I was driving my '46 last night thinking, "I wonder how to get this thing to
downshift without grinding." I tried double clutching while revving a lot,
I tried not double clutching, I tried double clutching while revving a
little, then I tried not down shifting at all. Nothing that I did worked.
I thought (at about 10 pm on the way home from a frustrating city council
meeting), "how do I do this?"
Without any confidence that I may ever do this correctly, I gave up and
thought that I would someday write the group and ask how to downshift. Then
"voila," an email explaining how to downshift this morning. Miracle.
(minor, but a surprising and coincidental none the less.)
Driving the stock '46 is such fun. Without it I would be minus a great joy
and a new friend. (I call my truck, "Buddy.") Funny as it sounds, my life
would be less rich without 3500 pounds of noisy, rattly, hard (and fun) to
drive truck.
Thanks for the tips. The fact that your emails asking and answering were
sent last night and not some other time confirms to me that the old trucks
are more than steel, but some kind of funny time machine to transport us to
a simpler and somewhat more homey time - if only for a short time each day.
Someday I'll ask the group how it is that a truck that goes 45 mph at the
fastest can take me so far away so quickly.
Michael Lubitz
1946 Chevy 3/4 ton stock (now named "Buddy")
1948 Chevrolet 3100, soon to be deluxe ( I think that I will change this to
"someday to be deluxe")
Austin, Texas
----- Original Message -----
From: "W&D" <haist@jps.net>
To: <NTemple46@aol.com>; <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 12:43 AM
Subject: Re: [oletrucks] Downshifting
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <NTemple46@aol.com>
> To: <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 8:40 PM
> Subject: [oletrucks] Downshifting
>
>
>
> > I have had little to no luck trying to downshift when I need to on
> > hills or to avoid heavy braking. Occasionally if I have to I can grind
it
> > in, but I just can't seem to get a smooth downshift. What is the trick?
> > RPM's? Single clutch? double clutch?
> >
>
> I grew up with the old "crash box" tranny and still enjoy the challenge.
> With a non-synchro you have to double clutch shifting up or down. When
> shifting up, depress the clutch to come out of first. Let off the gas.
Let
> the clutch out all the way while pausing the shift in neutral. Press the
> clutch again and shift into the next gear. You can't be in a hurry or the
> gears will clash. A little pause before shifting into the next gear
helps.
>
> When down shifting, follow the same procedure but since you're moving
> faster, you have to bring the trans up to a matching speed. Rev the engine
> while the clutch is out and trans is in neutral. This takes some practice
> to get it right but when you get a nice smooth down shift, you can't help
> but grin a little bit. Usually people tend to over rev the engine at
first
> which makes 'em grind just as much as not enough rev.
>
> Hope you're not thoroughly confused by now. Go out and practice your
> shifting!
>
> My wife once asked why I was "pumping that pedal."
>
> <><
> Whitney Haist
> Orinda, CA
> Chevy Trucks: 2-'46s & a '39
> www.jps.net/haist/artdeco.htm
>
>
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
>
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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