How far have you driven your car????

Hey Guys.I run about 3000 rpm at 60 mph(more or less) with a 27" tire and 3.42 gears(equates to 3.34 I believe)Anyway,the 462 says "Feed Me" as you all know and to me that`s too much rpm on a long trip to Salem for example.I know the "Gear Vendors" and "200 4R" stories quite well also.
So,I guess for me it`s "suck it up" and go?? :grin: Any comments????
Later,Tony.

 

3000 rpm is a little high. According to the rpm calculators online, you should be doing just under 2600 rpm. Do you have a lot of slip in your converter?

 

speedo check?

are you sure the speedo is correct? i used a portable garmin gps unit to dial mine in-each tooth on the plastic speedo gear is worth about 2.5 mph. i drive mine from socal to las vegas (340 miles from my house to the track) each year at 3000-3300. with a 3.89 gear and a 30.5 inch tire, 60 is 2800, 70-74 in the 3-3300 range. i do use a q-jet and manage to squeeze out 12+ mpg with a mild combo. this year, when i drove from here to salem, i switched a 2.50 gear into the car for th trip accross the states and pulled as much as 15 mpg at 75-80 mpg (with this gearing and 30.5 inch tires, 85 was 3ooo!!) borrow a gps and dial in your speedo so you know for sure its actually that speed. also, a 28 or 29 inch tire will relieve it some and may not affect et at all. i went from the 3.89 to a 3.40 and the car only lost a tenth with the tall tires. and the mph went up 1.5 or so.

:3gears: :3gears:

 

Hey Guys.Thanks for the replies.
Phil,my "More or Less" could even be 65 mph @ 2800,I did a gear change a few years ago(3.08 to 3.42) and never changed speedo gears .My factory tach could be out a bit also o No:.Regardless,the rpm/mph is too high for long travel IMHO.Looking forward to your 2004R swap details in the future.:TU:

Scott,Good idea on your part to do a diff swap,but that`s a bit of work and I don`t recall a big rpm change between 3.08`s and 3.42`s.Tires,I agree would make a difference,albeit probably a small one.Thanks.Later,Tony.

 

OK. 2800 rpm at 65 mph sounds right on. I run about 3200 rpm or so at 70 mph. My longest trip was about 325 round trip. It does start to get irritating not being able to go much faster. I can't wait to get that new tranny in.

 

gear change-9 inch

i do have a ford 9 inch so the cross country gear change was fairly easy-but-i owuldnt do it for the 700miles round trip to vegas each fall, for example. other things i have done to make the drive easier while its spinning so high-6 disc changer in the trunk and good speakers with a good amp, i also used dynamat under the carpet from firewall to rear parcel shelf to hold own inside heat and noise. any trip to a drag strip here in socal is 1.5 or more hours in traffic so these things make it easier to live with the engine noise and heat from spinning 3k :laugh:

 

As for how far I have driven my 64 Special 455 SP400 3.42 gears 255/60R 15's I drove 1100 miles round trip from Calgary Alberta To Vancouver BC through the Rocky mountians and I got about 16MPG average keeping it around the 65-70 mph mark just under 3000 rpm. At that time I had a 800CFM Quadrajet carb.When I got to mission I unloaded the trunk and ran a best of 12.86 at 106.86 MPH no other changes. I use a Holley 850DP now and milage has dropped but it idels better.

In my 69 GS400 Convertable I have driven as much as 2500 miles on my road trips and this was all done with 3.42 gears in the rear and a 235R60 15 tires, When i keep it under 3000 rpm I can get almost 19 MPG I switch to 3.08 gears to give me longer legs and 245R60 15 tires now. In the 22 years I have owned the 69 GS400 Convert I have personaly put on about 180,000 miles and love ever one of them, and it has been down the 1/4 mile aprox 1500 times :3gears:

My new project is a 1964 Skylark with 350 SBB 200R4 3.31 posi gear not sure on the tire size i will settle on but the 215R70 15's give it a real low rpm at all cruise speeds hehehe :Brow: around 2000-2200 at almost 80. I hope to have this one rady for power tour in 2007. I will be taking it on a few shake down runs u and down the west coast this spring and summer for sure. So if there are any show you want me to attend or you see my gold beast say Hi


Ken

 

Hey Guys.Good to hear the stories/advice.All the diff & tire combo info is helpfull.Limited hi-way speeds is the trade off for street/strip combos I guess.
I have no stereo(not that I am not a music buff!!)I listen to my Super Turbos. :laugh: Ken,nice ride!! :TU: Maybe us Canucks will meet.Thanks again guys.Later,Tony.

 

Hey Larry.I have the same gear/tires as you.I seem to recall with the 3.08`s 60 mph reading around 2500 with 225/70/14`s all around (that was 7 years ago..a bit foggy memory).I am going to jot down that part# and check into my drive gear tooth count.I won`t solve my hiway rpm issue,but I should have a better speedo read.I am getting a bit bored with the local/regional shows and cruises and would rather meet more Buick guys,especially people I have met on the V8 board.But that involves a fair bit of travel time. ou: Thanks.Later,Tony.

 

Thanks Tony and I think it is a great idea for Canadians to meet maybe half way in WPG or even the northern US like WISCONSIN maybe??? I only wish I could afford to bring my 4 main Buicks to all the shows hehehe :Brow: I have drivers ( all my kids are old enough ) I just can not afford the gas and feeding them hehehe :beer I would be happy to take at least hmmmmmm 5 of my Buicks on a long haul accptinh donations as we speak hmmmmm thats a plan :eek2: I wonder if i could take the most cars to the furthest show hmmmm :laugh: too bad my cars are all drivers and not really show quality o No:



Ken

 

Hey Tony How did your motor work out?I was talking to you a while back i just got mine back together this fall. Your right 60mph is a drag i have been really looking into gear vendors might bite the bullet.Soon as i get on the highway i keep waiting for one more shift.there is no way around it got to take the interior out cut floor make floor patch better than beating floor for hours.You have to drive to long island we have great shows every sunday morning at the beach.

 

Hey Larry.Well,one can`t argue with the math!!As I stated earlier,I had the 3.08`s about 7 years ago and maybe it was around 2350 I don`t quite remember.My tach could be a bit off also.Later,Tony.

 

Hey Steve.Been a while eh!!My engine turned out quite fine thanks,pulls pretty good and the cam has a bit of a "Rump" to it while still looking stock under the hood with headers.It looks the same as my original engine only shinier,can you say "sleeper" :Brow:.On the engine dyno,420 horses @ 4800(using my old mainshaft worn points distributor due to Pertronix Ignitor failure in my good distributor) uzzled: on a damp day with 91 octane.I am sure with the good distributor and a boost in the octane we could have gotten a bit more.The torque was 528 @ 3600,now it`s not like night and day compared to my 320-325 horse "smogger" but I notice a difference. :grin: I had a lot of bugs to work out and still have a few more in the spring All in all I am quite happy with the engine project.So how about you?? The last I recall you were on the fence about a cam selection and were not going to dyno.What did you end up using for your "combo"?? Any dyno?? Phil Sedlon(he posted on this thread)did a big info hunt on the "Gear Vendors",seems like a bit of a pain in the $%^%!! Check with him for info.
I think we all are spoiled with OD trans in our daily drivers and the old 3 speed autos with a decent rear gear ratio just suck on the hi-way.To be passed by a buzzy import at 60-70mph ou: Good to hear from you! Keep in touch!! Later,Tony.

 

Larry,
What would be the tire diameter on a 215/70 R14?

I drove my Stage 1 2000 miles round trip to Salem - spent a lot of highway time turning 3500-3700 RPM just maintaining speed with traffic. I went through a number of those "this is your speed" automated radar set ups and they registered 63 MPH at 3000 RPM. My speedometer is off by what I believe is a 10% error.

 

I figure my true speed there was 10% less or 77-76 mph.

 

Larry,

Using your equation and my data, the tire diameter calculates out to be 24.13 in. Is this correct or close?

 

Hey Kyle.I see you have the same issues.I swear if I blink I can see that gas gauge drop :laugh: Man,that`s some strong rpm`s for a long trip :shock: I have to wonder if you have a tach/speedo problem.Later,Tony.

 

I've driven all the way to the GS Nats (650 miles) taching above 3000 rpm. In fact, the faster you drove it, the better the gas mileage was!