first hotrod build

holley owns demon and quickfuel all look nice but seem to be variants of the holley except for the street demon , cant find anything to compare them. Zinc or aluminum which is better. Vacuum secondary with down leg boosters or mechanical with annular boosters is another question, I was thinking a vacuum secondary with annular boosters would be ideal for my use but I don't see any. I have also read that a mechanical works well on light cars for the street.
 
I will be getting an explorer 8.8 rear end and narrowing it to fit, cut 3"out of the drivers side tube and install a passenger side axle. Does anyone have suggestions on gears and posi with my approximately 500ft/lb build, will stock parts last. I can get 3.55 gears with a live axle or 3.77 with fords posi. Would like the 3.55 gears but need a good traction system. Gears are cheaper to buy than a posi if I bought a posi I am looking at a truetrac. I am also wondering about the stock axle, should I buy 1 or 2 new ones.
 
hotrod coupe said:
my goal is to have a fun ride with enough power with decent gas mileage. Probably will never see a strip unless it was at a rod meet so not worried about et numbers.
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I got the quote above from your very first post, have these goals changed since October 26, 2016.

Before you decide on gears, what trans are you going to use? What diameter rear tire are
you using? An OD automatic will definitely help with the gas mileage .... maybe 3-4 mpg on the
highway. What does the car weigh, this will help determine the load on the rear end. Automatic
will also help, less shock load on the rear vs a standard trans when launching from a start.

I would get both axles, it's not just about twisting an axle. I had one come out of the housing when
going down a steep hill into a left hand turn in Arkansas. Makes for an exciting corner with no brakes.

How much highway driving do you expect? Good chance that 3.77 will fit the bill, but won't
know for sure until you answer the questions above.
 
yes that is still my goal with the coupe although my build turned into a monster so after I learn to drive it I will have to go to the track at least once for a time slip. To start with I will be using the 350 turbo just to get it on the road while I do a solid rebuild on the 700r4. Will have disc brakes and considering getting a c-clip eliminator kit with the rest of the installation kit and bearings. I am assuming the coupe weighs about 2500lb, have not got to a weigh station because the motor that is in it lets oil pressure drops to 0 at idle and I don't want to trash that motor, which started this whole build. Tire width is also a limitation, with narrowing I may be able to fit 235-255 in the rear fenders, now running 215 60 15. I expect to be doing mostly interstate travel, living out in the wilderness its freeway to get anywhere.
 
.
Are we picking a ratio based on the TH350 or the 700-R4??? Another words for now, or in the future?

Sounds like you need to pick your ratio based on what you want the RPM to be on the highway, picking
the highest (numerically) that will not have the motor revving too high for your needs.

Your car is pretty light, but I will have to defer to Grumpy about the durability of the Ford 8.8 rear end.

I'm obviously biased, but why are you going to use the 700-R4 and not the 200-4R?

TireDiameterChart.JPG

TireSize_RPM-Calcs01-1.jpg

TireSize_RPM-Calcs01-2.jpg

AutoTransGearRatios.JPG
 
I will say gear for the 350, after doing the rear end the first time I am sure changing gears should not be that hard a second time. Cost and ease are my reasons for my choices. the 8.8 is a simple narrowing job I am confident I can do and I have the 700r4. I agree the 200r4 would be preferable transmission but it does not look like it would fit under the floor, space is very tight. I would prefer a 5 speed manual but it would take major modifications I am not confident in doing, the custom frame is made with welded tubing mounts for only manual brakes and no space for a clutch. I know this is primarily a GM place I was hoping for someone with 8.8 experience to give advice on factory gear and posi use, been to ford sights that say everything from too weak for anything over stock to great to 900hp. I have more trust in advice from here.
 
hotrod coupe said:
I will say gear for the 350, after doing the rear end the first time I am sure changing gears should not be that hard a second time. Cost and ease are my reasons for my choices. the 8.8 is a simple narrowing job I am confident I can do and I have the 700r4. I agree the 200r4 would be preferable transmission but it does not look like it would fit under the floor, space is very tight. I would prefer a 5 speed manual but it would take major modifications I am not confident in doing, the custom frame is made with welded tubing mounts for only manual brakes and no space for a clutch. I know this is primarily a GM place I was hoping for someone with 8.8 experience to give advice on factory gear and posi use, been to ford sights that say everything from too weak for anything over stock to great to 900hp. I have more trust in advice from here.
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You can use an hydraulic clutch slave cylinder for the manual tranny and do no welding on the chassis for that. You could also use a swing pedal assembly with 90* master cylinders for brakes and clutch as well as use an electric vacuum booster. This is what I did with a 3.9 Dodge V6 and a 5 speed manual tranny. bth_IMG_0036.jpg bth_IMG_0039.jpg bth_IMG_0038.jpg bth_IMG_0034.jpg bth_IMG_0033.jpg .bth_IMG_0031.jpg
 
hotrod coupe said:
I will say gear for the 350, after doing the rear end the first time I am sure changing gears should not be that hard a second time.
Click to expand...
So what kind of RPM is acceptable on the highway for you? The acceleration will be what it is
since it is secondary to your cruising RPM, if I understand your posts correctly. For most TH350's
there is not a lockup torque converter, so you will need to add 200-300 RPM to the 1.0:1 column
in the table above.

If you plan to cruise at something other than 70 mph, I can redo the table for any speed you want
to consider.

Is there that much difference between the 700-R4 and the 200-4R? I've not really tried to compare
them in that respect. I had a TH350 and went to the 200-4R without problems, but I've probably
got more space around the tunnel.
.
 
The rear of the 200 appears much larger than a 350 or 700 which is where space is extremely tight. For cruising rpm around 3250 would be acceptable with the 350 and that gearing would be great with a lockup overdrive. A lower gear would be acceptable if I was running local but my plans are for longer runs, Chattanooga tenn. Huntsville ala. Denver co. With my tire width restrictions wouldn't my acceleration be limited even with a lower gear, it seems that I'd be smoking tires with anything near projected torque of this motor?
 
With a 26 inch tire, 3250 RPM and 250 RPM for TC slip, then you are looking at a 3.36 rear gear.
Once you put the 700-R4 in then the RPM will drop to 2128. Personally that sounds like a fairly
high cruising RPM, gas mileage is really going to suffer. My cruising RPM is 1900 at 70 MPH and
I get about 19 mpg.

I would think about getting the new trans ready and install that rather than switch gears twice, but
do understand wanting to drive it as soon as possible.

hotrod coupe said:
With my tire width restrictions wouldn't my
acceleration be limited even with a lower gear, it seems that I'd be smoking tires with anything near
projected torque of this motor?
Click to expand...

Yes you will break them loose even easier, but not as hard. Once they break loose with higher gear,
then they will be turning at a greater speed(say 60 mph tires speed), than they would with the lower
gear(say 40 mph at the same RPM). Hope that makes sense.
 
ok I now have a better understanding of gearing, thanks for the explanation. I will get two axles and contemplate my options with transmissions and gearing.
 
Working on my exhaust system, outside the rails headers similar to ricks t-bucket. I have gone through all I can find here and elsewhere on glasspacks and not getting answers. Having to use round mufflers I am working keep as subdued as possible, 3" collectors and pipe with H pipe at collector, building for 500 hp. Wondering how much back pressure I would get using louvered 3" packs compared to perforated and would I be better with one 30" muffler or two shorter with another H pipe between them.
 
hotrod coupe said:
Wondering how much back pressure I would get using louvered 3" packs compared to perforated and would I be better with one 30" muffler or two shorter with another H pipe between them.
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I'm not sure that a louvered vs perforated muffler make any difference. The difference
comes when it's straight thru or not and the size of the tube. Sometimes they change
size internally, so pay attention to that also.

 
The Sliver Bullet Hemi 426 Belvidere that Raced Woodward Ave Detroit used Factory Cadillac 3 inch in & out mufflers.
Quiet. Stealth.
Fast.
Real fast.
 
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