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Hello everybody,
I am planning on putting a saginaw 4 speed behind my 235 useing the Patricks tork tube conversion.I will also be changeing the ring and pinion to 3.55:1.Just looking for any feedback from anybody who has done this,how did it go?How do you like it? Aaron

I just completed a conversion on my 51,3100, with a 235,I used patricks hurst shifter with the saginaw, I opted to use a ten bolt rear from a blazer,I paid a hundred for the rear and eighty five for the spring mounting kit, used a drive shaft from a camaro had it reworked for 150,00, rear ratio is 3:23,I can now drive at seventy with more to go,You lose a little on the low end. Wth the patricks kit you will only gain 10 mph,and still have the torque tube. I also changed to duel master cylender while I was at it.Good luck..........

I just finished installing Patrick's 3:55 into my enclosed driveline not touching the tranny. It took me more time than expected because I tinkered with other items while I had the backend torn apart such as new SS brake lines and new master cylinder, etc. Setting the backlash was probably the most intense part of the project but all is done and I'm now traveling yes around 10 mph faster. Even with this minimal amout of speed increase, I'm always thinking about do I have the brakes to stop fast?

Traveling at 70+? I'd change to more modern brake such as discs.

The cost of Patricks saginaw kit and the rear gears is just too much time and money for a 10mph gain. When you have it all done the rearend in your truck with a torque tube it is miss aligned by allmost 1 inch forward stock from the factory with no way to fix it. Cheaper and better way is like others have said. Camaro rear for five lug or 80s 4x4 chev full size rear with six lug. I put the gears in my 48 and with new bearing and labor it was more than my 46 with a 5 speed and a camaro rear.

I also did the Saginaw swap on a 55 1st series with the open driveline. It was a pretty straight forward swap. The only thing to add to the previous posts is that if you also add a dual master cyl. conversion look for clearance issues. There is only about an inch of clearance between the shifter and the master cylinder for the brake line. Takes a pretty sharp bend in the line.

Picking out a open drive line rear end with the ratio that you want, and then re-building it will cost about the same as Patricks ring/pinion for the closed driveline. Spring perches can be bought at Jegs for about $20. For those of you thinking about a F*** 9 inch, you can get a perfect fit for the E-brake hook up from Yogi's. Don't forget to set the pinion angle.
Saginaw 4SP can be found for about $150. You could fabricate the shifter from a old truck 4 on the floor to save a few bucks. The special from Patricks looks and works well and as mentioned previously, there IS a space problem if a dual mount MC is used. Never tried to bend tubing that tightly before, but it does work - use a box end wrench to bend.