excuse my lack of knowledge on transmissions.

my 904 will be needing a rebuild soon. i want to improve the performance of my car anyway i can. will having a better 1st gear like that in a v8 904 help off the line performance considerably?

when i have the trans rebuilt, will the parts to lower the gearing be on the list of parts to replace with a standard rebuild? will these parts from a v8 trans cost more than those out of a slant six 904?

i hope someone can help me because like i said i know little about transmissions.

You're excused
Not all V8 "904" trans had the 2.74 first gear - this was pretty much an 80's development. Of course having a lower first gear will get you out of the hole more quickly, but the trade-off is it makes for a "wide-ratio" transmission. Second gear will be slightly lower, too, though the difference won't be as great.
In a word: no. You need to get the low gear planetaries out of a low first gear trans. Best bet is to get a transmixer just for parts for your /6 904. Best bet/sure thing is a trans out of a 5th Avenue or similar.
I hope this helped.

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

best just to buy my already rebuilt trans........check out the for sale area