350 or 325 rear end gears in a 8in w/ 302?

I'm new to ford muscle and looking for some advise. I just put my 64 falcon convertible in the shop (for a rebuilt rear end) because my 273 gears are way too tall. I have a 8in, T10 4 speed and a 302 w/ a mild cam. Question: Will rpm's be too high at freeway speeds w/ 350 gearing? I'm leaning towards the 325 gearing but want to make the 302 come alive. Thanks

I say go 3.50, it wont spin that much more than the 3.25 and they'll be a lil more fun since anything is funner than 2.73s.

What size wheels and tires are you going to use? You can figure what rpms you'll be running at different speeds with that info and your gear ratio.

paulie

For the first time today I decided to click the "Today's Posts" and ran across this and thought I might have a little input.

3.50 is waaayyyy dif than 2.73 that you are running now, or at least i would say so. I don't have an rpm gauge in my Galaxie w/390 Vert with RV cam and bored .040, auto, but i can tell you the gas mileage went from 15 to about 9 or 10 on the freeway and with the noisey exhaust I can hear the dif in rpms. I went from 3.00 to 3.50 only so 2.73 to 3.50 is something you will really notice. Not to mention where you used to almost coast you will have to give it gas to keep moving. I do mostly 30mph driving in my area so leaving the house and going a couple blocks before picking up speed most would not even notice that aspect.

3.25 might be a better choice imo. I didn't go 3.50 intentionally but was given the 3.50 by a friend who thought it was a 3.00. I knew it was a 3.50 before putting it in the car but thought how big a dif can it be? Not to mention it beat permanently like welded rearend that i'd been driving for the past almost 3 yrs. It did accomplish that much! lol

Just expect your mileage to go down when going from the 2.73 to even the 3.25. I am not a car expert nor do I know anything much about rearends. I can only give you the info I learned between a 3.00 and 3.50. Not to mention I'm a putt putt so have no need to launch off the stop light/sign to get anywhere in a hurry and would only watch my gas needle travel quicker to empty.

Good luck on your choices and sounds like a cool car. Done rambling now.

I'm running 235/60R15's so 26in diameter. Most of my driving is 30-50 mph up and down the Pacific Coast Hwy, w/ some small hills to start/stop on. Does anyone know what rpm's a 302 puts out (my rpm guage is broken)? The charts say the following re rpm's @65mph: 350=3000rpm 325=2750rpm

Here is a link to the calculator right here on the FM site. http://www.fordmuscle.com/calculators/rpm.php

Since you do mostly highway driving perhaps a T-5 transmission with overdrive would be best..It would allow you to run a lower rear end gear for great acceleration and still be able to cruise at highway speeds at a low rpm..You will also want to get your tach working so you have a reference..

Originally Posted by ShotRod64

For the first time today I decided to click the "Today's Posts" and ran across this and thought I might have a little input.

3.50 is waaayyyy dif than 2.73 that you are running now, or at least i would say so. I don't have an rpm gauge in my Galaxie w/390 Vert with RV cam and bored .040, auto, but i can tell you the gas mileage went from 15 to about 9 or 10 on the freeway and with the noisey exhaust I can hear the dif in rpms. I went from 3.00 to 3.50 only so 2.73 to 3.50 is something you will really notice. Not to mention where you used to almost coast you will have to give it gas to keep moving. I do mostly 30mph driving in my area so leaving the house and going a couple blocks before picking up speed most would not even notice that aspect.

3.25 might be a better choice imo. I didn't go 3.50 intentionally but was given the 3.50 by a friend who thought it was a 3.00. I knew it was a 3.50 before putting it in the car but thought how big a dif can it be? Not to mention it beat permanently like welded rearend that i'd been driving for the past almost 3 yrs. It did accomplish that much! lol

Just expect your mileage to go down when going from the 2.73 to even the 3.25. I am not a car expert nor do I know anything much about rearends. I can only give you the info I learned between a 3.00 and 3.50. Not to mention I'm a putt putt so have no need to launch off the stop light/sign to get anywhere in a hurry and would only watch my gas needle travel quicker to empty.

Good luck on your choices and sounds like a cool car. Done rambling now.

My thought is that first and maybe second gear are going to kill you. Did not mention exactly which tranny or ratios you have, but found that if you got a 2.79 rear axle ratio, you then got a very wide ratio tranny (in four speed) straight from factory. You will be shifting a lot then. Like they do in the movies.

Wm.

Since I've been on the PCH myself. I would say the 3.50's would be fine. If you were talking about taking I-5 or some other real "interstate" type of hwy I would say 3.25 for sure. The Pacific Coast Hwy is much more laid back and as you stated 40-50 mph is reasonable with 3.50's.
I have 3.50's in my 64 Convert and while it's great from stoplight to stoplight, I am keeping an eye out for something more in the 3.0 to 3.25 range for the ability to go on a real freeway/interstate. I used to have 3.00's and they were perfect for high speed but lacked the off-the-line ability of the 3.50's. Right now I think I'd be turning 3500 or so to keep up with traffic. I've got 14 inch rims with 195/60-14's on them, so not a big tire at all.

Originally Posted by ShotRod64

rpm gauge

Really??? RPM Gauge??? Used twice in this post, wow!!!

My suggestion, fix your Tach (aka Tachometer or RPM Gauge) before the gear swap, then go with the 3.50 and some sort of limited slip differential.

For what you want to do, go with the 3:25 and you don't need some sort of limited slip differential.