D transmission this winter.

Bear in mind also that I'm running 185/70R14 tires(actually larger than stock 165/80-no one but specialty suppliers like Coker make a 165/80), while I'm guessing that your Suburban tires are significantly larger.

My LS is .75:1 in OD with a 3.58:1 rear end. The tires are large enough(235/50R17) that with that ratio it can manage a very pleasant interstate cruising experience but there's also plenty of low-end torque(3.22:1 in 1st, ~225 ft-lbs from about 2K to 5K) that it can move when I want it to. I'm not big on "aggressive" driving but when I've needed to make a lane change in town I think I've surprised people at how quickly my "big Lincoln" can move-particularly when I'm in "manumatic" mode and wind it out to 5K or so.

i've got an overdrive in my early 74 b and i highly recommend it.

 

[bunnspecial]

i've got an overdrive in my early 74 b and i highly recommend it.

I have a weak 4th synchro and my 3rd isn't too far behind(both grind a bit on engaging) so I think a transmission swap is in my future, although I'm living with it for now as I have higher priorities. I think I'll likely go O/D when I do swap-it's sort of a no-brainer since I'll be doing it anyway, it's more or less drop in, and O/D will easily add $1K to the value of the car along with making it a more pleasant "cruising" car.

For the time being, though, I have bigger fish to fry. The car is on jack stands in the garage now while I change the rear leaf springs(the main leaf on the passenger side was broken, which gave it some screwy handling characteristics, and I don't want to change one without changing the other). Unfortunately, the front most bolt is good and stuck, and like an idiot I didn't order replacements along with the springs. When the bolts get here, I'm going to cut out the old ones to proceed with the spring change. I also SHOULD have ordered all new rubber initially, but didn't-that's coming with the replacement spring(it's about $6 per side to replace all the rubber parts, so again I'm not sure why I didn't do it on the first order). I haven't even had the wheel off the driver side yet, but have been giving the bolts a daily treatment of PB Blaster so that hopefully when I do get to it I won't have as much trouble.

 

[gooser]

cutting those bolts off is pretty standard procedure unfortunately after all these years.