Thomas writes:
>I have the '72 with the Federal engine. With, what seems to me to be a
>very tall first gear, and a lack of bottom end pull, I have a lot of
>trouble getting out of my own way off the line.
< snip >
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Thomas,
You didn't mention, or I don't remember if your car was o/d equipped. I'm
assuming that yours wasn't and that may be part of the "problem". The
GT6's with overdrive, (over here anyway, things got a little muddy with the
different versions) usually came with a rear end ratio of 3.89, whilst non
overdrive cars came with the much taller 3.27. Great for highway cruising,
but leaves the car a little long legged, and sometimes gasping for breath,
especially the MKIII. Remember, this cars marketing strategy was to be a
relaxed highway cruising/touring vehicle with a little more luxurious feel
to it than the Spitfire or the TR6. My car, originally without overdrive,
had the taller rear end gear ratio and was a lot slower off the line. When
I installed the "J" type overdrive I also installed the 3.89 gear set.
Liven's up the performance quite a bit, plus in overdrive fourth it is
almost the same (actually just a tad lower) for cruising, RPM wise, as the
non overdrive cars. Kinda the best of both worlds -
Barry Schwartz (San Diego) bschwart@pacbell.net
72 V6 Spitfire (daily driver)
70 GT6+ (when I don't drive the Spit)
70 Spitfire (project)
73 Ford Courier (parts hauler, rain vehicle)
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