Does anyone know what rear end ratios the factory supplied to North American cars as standard equipment on E-types? I have seen conflicting reports.

I think that the standard rear for a 3.8 car was 3.31:1; I think the 4.2 S1 had a 3.54:1 and perhaps the S2 did also, but not sure. Some sources have told me the S2 had 3.7:1.

Is there a convenient source for a 3.07:1 rear? or the ring & pinion? I believe they used 3.07:1 in other markets, home market, Europe, rest of the world (why on earth did they think Americans and Canadians needed shorter gearing??)

Any info appreciated.

Mark

Submitted by warren.hansen@… on Mon, 05/03/2004 - 15:45

My impression was that the change to 3.54 was made during the S1 model run, and that it was the emissions control equipment more than the carbs that ruined the E-Type performance. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Warren Hansen
70 E-Type FHC "Silver Bolide" [w/o smog equip, w/ triple SUs]
96 X300

Submitted by mcfoo@columbus… on Sun, 05/02/2004 - 15:08

The sad truth is that the S2 took such a performance hit with those awful carburettors that the ratio was changed in a vain attempt to keep the 0-60 times low.
S1: fast and pretty
S2: loud and slow
S3: fast and complicated

Submitted by warren.hansen@… on Sun, 05/02/2004 - 14:54

Europeans were interested in long-legged cross county cruising; Americans (it was thought) were more interested in "short-legged" stop light racing!
It does work for Slalom, though! ;-)
Warren Hansen
70 E-Type FHC "Silver Bolide"
96 X300

Submitted by dougdwyer@eart… on Thu, 04/01/2004 - 16:00

I believe USA 2+2 6-cyl cars came with a 3.07 if an auto trans was installed, but I'm not an authority. I agree that, for the USA market, 3.8s usually had a 3.31 and 4.2s used a 3.54.

One a vaguely related note, was is common for North American cars to be "special ordered" to customer specification?

For some reason, and I may well be wrong, I am under the impression that USA/North American cars to be fitted in a rather uniform fashion and that was pretty much it. And those options that were available were ordered by the distributor, not by the final retail buyer. In other words, the distributor...not the retail buyer....would have ordered most cars fitted the same way, with a sprinkling of variety.....and the cars were doled to the dealers for retail sale.

Or, do I have this all wrong ??

Cheers
Doug Dwyer

Submitted by mfrank@westnet.com on Thu, 04/01/2004 - 11:44

S2 cars had 3.54 or 3.31 rear axles, depending on the manual vs. automatic transmissions. Options were 3.07, 3.31, or 3.54. It's possible that 2.88 was also available.

3.07 and 3.31 were the usual choices for 3.8 cars, with most US cars probably 3.31. Where are you going to drive at 150 here?

E-Type rear axles use variants of the Dana 44 differential, which is still current for light trucks, Jeeps, and maybe a few cars. You can get Dana 44 gearsets in any ratio you could possibly want. The only differences you'll need to deal with are a few hardware items: the ring gear bolts and the input flange, which arent't the same as the old applications. If you go to any of the very low ratios, you'll also have to install a shim for the ring gear. Any drivetrain specialist could supply what you need. Try Tom's Differentials or CWI for a start: http://www.tomsdifferentials.com/, http://www.geocities.com/~concourswest/, NAYYY.