So I drove it like this for a season. I then found a complete 741 house with a cone diff and 3.55 gearing. I swapped mine for that one and installed it. At the same time I also changed out the stock converter to a TCI Super Street fighter and a separate cooling system for the trans. This converter is totally insane for a street driven car, but it sure was fun....for a while at least. I could launch at 3500 rpm, but the thing slipped way to much. I also moved the shifter down to the floor and installed a B&M Quicksilver ratchet shifter and removed the one from the tree. I had to get new tires quite fast after that, so I got 4 new Cooper Cobras on my ralleys. I also got a new plug wires and a Flame Thrower coil for my Pertronix ignitor.
This was now the combo:
273 Commando - 1965
Cam: 268/276 duration and 429/444 lift Hydralic
Edelbrock D4B intake / Edelbrock 600 Performer Carb
Pertronix Ignitor & Flame Thrower coil
Hooker Headers
2.5" Dual Exhaust / Super 44 Flowmaster
8 3/4 - 3.55 - SureGrip
727 auto / Shift Kit
10" 4500 stall converter
B&M Quicksilver Shifter
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It was a lot of fun between red lights, but the converter really started to annoy me. So I planned to swap that out asap. The next plan was also to get rid of the hydralic cam and get a solid one. So I got a Comp Cams Magnum 282S - 282/282 Lift 495/495, beehive springs and new gears and chain. I did the swap together with a friend on his gravel drive way. He also supplied a ball & cup valvetrain. Luckily this was done in the summer. I also did it without taking out the engine or removing the heads, my back was totally sore and swapping the springs was a pita! I had never been this deep into the engine before and of course discovered stripped bolts and bolt holes that needed attention and all kinds of other things, so the project took longer then planned and it was also my first time doing this sort of thing. I got really good help though. I was nervous as hell firing up and breaking in the cam, but it went well and it was a big improvement in all departments. More bottom end, better response, way more midrange and rpm. The converter worked really good with this setup compared to previous. It was expensive, I live in Sweden so all the parts had to be shipped, I got sun burned, my back ached. But it was a lot of fun too!
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