so mike called and we talked for about 45min. and got a lot of info from him in one call then 4calls to ffr you know the one liner's .Anyway this is a money thing for up grades, wheels or the irs what gear choice would be good remember IAM running a 289 that I will have rebuilt?
Well, I'm not sure what your asking. If you mean what would be a better choice, nice wheels or IRS, I'd get the IRS. You can get by with cheaper wheels now and upgrade to better wheels later on when you have some extra $$$. The IRS will provide a better ride and handling plus the resale value of the car would be better. The IRS is the way to go, unless you'll be doing a lot of drag racing, then the 9" would be a better choice.
To stay within my budget, when I chose the options for my kit, I tried to get the things that were difficult to upgrade or change with the kit right of way. Other things, that were easily upgraded later on, I left out and plan to upgrade later on. For instance, I'd love to have the Wilwood brake upgrade, but the standard brakes are pretty darn good, so I decided to skip that option for now. I plan to upgrade the brakes later on, maybe as a winter project.
As for gear ratios, a lot depends on the transmission your planning to use and what type of driving you be doing. If you let us know what you have in mind i'm sure you can get some suggestions on what to choose.
Mike
I agree with Mike about the IRS vs wheels. Go with the IRS and look for a set of wheels used. I bought my Trigo rims, with new tires for $1000...and they're fully polished!
As for gearing, like Mike says...what transmission your going to use will help with the final drive gearing.
Larry
I have 4.57's in my 289-equipped other Cobra. If you build the engine for RPM, which 289's are great for, you can get away with short gears like that. In 5th gear I'm cruising at 70 MPH at around 2,800 RPM.
And I agree with the rest. If it's only one or the other, get the IRS now and save pennies for a wheel upgrade in the future.
Tom