[Alan Roehrich]

If you can get the right gear, you might be able to run a later 10 bolt, maybe something from a full size wagon or sedan from the eighties, some of them had the big 10 bolt.

You might be able to run something beside the 12 bolt. There might be a small savings in weight, drag, and initial cost. However, gear life could be a serious problem, and buying gears, installation kits, and paying for labor could get expensive fast. The slower cars are successful by being stone reliable and consistent. Remove some reliability and the slow cars are at more of a disadvantage.