Hi I live in the UK and have owned a 1984 Trans Am 5.0 HO [4-speed Auto]since 1990.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gary-chalker/4117412887/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gary-chalker/4117412887/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/gary-chalker/, on Flickr
I have now got a donor car, a 1983 Firebird, with a T5,383 Stroker and a Dana 44 rear axle with 4.09 gears is this an unusual rear axle ratio?
I'm going to swap everything over from the Firebird into my Trans Am.
Thoughts please.

Cheers Gary
Here is a link to my flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gary-chalker/

 

The Dana 44 in itself is rare and that gear ratio was not one of the factory ratio i dont think. Sounds like you got a sweet build happening over there. If you do a search on here for Dana 44s you will find out they are pretty damn scarce and expensive if you can find one.

 

Thanks for that.
I have a letter written by the original owner of the firebird to Dana/Spicer requesting the limited slip axle.
If I change the axles over first will my Trans Am with the TH700R4 work OK with the different ratio?

 

Looks pretty cool ! Though I'm not digging the wheels. It's hard to beat the stock look on any Firebird.

I've also bought my 1984 Trans Am HO 5 speed in the UK (in Guildford) back in march 2009

If you decide to take the '83 Firebird apart, I have some parts requests for you

 

The engine, t5 ,Dana 44,pedal box, are all going into my Trans Am HO.
What parts are you looking for?

 

Speedometer accuracy and engine operation won't be an urgent issue going from 3.73 to 4.09 gears. Your tire size/ height, would be helpful here. As would popping out the driven speedometer gear for a tooth count. If you're stock there, it's likely going from a 21 tooth to a 22 will be the only needed change.

 

Thanks for this .
I'm going to swap the axles first ,I don't think I will be driving the Trans Am any distance just moving it around my property.
I've driven the Firebird and it's very rapid, so I'm keen to get everything swapped over.

 

4.09:1 is an original ratio for a Dana 44. Now you can get 4.10:1, but Dana did make 4.09:1, with a 45 tooth ring gear and an 11 tooth pinion gear. Other "old" ratios for it included 2.72:1, 3.07:1, 3.31:1, 3.54:1, 3.75:1, 3.92:1, 4.27:1, and so on.

 

At the moment, I only need the headlights bezels and the seat belts if they are Light Sand Gray (and only this color). If you have the rear speakers boxes for the UQ7 option, I'll take them too.

Do you go on the POC-UK.org forum ?