To start off I know nothing about transmissions so this question might seem retarded.
is it possible to modify the final drive ratio of the getrag 282? granted the expense of getting a gear cut would be ridiculous but is it actually possible to get that ratio down to the high 2s or low 3s?
Doing a 3800 swap and hate to have a stump puller for first gear.
If you want to pay the very expensive cost of having custom gears cut, then sure, you can have whatever ratios you want in all the gears, and with the final drive. You just need to find someone to cut the gears for you.
There isn't any cheap way to do it, no. Only way to get the same ratios as the 4t60/65 is to go automatic, or spend lots of money for custom gears.
Well, if you have access to the tools needed, and the skills to cut the gears yourself, I guess you could do it cheap. You could even go straight cut to simplify the cutting, if you want. But that would make it noisy in whatever gears you cut with that.
I'm not aware of any pre-cut gearsets available for the 282 though.