I put a couple hundred miles on the Macho today from my home in Ontario to my baby’s place in Rochester, NY. It ran good at 70 mph. The 440 gobbled some gas but it was fun to drive it that far.

 

 

They do tend to be a bit thirsty.

 

Mine is around 3 grand doing that speed. Desperately needs at least 4 speeds. The 3 speed transmissions just don't cut it.

 

Do you gain anything with a 4spd even, grandpas 360 is still grabbing the stars with a 4spd at 55

Sharp looking old trucks though, those packages were cool even just having the different paint scheme, much less the extra goodies they offered with some of them

Surprised they haven't tried to revive those too

 

You can an overdrive gear, which drops engine RPM significantly at freeway speeds, thus, better gas mileage. Even that 440 might break into double digits.

 

I didn't even mention the lock up converters either. It's only about 200 rpm but times that by the miles you drive it adds up. A 46RH will go behind any small block. The big blocks are more difficult.

 

I guess I was on the manual thought track when you mention gears, didn't even consider automatic.

I always thought the V10 used the BB bolt pattern, but I guess that's not the case, I did a quick google on using a 47RH on a big block.

 

I think the base block for the V-10 engine design was the 5.9. They designed two extra cylinders but could use the same hardware. That's how the V-6 came about. The 3.9 had the rear of the front two cylinders and the front of the second pair of cylinders removed on the design sheet. This let Chrysler use the same brackets and accessories like water pumps and so on between engines. The brackets don't sell cars so why not use the same ones across the board. A V-6 transmission might not stand up to a V-10, but it might fit. I've never tried so I can't say for sure.

 

I also thought the V10 shared the same bell housing as the Cummins. This I haven't researched very hard, just a lot of assumed theories that i believe in my mind that haven't been put to voice before typing in this thread. I figured in the early mid 80s when the Cummins development was happening, Big Block transmissions were readily available and already in productions, why not mate it behind the Cummins with some shift point changes and a different converter. Then as the Magnum V10 came to life in the late 80s/early 90s, that transmission would also fit over.

Just what I call logical thinking in my brain, if they're going to keep the 727 design, why make it complicated lol, but they did