Well, I got my 383 in my 86 z28 and it runs great. But it does have the ***** to the wall acceloration as I though it would.

Factors: I have a 2800 stall converter. And a stock highway gear rear end.

the converter is matched with the cam. so would alot of the lack of acceloration come from **** poor gears?

 

Yes, put more so from a bad, or lack of tune.

Gears multiply torque. So if your motors making 300 ft-lbs torque at 2800rpm and first gear is say 2.50 and your rear is 2.77. You are seeing 300*2.5*2.73=2050 ft-lbs at the rear assuming no losses. Now if you have 3.73 gears your making 300*2.5*3.73=2800 ft-lbs. A 37% increase in rear TQ.

 

Gears can make a huge difference. 3.73 will pin you back alot more than 2.73 for example.

 

You should match rear gears to the cam as well. If you get a larger cam, you up the gears to help on acceleration from lack of low end grunt. 3.73's are an all around great street gear for a moderatly cammed engine, IMO.