'79ProwlerOrange

sounds like a stupid question dosent it? ok it is a stupid question, but im wondering Just how bad? i checked with yahoo maps, and it says im 1215 miles from the corvette museum. i did the auto math at http://www.smokemup.com and at 4000RPM with 4.11 rear gears, im doing 75mph. 1215 miles divided by 75MPH is 16.2 hours. which i know it would be a little more since you cant do 75 the whole way there. i can do 66 at 3500 which is a little better, but not by much. my only other options are to find a built 200R4 quick and throw that in, buy the ROD 6-speed i want (which at $3000 a pop isnt likey to happen) or to tow it with the blazer. the blazer has 130K on the driveline though, so i think the vette would handle it better than the blazer.

BTW the vette has 3K on the motor 2K on the tranny and ??? on the rear end, but the rear end looked perfect when i installed it.

:confused: what do you think?

Guru_4_hire

I cruise 6hrs in my cavalier at 3K

Gordonm

Should not hurt the motor just hurt your wallet. The gas cost is going to be a lot. I had 4.11 gears in mine and would cruise about 1 hour before my ears were ringing. Went to 3.70. Not much better. I might in the future go with a Tremec 5 speed. The motor should be OK. Nascar goes 8000 to 9000 for a couple of hours :jester

OkeeGuy

i drove mine (3:55 gears) from florida to Carlisle,Pa. and back (well almost back!) in august...
3500-4000 RPMs all the way...
ran great till i hit Jacksonville coming back when my crankshaft broke in half!
think i will drive the Aurora to Carlisle this coming august!
mine was the original motor with 127,000 miles on it...
i now have the same block with 750 miles on it...about $5000 later... :rolleyes:

Tom73

Just change that rear gear and then at 4000 rpm you would be over 100mph and you could make that 16 hr trip in 12 hours :eek: :yesnod: :lol:

tom...

Fevre

What I was thinking except swap the whole pumpkin. :)

Ganey

I have always used 100+ for cruise incl. CA & back, etc.

:cool:

PS 4000 is not high rpm & 4.11 is not really low gears- considered for many years by many as a good compromise.

TedH

'Back in the day' when I drove a '74 Z28 with 4.10 gears, I routinely drove 3000rpm at 55-60mph. Not bad when I was just cruising for 1-2 hours between home and college on a weekend.

I'd say your cheapest option if you are wanting to reduce the top end rpm's is to drop 3.31/3.33 or 3.54/3.55 gears into it. But, if you have those 4.10/4.11's for acceleration in the quarter, want to keep them but still want to drop rpm's, I'd say 700R4 kit from Bow-Tie. May set you back about $2000 after all is said.

page62

Technically, you can do it. But your head will be buzzing so bad by the time you get to Bowling Green you won't be able to enjoy the festivities! :jester Both you and the car will be hot and tired.

Just use this as a good excuse to get the OD.

GrandSportC3

Everyone should have a overdrive transmission...66mph = 2000 RPM, 82mph = 2500 RPM... 99mph = 3000 RPM




[Modified by GrandSportC3, 9:51 AM 2/6/2003]

GrandSportC3

RPM 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
1000 7 11 16 22 33
1500 10 17 25 33 49
2000 14 23 33 45 66
2500 17 28 41 56 82
3000 20 34 49 67 99
3500 24 39 57 78 115
4000 27 45 66 89 131
4500 31 51 74 100 148
5000 34 56 82 112 164
5500 38 62 90 123 181
6000 41 68 99 134 197
6500 44 73 107 145 213

IETEK

I wouldn't be scared that I would hurt the motor I have raced circle track cars for several years and you wouldn't believe the punishment stock parts will take. ( Let me preface this with the statement that I race on dirt in a 2200# car which is allot less punishing on drive train parts than asphalt) I ran my stock rod/cast crank/cast piston motor in excess of 7200 rpm all season without harm although I did run 50 weight oil and a high performance oil pump. Back to the oil I have done allot of reading on lubricants I had read some dyno pull stats using different oil weights most information suggested that you lose HP above 3500 rpm with a lighter weight oil the article suggested 20-w/50 in motors that are routinely run over 3500 rpm.

IETEK :cool:

dman535

Pictures are worth a thousand words...

GrandSportC3

What rear gears do you have?? 100 mph at 3500 looks like you have 4.11 or 4.56 gears with the .70 overdrive of the TH700R...

:cheers:

Olivier

QuickVet

get a second car!

Never Finished

I have 3.70's and, pre 700R4 with a TH400, would be at 3700 rpm at 79 mph. The vibration and noise wore me out on 10 hour trips. It also knocked out 3 alternators before I got a larger pulley to slow it down. With the 700R4 I can cruise for a long time much more comfortably.

burners

I've put about 30,000 miles on my car since I got it 2 years ago and I normally cruise at 4000 to 4500 rpm. I've gone on a lot of long trips, it's no big deal. Drive it and don't worry about it.

Clink69

I personally wouldn't do it. I w2ould never run my motor at 4K for more than a few minutes... Just me though... Makes me too nervous... :eek:

Kippur

Do some more math... this is about piston speed. (If you're really concerned about the engine rather than your own fatigue, endurance, comfort, mental health, or whatever... that is.)
I don't know what engine you have, but for example, a 327 actually has a shorter stroke than a Mazda Miata and those little things buzz along contantly at 80mph doing 4000 rpm! Doesn't hurt'em a bit. So chances are it won't hurt a small block Chevy V8 either.
On the other hand, 4000rpm in a big block car is a MUCH higher piston speed, due to the longer stroke of those engines. 4000rpm for 16 hours in one of them, is likely to add a fair amount of wear and tear. The age old rule of thumb is that the reliable limit of "sustainable" piston speed is about 4000 feet per minute. Modern engines can "fudge" that number a bit and get away with it. But with pushrod motors like ours, best treat it like gospel! :banghead:

Vader953

I have 3.7 rear, and run about 3800-3900 rpms w/ my L-82 and stock TH 350. The noise is loud, but very tolerable. I have run it on 4 hour trips to Atlanta and back several times......no problem.

Engine wise, I think you'll be fine. This used to worry me a lot too, what a coincidence