Ok, I drive my daughter to the mall and all this happens while I'm gone!
@Stan Galat- I took my coat off, read your first paragraph and nearly inhaled a half eaten grape I laughed so hard!
I'm just glad that I coughed it back out as there isn't anyone else up/home...
"But the reality is that nothing we do to our cars makes as much difference in the "feel" of these cars as the gear ratios. I'm a motor guy, and I think the transmission makes a bigger difference than the engine."
Exactly! Going to close ratio gears (even just 3rd and 4th) is like going from a stock 1600 to a 6,000 rpm 1776, 1835 (thickwall!) or 1915 or, for those that already have a warmed over half pint, to a 140-150 hp stroker. It's that game changing! Doing the close 1st/2nd is just icing on the cake. Of course, now with close gears you're limited to 50-55 mph on the highway, and if you'd just coughed up for the extra gear at the same time it wouldn't have been THAT much more!
@JMM (Michael) wrote- "Oh, you can push a 4 speed past $3000. Ask me how I know"...
I don't have to ask, Michael, I've been there!
@majorkahuna- start the process now if you're thinking of a Berg 5, Noel; just waiting for GBE to have enough orders to do a production run (they do 10 main and pinion shafts at a time to keep costs down) could be 6 months to a year.