On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:40:27 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

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.)

Well, it wasn't actually a crash box, but the synchros were a bit worn
when I got it. Both of them were '62 poptops. The one I bought from
the CHP officer (he had a new top put on) would do 90 on the freeway
more quietly than Mom's '63 Lincoln. He put a 100# sandbag in the
trunk and it rode very nicely. Hell, I used to follow my friends on
their dirt bikes in that beastie, taking smaller jumps and everything.
What a hoot!

--
Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which other
men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life.
--Jesse Lee Bennett

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:10:04 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

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...

Many years ago, while in Mozambique, I managed to hit a rock in the
dirt road and broke the clutch actuator lever. I had to drive 500
miles to get home, all without a clutch. Stop motor, engage 1st then
start motor and hope it starts moving and pick up enough revs to be
able to change into second etc. Easy enough to change up, much
harder to match revs to change down while climbing hills.

Alan

Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message et...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
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Ed Huntress wrote:
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
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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.


One thing I have dredged up is that Mom's Spyder was a 63 or 64 and
the family wasn't far from Carrier Circle at the time. It was a 210
HP model. I do remember the controversy over the name but as an
aside at the dinner table.

Hmm. I didn't realize the horsepower ever got that high.

I thought so but I wasn't interested in things like that in those days. Not
really anyway.
I just remember my father bringing home some new toy from work every six
months. Some were interesting.
We had an Impala convertible with a four speed and a 409 in it for a while.
The first car I had any real interest in was a Biscayne with a big block,
three on the tree and no other options. My friends made fun of the shifter
as "uncool" until they had either ridden in it or been beaten by it. Hehe.
That car didn't weigh squat and I got to the point where I could shift it
reletavily quickly and without the clutch between first and second gear. You
couldn't downshift a three speed Saginaw into first, however, and that was a
problem with a .308 rear end.

It was a fun
car to drive, but it had one strange quirk: The negative camber was
pretty severe for a road car, and, when you started to turn in one
direction, the car would start to turn in the other direction for
just an instant. It felt like turning a motorcycle by pushing the
handlebars the opposite way.

It was unnerving at first but the decambering was really effective.

I'll bet it was. I still see these old Corvair's on the street fairly often
here in California. They have a real following out here.
I've got a friend that races a 55 and 57 Corvette with these guys:
http://www.hmsausa.com/index.html

I missed the race at Sears point this month but it's pretty cool to see some
of these cars running around at speed.

--

John R. Carroll
www.machiningsolution.com

"John R. Carroll" wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message et...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message et...
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.


One thing I have dredged up is that Mom's Spyder was a 63 or 64 and
the family wasn't far from Carrier Circle at the time. It was a 210
HP model. I do remember the controversy over the name but as an
aside at the dinner table.

Hmm. I didn't realize the horsepower ever got that high.

I thought so but I wasn't interested in things like that in those days.
Not
really anyway.
I just remember my father bringing home some new toy from work every six
months. Some were interesting.
We had an Impala convertible with a four speed and a 409 in it for a
while.
The first car I had any real interest in was a Biscayne with a big block,
three on the tree and no other options. My friends made fun of the shifter
as "uncool" until they had either ridden in it or been beaten by it. Hehe.
That car didn't weigh squat and I got to the point where I could shift it
reletavily quickly and without the clutch between first and second gear.
You
couldn't downshift a three speed Saginaw into first, however, and that was
a
problem with a .308 rear end.

It was a fun
car to drive, but it had one strange quirk: The negative camber was
pretty severe for a road car, and, when you started to turn in one
direction, the car would start to turn in the other direction for
just an instant. It felt like turning a motorcycle by pushing the
handlebars the opposite way.

It was unnerving at first but the decambering was really effective.

I'll bet it was. I still see these old Corvair's on the street fairly
often
here in California. They have a real following out here.
I've got a friend that races a 55 and 57 Corvette with these guys:
http://www.hmsausa.com/index.html

I missed the race at Sears point this month but it's pretty cool to see
some
of these cars running around at speed.

I attended a couple of vintage races at Lime Rock when they started that
stuff, back when I was still an SCCA tech inspector, but it's a long drive
from here and my family had no interest. Maybe when I retire.

--
Ed Huntress