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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 3:54 "Hiway" gearing for early Ford V8

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 3:54 "Hiway" gearing for early Ford V8 -- page: 1 2     svmsr1044 09-23-2014 @ 12:10 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 22 Joined: Jan 2013 Thanks guys, great feedback! Very helpful! I live in eastern PA, if I travel east, the terrain is flat. If I head west there are hills, north & south can be either or both. Ironically, misfit's mention of his 4dr dlx in Colorado reminds me that my 4dr dlx originally came from CO and was equipped with the 4:11's. It seems that the 3:54 set ups are easily available new at reasonable cost. I don't see any 3:78's for sale. Thanks again, svmsr 1044 (Steve '40 4dr dlx) misfit 09-22-2014 @ 7:28 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 10 Joined: Dec 2011 Jan 2013 I put 3:54's in my 40 DLX Fordor Sedan. I live in Colo. maxed out in second gear I'm going about 45 to 50 mph.(about 3000 rpm or so) A lot of my third gear driving is up hill. The only time I have a problem is when I'm almost stopped at a light and it turns green I can't go to first unless I stop so I stay in second and let the torque take over. With the 4:11's you can pick up speed quicker but not much. I like the 3:54's I drove up Quanella pass witch is 11,668 ft. I did it in second & third gear. I got 22 mpg on the flats & 14 mpg in the mountains. Although I don't know much about the hill country driving where your from. Len Kenneth M. 08-03-2014 @ 8:24 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 86 Joined: Oct 2009 354 can be very hard on a 9inch clutch. My 40 has a 9 inch clutch and 354 gears. I am in the process of changing the clutch,pressure plate to 10 inch. The car ran very nice with 354 gears BUT the clutch had a hard time with 354. Maybe that why my 40 has bad clutch chatter. There always a price to pay when wanting to go faster I have found. Kenneth M. Stewart misfit 07-27-2014 @ 8:18 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 10 Joined: Dec 2011 I live in Colo. actually I'm at 6800 ft. I have 3:54s I run about 400 rpms more than a Mitchel overdrive with 4:10s That's your next best bet. I like the 3:54s very well. I have an 40 engine bored to 3 & 3/16 with stock 40 crank. and stock cam best regards Len len47merc 07-08-2014 @ 8:17 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1165 Joined: Oct 2013 3.78 gears in an original stock '47 with solid 59A-B & 7.10 tires versus stock 6.50s. Let the data speak for itself (all rpms and mph's approx., mph per gps - not speedo) - 2,150 rpm at 45 mph, 2,400 rpm at 50 mph, 2,650 rpm at 55 mph, 2,900 rpm at 60 mph, 3,150 at 65 mph, 3,400 at 70, etc., etc. Basically 250 rpm per every 5 mph. Per kubes40's and TomO's comments above I have to agree with both - I like the zip and strong torque around town but find I prefer to 'only' run 60 mph actual MAX. Engine is very 'torquey' at 40 mph and up with strong ability to climb hills in 3rd above this speed as well. I perceive the car to be quite comfortable in 3rd up hills or on flats from 40-60 mph but motor compartment/rpm noise becomes more apparent/distracting approaching 60 and above. It has the ability to run and cruise above 60 mph actual but like TomO notes I prefer both not to press the motor and as well not have to listen to the motor compartment noise generated by the higher rpms. Given the vast bulk of my driving is around town with only occasional interstate driving, I prefer the 3.78 gear around the local, hilly areas - once I hit 3rd, usually around 25 mph or so (unless I go straight from 1st to 3rd on flats or downhills), and unless a stop light catches me, I rarely have to downshift and routinely and comfortably make flat-road 90 degree turns without shifting. I can drive the 120 miles to the mountains here in NC on 55 mph 2-lanes and navigate the drive up the mountains and along the Blue Ridge Parkway comfortably without having to shift out of 3rd. If I were on interstates more often and/or driving only on flat terrain I'd likely prefer the 3.54. My ideal set-up would be to add a Columbia OD to the car and keep the 3.78. Comfortable, non-pressing speed ranges (for me) by gear are: 1st - 0-15 mph 2nd - 15-25 mph 3rd - 25-60 mph It all comes down to what you prefer and where the bulk of your driving will be realized. Hope this data helps you in your decision making. Steve JM 07-08-2014 @ 7:53 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 822 Joined: Oct 2009 I replaced 4.11 gears with 3.78 gears in my '35 fordor sedan in May of 2013, just prior to doing a cross country tour from Maryland to Lake Tahoe Nevada and return. About 7200 miles total. The 3.78 gears made a huge difference/improvement in crusing speeds vs. engine RPM. Gas mileage also improved considerably. I did have to drop down into second gear a few times while climbing some of the high mountains in various places. I often wonder how 3.54 gears would have done on that same trip. John This message was edited by JM on 7-8-14 @ 9:34 AM Model B 07-08-2014 @ 5:56 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 90 Joined: Oct 2009 I replaced the 4:11 in my '40 Conv. with a 3:54 gear. Works great. I live in Ohio...the terrain is mostley flat with some hills. I also have a '32 Standard Coupe with a 3:54. Great for highway speeds. Pat juergen 07-07-2014 @ 12:05 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 256 Joined: Jan 2010 If you are worried about "off the line", another choice is to use the 3.54 with a "wide ratio" Ford trans. It is 10% wider in first and second so the setup acts like a standard ratio trans with a 3.78 in first and second. By wide ratio I mean an early Ford trans with a 29 tooth cluster instead of the standard 28 tooth cluster. These were common in 40s Ford 3 speed pickups. This message was edited by juergen on 7-7-14 @ 12:06 PM wmsteed 07-07-2014 @ 8:43 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 613 Joined: Oct 2009 A quick way to solve the "gearing problem" on an EFV8 is to remove the fan from the engine. The fan blade design that Ford used was famous for being noisy, that's why they use to be called "screaming eights". Modern cars with their clutch equipped fans sound like they have slipped into a lower gear, when the engine gets hot enough to engage the fan clutch. Of course city and driving in hilly terrain requires a fan, open highways do not.. I ran my '36 without a fan for years, then I moved to Vegas, had to rig up a fan.. My wide spread carbs required some Yankee Ingenuity. Cutting down a '39 generator to use it for a fan mount, solved the problem.It has been on the car every since. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe deluxe40 07-06-2014 @ 11:11 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 413 Joined: Oct 2009 I put a 3.25 in my '41 Sedan Delivery. Just right for cruising the Central Coast of CA. However, full disclosure requires that I tell you that my brand new, foreign-made, 9" clutch began slipping at about 10K miles. The disk wasn't used up and I believe the slipping was due to inferior design of the pressure plate, rather than the tall gearing. It now has a NOS Ford pressure plate with a new disk.

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