Bob, when I got my roadster it didn't have a tach in it. Now it does but I have never driven it with a tach so I'm really not sure about the speed vs rpm yet. Plus it had a 30" dia. tire on it but now I have a 28" dia M&H drag radial; I'm already thinking ahead to more "normal" street tires after I burn off the DR's so that might change again. Previously when I was breezing down the highway at 80 mph or tad over (in Mexico of course, I would n'ever do that on domestic speed limited roads) I kept wondering if the old 350 was just making noise due to where the exhaust dumps were (in front of rear axle) or if the motor was a bit high on the revs at that speed. I think it'll be OK since the rear axle ratio is just 3:50.

Btw, my just rebuilt TH350 is not a manual valve body. I have never owned a manual valve body automatic but I'm reasonably sure it goes into whatever gear you shift into....which of course you don't want to downshift into too low a gear to avoid overreving and sweeping up engine parts from the road. But that also applies to a stick shift.

Btw, around where is El Dorado? Since you mentioned kinship I want to know how far I have to drive to meet my new brother-in-arms. And also possibly get a ride in your airplane. Here's a shot from a little Grumman 2 seater looking down on my buddy's place where my '32 is being worked on. The pilot also owns a 1926 stunt bi-plane of some sort that I think I weaseled a ride in pretty soon.



My headers are all mounted and ready to rumble. Now on to the exhaust and mufflers.