Okay, Aaron. Time for the open-hand shifting lesson. :-)
Most of the time when I teach driving schools, I have to get my student to
quit grabbing the gearshift in his fist and stabbing it into the gear he
wants. It is so common a habit.
I demonstrate shifting with the open hand.
1-2, hand on the right side of the shifter, pressure on the upper-right side
of the shift knob, pull toward you
2-3, hand on the left side of the shifter, pressure on the lower-left and
push across as if the shift pattern was an X (not an H). Push away from
yourself.
3-4, hand on the left side of the shifter, pressure on the upper-left and
pull back but away from you.
4-3, hand on the left side of the shifter, pressure on the lower-left and
push away -- just like the 2-3 shift.
3-2, hand on the right side of the shifter, pressure on the upper-right
side, pull toward you across the X -- otherwise just like the 1-2 shift
2-1, hand on the right side of the shifter, pressure on the lower-left and
push up but toward you.
Never grab the shifter.
For 1-2 and 3-2, I often just hook a finger under the shifter ball and pull
toward me.
For 2-3 and 4-3, I just push the shifter away from myself with the open
palm -- same action with 3-4 except I pull back.
It avoids most missed shifts, especially catastrophic 4-1s! You'll never do
4-1 if you are pushing the shifter away from yourself.
--Rocky Entriken
----- Original Message -----
From: <fpspitfire@insightbb.com>
To: <fot@Autox.Team.Net>
Cc: <spitfires@Autox.Team.Net>
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 7:49 PM
Subject: results from the St. Louis Double regional
> Well the weekend is over...thankfully.
> Weather was nice. The track was nice. Too bad I forgot to pack my brain
> into
> the truck.
>
> 1st lap of the first qualifying session I went from 4th gear to 1st gear
> and
> with the stock 1500 motor....it was a game over. We spent the rest of the
> day
> dropping the pan and replacing the rod bearings.
>
> This was all for not as the repairs didn't even last a lap. this time it
> must
> have been left overs from whatever we didn't spot on saturday.
>
> i've never heard a motor make this much noise without actually blowing up.
>
> Frank Axelrod was a repairing the gearbox when I showed up. That was all
> for
> not as well. During the first qualifying session he broke a camshaft and
> that
> put a hole in the side of the block larger than any i've seen before. This
> catastrophe was followed by fire, smoke and a huge mess.
>
> Overall...just a bad weekend.
>
> aaron
>
>
> --
> All the best
> Aaron Johnson
> #38 FP Spitfire Mk4 Southern Illinois Region SCCA
> http://www.geocities.com/spitracer9
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