Technical Anybody running 3 :25 gears in their banjo rear?

I have a 40 Ford coupe I am contemplating doing the 3:25 gear set in it. has a hopped up Flathead and a 39 Toploader I'm curious if anyone else is running this set up?

 

A lot will depend on rear tire dia.

 

Running a 7.00 16 so 30.4

 

Interesting. Looking for a little more legs on the highway? Im going the opposite direction. I run a 3.78 gear but im building a second rear to swap in for the drags with a 4.11 gear.

Are you running a 3.78 now? With a 7.50 rear tire I find it to be a nice compromise on the street. If you do the swap id like to hear your thoughts on it

 

So where does a guy find 3.25s?

 

Somebody posted a pic of a 3.25 pinion gear here the other day. That is one ugly gear! It has a very short tooth. Looks more like a cutting tool.

 

I recall thinking that too

 

This is just a guess since I've got no experience with what is being asked but seems to me 3.25's with a 30" tall tire in a relatively heavy '40 Ford will be too tall. But then again I could be wrong which is something I do have experience in.

 

Here is another 3.25.. I wouldn't trust the pics. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/1935...ing-and-Pinion-Gear-Set-3-25-Gear-,32238.html

 

I put a set in my 32 5W. It ran a 276 with 19 tooth gears in the trans. It would run 60 in first. 235-15's Never a problem or lack of starting power.
The gears looked completely normal. It sure did not look like that pic that was posted. They were very high quality.
Back in the day. a new 60 Chevy with a 283 had 3.36 gears and 4000 lbs

 

I’d look at the 3:54. I have a 3:78 in my 39 with 7.0 16 on the rear. I’ll be doing a 9 inch swap with 3:50 gears in it soon. Every one I have talked to that had the 3:25 was less than pleased. I know one guy that just about smoked the clutch in his merc with 3:25 and 7.50s on it. That flathead does not have the low end of even a stock 265 2 bbl to pull a gear like that.

 

Gotta remember that a banjo is a spiral bevel gearset not a hypoid. That gear from speedway with the heels cut off is not going to have the sort of tooth engagement for any sort of torque application.
I would put in a 3.78 ford gears and adjust tire size to suit what you need for highway speed.

 

Yep , 3.25 might sound a nice number, but wont pull at all from stand still and will need a BIG motor to be useable. 3.54 is a nice setup . In our 32 we went from 3.54 to 4.11 with a .76 , 5 speed .

 

Where did you get your gears from?

 

I got my 3.25 from MACs.
I chose the ratio because i am running 6.0 so a relatively short tire.

 

Mine came from Speedway

 

But it didn't look like the picture of the Speedway gears posted?

 

Geometry pretty well determines the shape of the parts. The pinion has to go thru the hole for the bearing. I thought the parts were in really well made and engineered. I would be willing to bet that the Speedway parts and the Macs parts are both built in the same shop in Italy. I am 100% happy. with my set.

 

I have been running a set of 3.25s from macs in my 36 Ford for a few years and couldn't be happier. I tried a few tire combos and it seems to like 600-650 16s the most. 700s will surely give you a tall gear on the highway but that may be what you are after.

My engine is totally stock aside from two carbs. It wont win any races, but it works extremely well for keeping the engine at a very reasonable rpm on long drives at a sustained 70-75 mph. Cruising at 45-55 is also extremely pleasurable and seems to be an ideal rpm range to listen to the flathead purr

 

I am interested to know how it moves from a stop and how it pulls up a twisty mountain grade from low RPM , traditionally a flathead has bags of torque ,is this compromised with 3.25 gears.

 

This is the gear set that is offered from early Ford

 

I am running ford gears in the transmission (low first and second, wide jump to third) and it pulls from a stop plenty good enough to keep up with modern traffic. As for the hill climbing, I an only think of two roads I drive frequently that I downshift to climb and maintain speed. They're rather steep and have a low speed limit which is most of the reason for the downshift. You can pull most hills at 45+ in high gear, under that speed you will be downshifting, that's just the nature of the beast.

I suppose I should recant my statement that my engine is stock, I actually run a stock 59ab with two carbs. which is a significant horsepower improvement over a stock 21 stud.

That photo of the gears sure looks like the set I have.

 

I think the set pictured without the pinion cut down is a generic picture and not a picture of an actual 3.25 set.

 

I have converted a lot of Banjo rears to the 325 and the 354 ratio. In a light car say a roadster the 325 is a good choice. For a full size car like the 40 the 354 ratio is what will work best. The 325 ratio will work in the full size car however getting the car rolling will require a lot of clutch slipping. Certainly not a game changer just a detail you should know about. Adding to all of this is the tall rear tire besides that adding to the higher ratio the heavier tire adds more to the needed clutch slippage. All of these gear sets I have installed come from the same manufacture Motive Gear they are of high quality be it Speedway, Macs or Gotham some sets were repackaged but still the same brand.
Ronnieroadster

 

Gear sets I have installed do not look like that