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RE: [oletrucks]One caveat about Downshifting

To: "'Michael Lubitz'" <mlrba@texas.net>, W&D <haist@jps.net>,
Subject: RE: [oletrucks]One caveat about Downshifting
From: "Schorn, Tim" <SchornT@ci.fort-worth.tx.us>
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 08:23:56 -0500
I've always downshifted to slow down ever since I started driving, and have
always owned stick-shift cars and trucks. Four weeks ago I was rear-ended
while...you guessed it!! downshifting for a truck signalling a right turn in
front of me. I wanted to get around him on the left and when I checked my
rear-view mirror it was full of a '93 Chev pu going at least 45mph and not
slowing down. The impact was ear-shattering and forced me under the guy in
front of me (another Chev pu), his axle resting across my hood, his bumper
just inches from my windshield. I was in my Datsun Z-car BTW, not my '50
Chev! The guy who hit me said he didn't see my brakelights!!! So beware,
most idiots on their cellphones are looking for brakelights, and won't slow
down if they don't see them!! If I had been in my MGB I certainly would not
be writing this to you.
    Has this happened to anyone else?  

      Tim in Ft Worth less 1 Z, a Chev PU sandwich  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Lubitz [SMTP:mlrba@texas.net]
> Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 5:46 AM
> To:   W&D; NTemple46@aol.com; oletrucks@autox.team.net
> Subject:      Re: [oletrucks] Downshifting
> 
> 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
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959

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