I have a 73 with a 350 and a 2.73 rearend. Is this a bad thing? It's a daily driver and don't plan on taking it to the track for serious racing. However, I do plan on doing a mild build on the engine. Should I KO the 2.73 for a higher gear, $$, or live with it. It's runs good as is. Any comments?

I think you'd be MUCH happier with a 3.55 or 3.73 posi. That would be a good compromise for performance versu daily use. Mine has a factory 4.10 which is a bit steep to drive much, but 20 years ago I did take it on a 400 mile trip to the beach.

You can have a posi and new gears setup in your diff for about $1200, or you can go shopping at the local auto parts recycler and find a complete housing, etc from a 2nd Gen Trans-Am which will be a posi with either 3.08 gears if it's an auto trans, or 3.73 gears if it's a manual trans. These can go for as little as $250. So shop carefully & good luck.

Now, you state you don't want to race this car, but here's a couple questions for you:

Do you drive this car daily, and if so, does it see a lot of highway cruising? If so, keep the gears you have.

Do you want to be able to launch from a stop light or two, such as when some geek in a 5.0 wants you to run? If so, look for the T/A rear and trash the 2.73's.

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70 & 1/2 RS Camaro
406 & M20 4spd
9" rear

70 Malibu
SB350 & TH400

Driveline Technician


[This message has been edited by Scooter (edited 02-02-2000).]

Thanks for the replys'. Having a litte more get-up and go is always a good thing. However, It is a daily driver but at the moment it only goes on short trips 10-20 miles at the most. That is untill I get a few items fixed to where I trust it more. I do live in Idaho which means going anywhere (other than hometown) means long country roads or highways, so maybe for the meantime the 2.73 is not so bad. It has no problem breaking the tires loose even from a slow 10-15 mph start. I've only had the car for a few months and am not sure the make up of the engine. But the way it's leaking it wont be long before I rebuild it. It sat for a while and I have more oil leaks than I know what to do with. At least it keeps the oil fresh. he he.

Bob
73 Camaro with potential