1952 plymouth crew cab rear gearing question.

[daves50]

i have a 52 plymouth 4dr sedan with a 350 chevy engine and a 4 speed stick transmision. stock rear.  my problem is at 40 mph my rpms are 2100.   is the stock rear 411 gears ?  years ago i had a 72 nova,same 350 engine with a 4 speed stick and 513 gears. the car had the same problem   40mph-2100 rpms . the rear in my car looks like its never been apart,all dirty and all the mounting points are dirty,( like never been cleaned in 50 years)   anyone else had this issue ?  is there another jackpot housing with a better highway set of gears that will bolt into my org housing ?   any help ?    thanks..

[Plymouthy Adams]

you'd never have that problem with a flathead 6.....

[Dave72dt]

They probably are 4.11.  I think 3.73 were in some occasionally.  Somewhere on the rear housing there should be some numbers stamped in that will tell you the ratio  It may be easier to swap the 4 speed out for a 5 speed w/overdrive then find those other gear

[Plymouthy Adams]

ratio as stock is dependent on a couple thing.....first is the wheelbase.....second is the area for which it was shipped and sold.....111 was stock 3.73....118 stock at 3.9  hilly and OD factory....4.1  and of course we must never forget that regardless of stock what some PO  may have swapped out for whatever reason.....as 52 is the target year in question...OD played a part in later part of production....these OD were kitted and sold/installed by dealerships into other cars...dealer prepped non title cars of 1951 would be considered stock OD...these did not receive gear changes at the rear end....so a 111 WB car could have OD and 3.73

[Los_Control]

I would have to look it up, you can do the same ... jack up the rear end and rotate a wheel, count the revolutions of the drive shaft. You can confirm your ratio from that.

[Plymouthy Adams]

clean the hog head and read the numbers is even a more simpler method to arrive at the ratio

[Young Ed]

And since you've already got a v8 why not put a modern diff in rather than hunting for 75 year old gearsets

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

going to change your name...you are Ed Zachery right about upgrading.....

[Sniper]

Years ago I had a 64 300.  Drove it to Memphis from San Diego.  4.10 gears, three speed stick, no OD.  People today think spinning an engine up is a problem.  Not really.  I wouldn't worry about it in this situation if it was me, but it's not.  I think the rear axle swap may be something to consider when you also remember you can get more modern self adjusting drums back there, maybe even discs if you already have those in the front.  One less maintenance things to worry about if the brakes self adjust.

[Adam H P15 D30]

I also had some steep geared muscle cars in my past that were daily drivers.  Trick is to disconnect the tach and turn up the radio for the road trips

[Plymouthy Adams]

AND...have a couple quarts of oil on standby as you are surely going to blow a bit of it out at sustained engine speeds.....

[ptwothree]

Bring it up to 4 grand or so and side step the clutch.....You'll know right now if it's a stock or not.