68 Tranny

[warriorbass05]

According to my fender tag, I have a trans with 2:76 gears...first can someone explain this ratio to me so I am clear and second do any of you think that it will be difficult to run this trans with a 383/440?

[OttawaCharger]

The gear ratio is for your rear end not your transmission.
Your 383/440 won't have a problem with it.
for every turn on the transmission output shaft, your tire will turn 2.76 turns.  This is your run of the mill economy gear.  It'll keep your revs down at highway speed and give you decent gas mileage.  On the flip side, for what you get in economy, you lose in performance.

[Chatt69chgr]

Be more specific about what kind of car you have and what current powertrain is in it.  If you are talking about a 68 Mopar product, then the number 2.76 sounds like the rear end ratio.  Might be best to just type out what is on the fender tag.  Starting at the lower left hand corner and going across and up. 

[warriorbass05]

Be more specific about what kind of car you have and what current powertrain is in it.  If you are talking about a 68 Mopar product, then the number 2.76 sounds like the rear end ratio.  Might be best to just type out what is on the fender tag.  Starting at the lower left hand corner and going across and up. 

It is a 68 Charger. The fender tag is very sparse and I have not been able to find a good source to help me decode it. I know that the car was a 318 to begin with This is what my tag reads top to bottom:
64                      6
1                        Z1 1      16
   50     8             1 66x    551     B
XP29  41  5 43   715   181511


there are some little letters over the top of some of these numbers and codes but i don't get it....

[John_Kunkel]

This page is dedicated to the '68 fender tag:

http://www.andy440.com/tag.htm

[OttawaCharger]

Tags are read from the bottom to the top, starting at the lower left corner. The first thing we see here, is  "XP" .

X - stands for the Charger model line
P - stands for Premium price class

Together they designate the model of the car.

XP - Standard Charger

So by looking at this, we see that so far we have a standard Charger.
Next is the two digit body type codes:

29 - 2 door sports hardtop (all Chargers have this)

Next we have a "41" , this is the engine code. 41 is a 318 2-bbl This is a Dodge small block
Next we have a "5" , which is the transmission code for a 3-speed automatic

probably a 904 as it is behind a 2 barrel 318. Next is "43" , which is the tire code. There are a lot of different tires used or available. I dont know this one.

The next three digits is the scheduled production build date for the car. "715" in this case stands for July 15.  Production for the new model year generally started August 1st so yours was one of the last 68s!
So - now that we know you have a 318 with an automatic, we can concentrate on the axle ratio. You'll see two digits under "AX" , which is the axle ratio, and whether it is a sure grip unit, or not. Here are the codes:

A - 1 = 2.76 ratio
A - 2 = 2.94 ratio
A - 4 = 3.23 ratio
A - 6 = 3.54/3.55 ratio (Dana/8 3/4 axle)
A - 7 = 3.91 ratio
X - blank = non sure grip (single spin)
X - 8 = sure grip (both rear wheels have power)

it looks like you have a 1 ie 2.76 ratio and no suregrip.  Incidentally, I think that your 2nd line from the bottom reads SS1 not 551 which tells me your car was yellow from the factory.  Right?

[warriorbass05]

Tags are read from the bottom to the top, starting at the lower left corner. The first thing we see here, is  "XP" .

X - stands for the Charger model line
P - stands for Premium price class

Together they designate the model of the car.

XP - Standard Charger

So by looking at this, we see that so far we have a standard Charger.
Next is the two digit body type codes:

29 - 2 door sports hardtop (all Chargers have this)

Next we have a "41" , this is the engine code. Here are the codes for the designated engines.

41 - 318 2-bbl

So, we have a 318 2-bbl engine. This is a Dodge small block
Next we have a "5" , which is the transmission code for a 3-speed automatic

probably a 904 as it is behind a 2 barrel 318. Next is "43" , which is the tire code. There are a lot of different tires used or available. I dont know this one.

The next three digits is the scheduled production build date for the car. "715" in this case stands for July 15.  Production for the new model year generally started August 1st so yours was one of the last 68s!
So - now that we know you have a 318 with an automatic, we can concentrate on the axle ratio. You'll see two digits under "AX" , which is the axle ratio, and whether it is a sure grip unit, or not. Here are the codes:

A - 1 = 2.76 ratio
A - 2 = 2.94 ratio
A - 4 = 3.23 ratio
A - 6 = 3.54/3.55 ratio (Dana/8 3/4 axle)
A - 7 = 3.91 ratio
X - blank = non sure grip (single spin)
X - 8 = sure grip (both rear wheels have power)

it looks like you have a 1 ie 2.76 ratio and no suregrip.  Incidentally, I think that your 2nd line from the bottom reads SS1 not 551 which tells me your car was yellow from the factory.  Right?

yep, it is still sorta yellow and it had a black interior and  vinyl top. I also know that it is a console car but i do not know what to do with the rest of it...
i went to that andys site and could not make heads or tales out of the codes there..

[OttawaCharger]

If you take a picture of your tag and post it here.  We'll give you a hand decoding the rest of it.

[warriorbass05]

If you take a picture of your tag and post it here.  We'll give you a hand decoding the rest of it.

I will try, it is very rusty and still on the car...

[JimShine]

Unless you are doing lots of open road driving, you may want to change those rear end gears. Since your car needs so much attention in other areas, I would just focus on getting the body straight then worry about the rear end later. It would get you by even if you got the engine running next week. It is feasible you will score a good deal on a rear end in the meantime. Patience will get you better deals.

[warriorbass05]

Unless you are doing lots of open road driving, you may want to change those rear end gears. Since your car needs so much attention in other areas, I would just focus on getting the body straight then worry about the rear end later. It would get you by even if you got the engine running next week. It is feasible you will score a good deal on a rear end in the meantime. Patience will get you better deals.

Good call, I am trying to get all the metal together first as I need the structure to be sound before i commence any mechanical work.

By the way, do you have any info on the main car that was used in season 2 episode, "the Dukes Meet Cale Yarbrough?"  it was a 68 with the bullet reflectors painted over but still visible all the way around...

[tecmopar]

I think Ottawa got the ratio a little mixed up, it would be the driveshaft turns 2.76 times for every rotation of the tire. The other way around it would be the largest overdrive around, capable of about 400 MPH, good luck.

[OttawaCharger]

Oops!  My mistake - tecmopar is right.  I put it down backwards.  Sorry about that 

[tecmopar]

It would be a great overdrive though, the motor would be turning about 50 RPM at 60 MPH, yee-haa.

[JimShine]

Unless you are doing lots of open road driving, you may want to change those rear end gears. Since your car needs so much attention in other areas, I would just focus on getting the body straight then worry about the rear end later. It would get you by even if you got the engine running next week. It is feasible you will score a good deal on a rear end in the meantime. Patience will get you better deals.

Good call, I am trying to get all the metal together first as I need the structure to be sound before i commence any mechanical work.

By the way, do you have any info on the main car that was used in season 2 episode, "the Dukes Meet Cale Yarbrough?"  it was a 68 with the bullet reflectors painted over but still visible all the way around...

It was built by the Veluzat's and was one of the earliest cars they had built. Other than that the rest of it pretty much goes along with the other cars. The body was 75 flame red, the interior was a shade somewhere between SEM Saddle and Camel tan, the numbers on the doors were all vinyl, and the flag was red and blue paint with white vinyl. The interior was all 1968. The only mods done was the tal panel (they used entire tailpanels in those days), and a 1969 grille transplant. The marker lights (they actually work in 1968) were left behind and I am sure they were reprimanded.

[warriorbass05]

Unless you are doing lots of open road driving, you may want to change those rear end gears. Since your car needs so much attention in other areas, I would just focus on getting the body straight then worry about the rear end later. It would get you by even if you got the engine running next week. It is feasible you will score a good deal on a rear end in the meantime. Patience will get you better deals.

Good call, I am trying to get all the metal together first as I need the structure to be sound before i commence any mechanical work.

By the way, do you have any info on the main car that was used in season 2 episode, "the Dukes Meet Cale Yarbrough?"  it was a 68 with the bullet reflectors painted over but still visible all the way around...

It was built by the Veluzat's and was one of the earliest cars they had built. Other than that the rest of it pretty much goes along with the other cars. The body was 75 flame red, the interior was a shade somewhere between SEM Saddle and Camel tan, the numbers on the doors were all vinyl, and the flag was red and blue paint with white vinyl. The interior was all 1968. The only mods done was the tal panel (they used entire tailpanels in those days), and a 1969 grille transplant. The marker lights (they actually work in 1968) were left behind and I am sure they were reprimanded.

Cool!!! I am thinking about replicating that car. I don't know where it ended up getting jumped etc but i have seen it in the mid section of season 2