General Information
I purchased my '79 in October of '04 from a guy here in South 'Jersey. He had a rebuilt 350 in it with a Richmond 5 speed and 3:73 gears.
Well, the 350 sucked oil at an alarming rate, rebuilt or not. It went through a quart of oil every 100 miles. I figured that instead of fixing someone else's mistakes I would start fresh so I consulted with my mechanic and we opted for a 383 stroker. I had the engine built locally and installed at my local garage ( I have no garage of my own). The rear gear ratio has been changed to a 3:25 and I have also swapped out the Richmond for a more cruiser friendly TKO II with an .82 overdrive gear. The tranny swap made a significant improvement in the overall driveability and comfort level. I like the new gear spread a lot better, the Richmond had me constantly rowing the shifter - it was a bit of work. The TKO II has a better gear spread and I do not feel that I sacrificed any performance at all. In the last 4+ years that I have had the car almost everything has been either rebuilt, repaired or replaced with the exception of body work and paint.
I love cruising the highways and back roads with this 'Vette. I hope to take it to our local NJ Motorsports Complex and race it there autocross style. I have had it to the drag strip and had a best time of 12:73 with the Richmond and the 3:73 gear set up. Now I run in the low 13's but that is mainly because I am afraid of breaking something (again). The reason for the gear change was the night I ran the 12:73 - on the next pass I missed a shift and blew the rear. After consulting with my mechanic we opted for the 3:25's. I later purchased the TKO II from another forum member here on VetteMod.
Well, the 350 sucked oil at an alarming rate, rebuilt or not. It went through a quart of oil every 100 miles. I figured that instead of fixing someone else's mistakes I would start fresh so I consulted with my mechanic and we opted for a 383 stroker. I had the engine built locally and installed at my local garage ( I have no garage of my own). The rear gear ratio has been changed to a 3:25 and I have also swapped out the Richmond for a more cruiser friendly TKO II with an .82 overdrive gear. The tranny swap made a significant improvement in the overall driveability and comfort level. I like the new gear spread a lot better, the Richmond had me constantly rowing the shifter - it was a bit of work. The TKO II has a better gear spread and I do not feel that I sacrificed any performance at all. In the last 4+ years that I have had the car almost everything has been either rebuilt, repaired or replaced with the exception of body work and paint.
I love cruising the highways and back roads with this 'Vette. I hope to take it to our local NJ Motorsports Complex and race it there autocross style. I have had it to the drag strip and had a best time of 12:73 with the Richmond and the 3:73 gear set up. Now I run in the low 13's but that is mainly because I am afraid of breaking something (again). The reason for the gear change was the night I ran the 12:73 - on the next pass I missed a shift and blew the rear. After consulting with my mechanic we opted for the 3:25's. I later purchased the TKO II from another forum member here on VetteMod.
