Pinto Car Club of America

Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: huckster on October 26, 2006, 09:07:22 AM

Title: newbie question; 2.3 with a 4speed, will auto. raise rpm?
Post by: huckster on October 26, 2006, 09:07:22 AM
Hi, new here, live in Il. and have a 1929 ford model a huckster for the wife. it has a 1976 2.3l with 4 sd. and rear, tall tires 7.25x13 on rear along with the heavy woodie body = shifts into 4th gear at 50 mph and all aceleration is gone. I would not mind some performace upgrades but the boss wants an auto installed anyway.
my questions are;
will the auto trany help on gettin the rpm up into some power?
can the rear end gears be changed easily? (would like to convert to 5 bolt pattern at same time) keeping the same rear housing?
Drop spindles; which ones stayaway from?

great site, still readin and learnin. Thanks! Steve
Title: Re: newbie question; 2.3 with a 4speed, will auto. raise rpm?
Post by: huckster on October 26, 2006, 01:53:24 PM
Thanks for the info, the rear is the 6.75" but with some mods on the housing for old style suspension that i would rather not change out. going to check the ratio soon. i take it that the gears do not come out in a 'easy to change cluster'? Steve
Title: Re: newbie question; 2.3 with a 4speed, will auto. raise rpm?
Post by: huckster on October 26, 2006, 01:59:57 PM
So the power lost with the auto is due to being an auto trany and not final ratios?
Title: Re: newbie question; 2.3 with a 4speed, will auto. raise rpm?
Post by: crazyhorse on October 26, 2006, 08:12:20 PM
The final drive in an automatic is the same as a 4spd at 1:1. Where you lose power in an auto is the torque converter, it slips constantly (unless it's a lockup unit). In your case the tall wheels on your Huckster act as an overdrive. Those hucksters are cool cars by the way. You can change the final drive in a 6.75 axle, they're just not particularly strong. For your purposes though, it ought to be plenty.