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Re: 5 speed vs. OD conversion

To: "ccrobins" <ccrobins@ktc.com>
Subject: Re: 5 speed vs. OD conversion
From: "Mike Lishego" <mikesl@tartan.sapc.edu>
Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 01:02:30 -0400
Ok, come on now.  You've taken a perfectly good argument and twisted it for
your own purposes.  Are you in government or an advertising exec?

First point - I don't give a cat's @ss what you put in your car.  No part is
going into MY MGB unless I know it's been rebuilt for one simple reason.
Why take all the time to install the thing, then find out it shot?  I feel
safer rebuilding stuff whenever it's out - I've played games with used
clutch cylinders, and I don't have the time to pull an engine two times
because something was bad when I installed it.  You might think it's cool to
install a used part, find out it's bad, then remove it and rebuild it.  Me?
If it ain't done right the first time, why bother?  I'm a perfectionist when
it comes to my cars, and I'm not ashamed of it.  Excuse me if I want to have
the peace of mind that comes with good parts.  Better yet, imagine the
uproar if I took any old used brake part from 1977 and slapped it in my 'B
without knowing whether it worked or not.  It's the same principal.

The OD did not cause my accident on ice.  If I had the initial throttle
response, I bet the house I could have motored around the ice puddle.  I
didn't, because the car was in OD.  But that's a moot point anyway.  And
where in my message did I call for their banning?  Go ahead, point it out.
I'll wait.

An overdrive is great if you want a more civilized MGB.  I don't.  I want
something that screams and whines on the highway.  I'm sick of cars that are
less noisy, cars that are nothing but isolated little boxes on the road.  I
want a car that doesn't want to slug along at 3000 rpm, and is damn proud of
it.  My MGB with OD was not that car.  It was a step away from Old No. 1,
and one step towards Chrysler Lebaron Convertible.

And what amazes me is how much you love these damn things!  I've got some
snake oil that will lower your gas mileage, reduce engine wear, and make
your car quieter too!  For crying out loud, all I was doing was trying to
speak my opinion as a person who had an OD and didn't care for it.  I listed
a few perfectly sound reasons, and I get flamed for it?!?  Sorry, Big
Brother, please don't make me a non-person!

In my opinion, the OD limits engine noise, gets slightly better gas mileage,
and that's it.  But hey, if you can justify spending time and money for what
looks like a minimal gain, go ahead.  I didn't buy a sports car to laze
around freeways in and sip gas.  If I wanted a car that could do that, I'd
have got a Geo...

I never said OD transmissions were worthless...But I WILL go on record as
saying they're over-rated.  That's OK though.  I profited from their
popularity and over-zealous folks who think an OD tranny is salvation with a
shifter...Hmmm...Didn't Slick 50 and Splitfire gain large profits in a
similar way?

Michael S. Lishego - "A muscle car in a world of Camrys."
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/3706/


>Good Lord, it boggles the mind!  Now ODs cause accidents on ice.
>Outlaw `em Senator and save our children!
>
> Rebuild a used tranny before installing it?  $700?  Sheesh, I stuck it
>into the car and took it for a spin!  It absolutely amazes me, the
>rationalizations the anti-OD forces can come up with.  I'm further
>amazed that some people are so vehement about it.
>
>  I shudder to think of all the millions of vehicle owners worldwide who
>have been sold a bill of goods over the years by those nasty car
>manufacturers, selling them useless overdrives!  Get a rope, men!  Get a
>bunch of ropes!  We'll march on Detroit for openers.
>
>  Overdrive Chas.
>


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