ERA 289FIA On Order Today (again)

[PeteH]

I have a similar driveline in my ff 289. 65 289 hipo (6bolt bellhousing)bored .040, flat top pistons, original iron heads that were highly modified in 67 for drag racing with a nice port and polish, and SBC valves, BBC valve springs. I converted to roller lifters and Trickflow roller tip rockers, using a fairly aggressive Comp cam. Edelbrock FB4 intake, Holley 670 carb. It screams, nice cammy idle.
I also have a 64 BW T10 with 25 spline output. Not the best for clutch dumps or hard shifting as they were known to break that small diameter output shaft. Have a 28 spline toploader that will be rebuilt and swapped out maybe next winter. Am running a 60s era Lakewood bellhousing with external hydraulic slave actuation. 8.8 Ford IRS with 3:08s for the time being. Have another pumpkin that will be built with a posi traction diff, and slightly higher number gear ratio.
I would suggest you consider a toploader for the robustness of design.

[xb-60]

Pete - can I ask for your thoughts/comments on the 3.08 ratio with a 4-speed box? I'm using a similar setup for my build.
Cheers,
Glen

[PeteH]

Hello Glen,
I did some work at the Mobil refinery in Adelaid in 2000 when it was still open, really enjoyed all my trips to Australia. My one and only sailing experience was in Perth , beautiful evening that was.
The 4speed with 3:08 gears is not too bad, you need to feather the clutch out a bit in first, first to second and then third are fairly close ratio, and I have a wide ratio Borg Warner presently, but quite a spread to fourth. At 65mph, Im turning about 2700-2800 rpm. I can putt along at 30mph at about 1400rpm, but lopy cam rears its head there a bit, not in the power band. You'll have to cross reference to kph.
All in all, not too bad, and very streetable for normal driving, but considering something like 3:28 or whatever the next step is for the other diff I have.
I'm careful with the bw box with 25 spline output shaft, they do not take much abuse on hard shifts, but do progressively accelerate hard in first and second once in gear. It's still a hoot to drive, especially at 4500 to 6200 rpm. Music to my ears, even with earplugs in.

[PeteH]

Glen, I should mention I'm running 245-60 R15 tires that have a 26" diameter.

[fastd]

Originally Posted by crendonman427sc

Hi Pete,

I will probably have an oil cooler as the car must be period correct, so maybe a small one!?

FIA 6Pin Wheels Agreed!

Heat Shielding is something I had not considered at this stage. I must look into this and decide upon a product. Any suggestions?


Thanks


David

I guess it depends on what you plan to use it for but my advice is to relax your period correct rules. When you are building it in your head it’s so important to get everything “just right.” But when you finally drive it you say “man I shoulda went with...” (5 or 6 speed, aluminum heads, QuickTime bell, etc).

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Pete - can I ask for your thoughts/comments on the 3.08 ratio with a 4-speed box? I'm using a similar setup for my build.
Cheers,
Glen

There are plenty of online calculators that will give you RPMs at a given speed. You can play with final drive ratios, tire sizes, etc. and quickly figure out what will work for you, how you drive, road speeds, etc. Here's a couple to get you started:



Calculate GEAR, RPM, MPH, TIRE DIAMETER


Engine RPM / Engine Speed Calculator

[strictlypersonl]

There's a gearing chart (includes all common transmissions and differential ratios) right in the ERA manual.

[xb-60]

The Second Strike Gearing Calculator is particularly good too, but getting comments from someone with a similar(-ish) setup to mine is even more useful.

End of diversion

Cheers,
Glen