clare at snyder dot ontario dot canada wrote in message
...
On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:40:27 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:41:44 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm,
clare at snyder dot ontario dot canada quickly quoth:

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:00:20 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

When I first drove one of those things I'd almost come to a stop, in
neutral, while my brain re-adjusted.

Or like the old International Fire Truck I used to service a lifetime
ago. Belonged to the Naugatuk Chemical plant in Elmira Ontario - 1937
or something like that. EVERY shift was complicated, with adjacent
gears next to each other and, IIRC, one a reverse step. All straight
cut (crash box) too. Thankfully the engine was large enough that 1st
and 3rd were not necessary unless starting uphill. Start in second,
jump to 4th, and in town 5th and 6th (IIRC) were not needed.

You sure learn how to drive with your own synchros on a crash box,
don't you? I did that with my old Corvair and impressed lots of
friends, both male and girl-. Sync the engine with the box and not
ever touch the clutch, except for stop signs and lights. Ah, the good
old days...

Jeez, how did you wind up with a crash box in a Corvair? Did you just let
your synchro rings wear out? g (I had a '63 John Fitch GT Monza, BTW.)

Wasn't the early corvair a non -syncro low? Thought I read that
somewhere.

Not the '63, and I don't think the '62 was either, although I don't remember
it very well. It was all-synchro.

The cars of that era that had no synchro on first were most of the Brit
sportscars, including Jag, MG, Triumph, etc. But they all went all-synchro
sometime in the '60s, IIRC.

A racing crashbox was available from the factory for my '67 Midget Mk III
but I couldn't afford it.

--
Ed Huntress

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com