FWD gearing question

[Cglrcng]

I personally got a hold of and purchased finally a full set of the dealer's original Mopar shop/service manuals for my specific 84' Model year Daytona 2.2L TBI (3 Book Shop Repair Manual Set, Body, Mechanical, Electrical), for under $40.00 that the dealer's service units are liquidating and selling off as they no longer have need for them, and in the manual set (though my books are not here at the moment, up w/ the car in storage in Vegas), on gearing in the transaxle section, there is a list of every vehicle gearset combo that was manufactured, sold, and released in the stock car, truck, and van, for the model years1980-1995 that also fit in the 1984 year series transaxles, and a really nice chart & writeup on how and what you can mix and match (with stock sold parts at least), to get many different final gear ratios, and it also lists out some weak part #'s to stay away from as they were not ideal, and it appeared there was input from many sources including the Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth division engineers along w/ Shelby, and Dick Landy, and others who were refining and racing these specific cars back in the 80's 90's, and beyond (so I know I received an updated manual set that was printed in the early 2000's).

It was interesting to see all the different parts, and that it is possible to hunt down some more ratios (Direct Connection only sold so many side case and planetary gearsets back then in 1993-94, listed as performance parts), so I purchased the lowest ratio sets avail., then visited a great master machinist friend who had the knowledge, and better math skills than I possessed, (a mechanical engineering degree, expertise, and machine shop equip.), and he asked me what final gear ratio I really wanted and I said somewhere around 4.56 (he wanted the transaxle on his disassembly cart as it was already out of the car, and I was doing the valve body work at the time, and ordering the Turbo Action Converter), he slightly disassembled the transaxle down to the planetary gearsets with me there, and he did the math, and went to work. (I was not there again until he had it ready to drop the valve body back in!) And I have not had the transaxle apart beyond pan off filter/ fluid changes, and I did take off in car the Diff. Cover to look at the spider gears, retention pin and inspect the big Ring Gear, carrier, etc. in car, and replace the silicone sealant/ paint the diff cover/ pan and replace the axle seals at Diff.

When it was all done he took the tires/wheels measurements 20" tall MT/ET FWD Slicks (or the much taller 28.5" Steel Belted Radial Street Tires), on the 14" X 6.5" 4 Lug 100mm Bolt Circle Stock Rims that came with the car added those to the mix and told me after all the math was done that he got it close to AVG 4.56:1, as close as he could get and that it was a lowered low gear and 2nd gear & final drive ratio of between 4.64:1 and 4.88:1 on slicks or street tires. (He said it was the easiest lower ratio set to do, anymore, and I could expect to pay through the nose), and charged me $100 for materials and $200 Labor. He was a friend. I moved away, and lost track of him not racing for 2.5 decades later (after 1997).

The difference between running the slicks and street tires has always been really evident (slicks are 2 tenths exactly quicker ET -same track at 1/4 mile, but the Street tires are almost always 1-2 MPH faster than the slicks 1/4 mile). The combo is low HP 99 Factory /NHRA Factored @ 105 HP, only actually have broken 1 axle cv joint due to racing so far in 1994, and had 1 replaced due to a damaged boot in 1997 (Axles are about $100 bucks w/ ret. core), but I have learned how to disassemble, inspect, repair and reboot them (purchased the simple tools & parts I needed), as I have 2 spares that I have recently serviced, so I have them at the ready if needed. Mine is the non-equal length half shft setup, though I have a damaged equal length half shaft setup someone gave me, it needs fixed (a damaged carrier bearing and cv joint).

I recently attempted to contact the machinist in San Clemente, CA, and was told the shop was sold during Covid, and they do not know how to locate the now retired owner, they gave me his phone # and it is no good. (Greg is awaiting me pulling the transaxle out soon, so I can rebuild it & have the Converter loosened up, and count teeth on side gears and planetary gearsets for him as a starting point (though his is a Slightly Boosted much higher HP application, and mine is Naturally Aspirated application), it should get him close to a good starting position based on my not much breakage history so far.

It was nowhere near the Make / Model you were asking about, just thought I would add other FWD info I know about. You surprised me mentioning chains...involved at all. I guess Mopar decided "Chains, what chains...We Don't Need No Stinking Chains!" Belts Yes, Gears Yes...Not a chain in the whole 2.2L drive train that I have seen. Even the 2.5L, get rid of the balance shafts (recommended), w/ the balance shaft delete kit, bye, bye chain.