Ok, I currently have 3.42s in my camaro, and they feel really tall after my engine swap. I dont know anything about the new engine other than it lopes really nice, and wants to be in one gear lower during normal driving than the 305 did. Thats all fine and good, but I deliver pizzas for a living, and this thing wont go through a neighborhood without acting like it will stall. It also sounds like crap lugged down that much. The logical solution seems to be lower rear end gears. I was at first thinking 3.73s, but I was doing some research and my findings dont make sense. This is with a 255/60/15, but is that correct? If so, that makes 4.11s look fine for daily driving, and it would make it alot nicer to drive on the street. The only real downside is that they will cost about $325. Any one got any better ideas to get me back some low end? Here is a 10 second video of the car, it really lopes well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAaSuh-9nwA

What kind of intake is it? TBI or did you switch to something else? If its still fuel injected (TBI/TPI) then I think you need some custom chip tuning to help that low end. A new set of gears would not help that much.

Even if its a carb you could benefit from some idle and low speed tuning.

Its got an Edelbrock 600 on there. Came used with the engine, and I know it has had the choke ripped out, and the accelerator pump isnt working right. (Its a BEAR to start when its cold)

I need to get the carb fixed....

maybe fix the carb. im sure that could help some of the problem.

I know that would help when I stomp on it, but I dont understand how that would fix the way it drives down the road at a steady RPM...

i have 3.08 years and the same size tires as you. when i go about 80kms and im in 4th. its about 3000rpm. im not to sure if thats right for 3.08 gears or not.
i would try to fix the carb 1st and if it still acting up ask again.
im not to sure what else could be the problem. i dont think the gearing would really affect anything really. im guessing its a problem with the engine but thats me.

Does it try to stall at all rpms or just when you're at lower rpms (say under 2000)? If it's just at the lower rpms, you may just simply have a little too much cam and be out of it's power band.

I don't know where those numbers came from; but they're not right. At least, they don't agree with known daily reality out here in the real world.

My car CAME WITH a T-5 and 3.73 gears; and I can tell you, from since it was new, it did about 2200-2250 RPM at 55 in 5th.

There's not a whole lot of difference between 3.42 and 3.73; about 10%. Meaning, you should be at about 2000 RPM at 55, more or less.

Are you SURE you have 3.42s? How do you know that?

u need a higher stall converter, especially with a lopey cam.

How is it that the obvious question still hasn't been asked? What are the cam specs? Gotta have those to make an intellegient converter/gear choice.

-He doesnt know what the engine has
-Its a manual transmission. Infinitely variable stall rating.

Its gotta be a carb tuning issue. If your car is stalling at low RPM, the high gears wont solve your problem, you will still be in that RPM band in load at some point.

whoops.. didnt realize it was a t-5..

I agree its a carb issue. Knowing more about the engine is gonna be important in the long run for getting things running right...

Didn't notice it was a T-5 either - gears are not your answer at all in this case then.

nevermind

I truely believe that the carb isnt the main source of trouble here. I believe its the fact that I have alot of lope and it inst making power below 2k.

The fact that it isnt making power below 2k is why is keeps trying to stall.

Once I climb above 2k it smooths out fine.

Putting 4.11s in WILL make it nicer to drive around the streets by bringing the power band down a few mph.

Some of ya'll need to learn to read the thread... Wow....

Changing the gears will only make you shift earlier, will not solve the problem. The problem is most likely with the high lift on your cam. Simple solution... shift at higher RPM.

You'd have to have a seriously wild cam to have affect driveability to the point that you suggest. If the cam is really that wild, you'd need more than a 600 cfm Edelbrock carb to make good power on top. Lots of cam will be doggy at lower rpms, but it shouldn't want to stall, even a wildly cammed engine will idle steadly when properly tuned. I think you've got other problems that are worth investigating, especially if you're going to daily drive the car for pizza delivery.

Perhaphs YOU-all ought to read what WE-all gots to say.... Any engine that is firing all cylinder half decently, will sound fine above 2000 rpm. Including my never rebuilt, raced hard 1971 buick motor, that was losing compression, had oil in the cylinders, a seized distributor with incredibly retarded timing, dried out valve seals, etc etc etc....

I read your other thread about the "popping" noise, where you clearly said you arent that knowledgeable about cars, so if you ask for help, dont bash the guys that are offering it to you.

Ever seen a nascar stall in the pit-lane cuz it didnt have enough power??? Those are about the highest power bands you can get out of a V8. This isnt a civic, or a grossly overturbo-ed sub 2.0L engine. It has 3.48 " stroke and 8 cylinders, that provide over 200 lb-ft of torque, in almost every chevy 350 or 305 even. Provided its not 200 lb-ft at below 2000 rpm, but its far from being insufficient.

Just because the cam is big, and makes its power above 2K rpm, doesnt mean its gonna stall. It has plenty of torque to sustain the car, and you should be able to idle at 800-ish rpm, and move the car at idle, all day long.

I have a 284H cam in my 355, which is pretty "lopey", and my car is a beast cruising around town. With the stock auto trans, and converter i had, it idled at 750-800 RPM, and i had to fight with the brake to keep the rear tires from spinning. When i released the brakes, it would "idle" itself to about 20km/hr. When i put on my holley from the q-jet, i had the idle set too high, at 1100rpm, and i realized that was too high, because it would cruise at 45 mph, without me touching the gas and only slow down on a 25* ++ inclined hill. The power band for my cam is 3000-6500 (there abouts rpm), and its definately no slouch on the streets. The only time you should notice the power band difference is at the drag strip, when the car pulls hard, and then after 2000rpm it pulls WAAY HARDER!

I read your thread again CAREFULLY, and you never actually said the car IS ACTUALLY STALLING, i think you just might be new to a cammed car sound. They sound like they are mis-firing and skipping beats, and they sound like they are gonna die, below 2000 rpm, but they never stall, and the sure as hell dont lack power.

So, is there a problem at all???

I apologize. Your right, I really dont know THAT much about big cam engines....

Well, I will be having my grandfather take a drive with me in the next few days. He will know much better if there is a problem.

Sorry. I feel retarded now.

No its all good man, thats how you learn.
I think people thought there was actually an issue, but you can judge it yourself too. Is the car actually stalling and FEELING like its low on power, or does it just SOUND like it?

If it just sounds like it, dont worry, its the way its supposed to sound.

If she is a little radical then having the timing set correctly and the carb set correctly will make all the differance in the world. I have a comp 274 cam in my 350 and have the base timing at 26* and then limited the mech advance to 10*. You have to run a good gear reduction starter for that though. Search the carb forum for FBird88, he did a couple how to's on timing that I used.

It herks and jerks, like it is trying to stall.

The heads on this engine are low compression, so I went ahead and advanced it alot, and I am still running cheap fuel. The only problem that I am sure is timing related is the starter has trouble turning her over hot. I figured getting a higher torque starter would fix that.

I hadnt thought about the vacume advance possibly being the source of my trouble.

And as far as the other problem, the cackle, I think that might be loose header bolts.....

How much vacuum are you pulling at idle? If the Accelerator pump in the carb is shot your off idle performance and acceleration is gonna suck. Hence below 2000 rpm, what is the timing set at now? Where is the vacuum advance connected? full or ported? If it has smog heads and a big cam with low compression you'd be better off with a r/v type cam. It's important to know what you have if anyone is going to be able to help. Start with the basics, fix or replace the carb and start over again.

Well, I have a new carb I will be installing tomorrow, then I will be replacing some parts in the ignition, which should help.

Stepping up to a better gas helped...

whats the new carb?

re-manufactured edlebrok 600. I want to get a holly, but thats after I have everything worked out.

hope it was cheap and/or free. 650DP will be perfect whenever you get around to it. not to come off harsh but i hated my edelbrock.

Engines with high lift/duration cams will NOT idle well at rpms normal engines do. You may do well to set your curb idle speed at 1000 rpms minimum.
Also if your motor is idled too low (sounds to me like it is) it will not come up off idle well to get moving. Big cam engines need to be spinning faster to start with to be driveable on the street. My $.02