Early Trans Feel

Drove my B about 50 miles yesterday, still just getting to know the car, testing her out, making sure all the systems are working. Adjusted the valves, one of them was way outta whack and bogging the whole engine down!

Tweaked the timing a little bit. Carbs tonight.

As I was driving, I was getting a feel for the 3 synchro box. It's much, much different than the later boxes.

It takes a little finesse to drive that 3 synhcro unit perfectly! The later trans can be thrown in and out of gear like nothing...this is not the case with the 3 snychro! It feels much more vintage on the road, particularly with that non-synchro first gear. It feels even more vintage than a TR trans (which is also a funny trans but has synchros on all gears from 62 on...it's funny because that trans "clicks" into gear)

I have found, from 3 to 2, You have to rev-match for a perfect downshift, otherwise, it takes a second for the synchro to speed up the laygear! 4 to 3 is a little more seamless, but the throttle blip still helps out a lot.

I have not yet had a first gear incident...let's hope I don't!!! :D

So, what sort of trans tricks do you guys use??? Aside from gooser neutral dropping :P

Jim,

Exactly! The feedback is awesome. Very primitive, very cool. It's just one more way of being in touch with the car.

I am loving it. Many people, these days, do not have an interest in being connected with their vehicle...they want to set it and forget it like a toaster.

It's very cool!

Royal

ok now, what's a gooser neutral dropping?

it's special for you....it's when you steal your wife's car and do neutral drops and brake-torques behind the elementary school... :devil:

well i ain't got no wife but i do like to hang out around elementary schools. nothin' neutral about that and i ain't putting the brakes on that one.



does have an early feel to it n'est ce pas?

Rich, Assuming that the trani hasn't been touched your dealing w/ a 49 yr. old trani...that has gone through who knows how many owners. The normal course of events for the early tranis is that the syncros go thru wear /overuse/misuse - especially the 2nd syncro gear. The fact that you can still feel something thru the gearshift lever is a good thing I guess. At this point I guess it is worth mentioning that John Espisito of Quantum Mechanics ( The East Coast Yoda of British Tranis) has not only rebuilt hundreds of these but also tested them in course of their repair. At any rate he recommends a 30 weight non detergent oil as opposed to the 90 weight Hypoid gear oil that comes in the trani when new. Check out his website...

The 3-sync in my old '67 VARA racer was the original 3-sync, which had never even been removed from the car. To this day, that was the nicest, most direct, most crisp shifting gearbox I've ever had in a car...better than my E-type, better than my Datsun 'dogleg', even better than my T5 and T9.

While the shifter had a the typical, notchy feel to it, you could down from 3rd to 2nd very quickly with no issues.

Ben, I agree.

The E Type trans is a great trans, they are really strong, the later ones at least. But, the feel of it is not like the Mowog 3 synchro box. The Mowog requires more interaction and you can feel more. That E Type trans can almost be thrown into gear, but doesn't give you as much feedback.

Royal

If you match the revs properly, you don't need the clutch.

I liked my 3 syncro in the 67 GT as well, it shifted perfect and seemed more sporty than the 4 syncro, it took a little practice to get a scrub-less 1st gear engagement, but I tried the 2nd to 1st tip many talked about here, and that was the hot ticket. I really like the 3 syncro, and the one I had worked perfecdtly, in fact I've still got it, after putting the T9 5 speed in the GT, I'm thinking of using in the Tony Barnhill race car project GT, if we go the route of hillclimb/autocross car.