Picking a Rear End

[Rory McNeil]

What tire diameter, clutch type and car weight? A few years ago, I swapped out the Stock Elminator 302 out of my 85 Mustang hatchback, with my 331 bracket SBF (485 HP at flywheel), retaining the Jerico 4 speed (3.19. 3.00, 1.32, 1.00) and McLeod Soft Lok clutch, car weighed 3050 lbs, running 9 x 29 1/2 M/T slicks and 4.88 gears in the 8.8, I would shift at 6800, and go thru the traps at 7200, at 128 MPH. I have never really raced much 1/8th mile, but my car would go 102-103 MPH in the 1/8th, so I would ASSume that you would want to gear it steeper than my car, unless you were running shorter tires. On my car at least, I found the 5.14 gears for a 8.8 to be much weaker than the 4.88s. I broke 2 5.14 gear sets with the Stocker engine, running mid-low 12s at 107 MPH, but the 4.88s looked fine after 2 years of running 2 seconds quicker and 60 footing .25 quicker than the Stocker combo.