Poll: Lucy - Should I Modify Her Engine?

[Carlwalski]

Fair enough

Go figure, Randy's Ring & Pinion said the 4.30 .89 gears are on back order and won't be ready until the end of the year LMAO. Doh!
They have 4.56 gears until the cows come home, sure is tempting.........

[71chally416]

I don't wanna be Debbie Downer but I've never had a 440 that wouldn't kill a set of  street tires like you have just punching it from an idle. I wonder if the things you plan to do are gonna help or if maybe you have some other problem(s)?  Timing retarded, excessive cylinder leakdown, ? 

[Carlwalski]

Breaking the tires can be done and no you're not being a Debbie downer. lol The car's suspension set up is spot on and is more than likely the reason she bogs down and bites so well. The engine is perfect, to me anyhow. Never had any issues, runs smooth, pulls hard and it's just a good strong engine that I would happily drive anywhere for any period of time, I love that about the 440s, such a bullet proof engine. I've decided to purchase 4.56 gears. Rpms @ 65mph are around 2,750rpm which isn't bad and in no way pushing the 440. I was talking to a few guys in an English car club and others with classics who cruise at 70mph @ 3,000rpm all day long in V6 and similar engines. I'll go out in Lucy tomorrow before purchasing and sit on the highway around 2,600-2,900rpm for a good amount of time just to get a feel of what the rpms will be like. When I tried it the other day it felt a lot better, more response and less engine work, if that makes sense. I can see why some people don't lose mpgs going up numerically in the rear gears and in some cases gaining mpgs.

[Chryco Psycho]

I could check & see if I can get you the 4.30s if you want

[Carlwalski]

I could check & see if I can get you the 4.30s if you want

Thanks Neil, much appreciated but I'm OK now. I managed to call Cass (Dr Diff) today and he had a 4.30 Yukon for my diff in stock, real stoked. I asked him about the national back order and he said that when they (Yukon) make the gears, they only make around 15-20 units each batch. He also said US Gear ring and pinions are the exact same gears, same cut, same machines, just repackaged as Yukon. I only like Yukon as I've tried a few others like Motive etc and Yukon seem to be the quietest by some margin, just my opinion anyhow. Thanks all the same mate but now I am all sorted. Got the cutouts on yesterday - LOUD but it loses a lot of back pressure and power, good on the highway though. I'll try to get a video up in the near future.

[Chryco Psycho]

Cool
I believe the loudness of the gears only comes down to skill in setting them up

[Carlwalski]

Same guy set up 3 different gears in mine, 2 whined real bad, the current one is quiet as. Dr Diff reckons it's the gears AND setting them up. Setting them up will only get you so far but if the gears aren't laser straight or cut perfectly they can and will whine. I have good confidence in my shop that they're doing the job correctly, been around for 30 years and Lucy is just one of their many creations. Cass also said performance brand gears will whine as that is how some of the strength is formed. People with large hp cars and low ET vehicles don't care about whining and noise when they're only doing a 1/4 mile at a time lol. Having said this, the companies can have good and bad batches so this quiet one I have now may just be a good batch, will have to wait and see.