Stanley Doble
Call Me a Cab
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Sounds like some part of the clutch linkage came loose.
Best part is I will be the best dressed mechanic on the block (wearing a suit at work today) :rockon:
I feel your pain. The last time the Rambler spit the bell crank, it was in the parking lot of the dry cleaners and I was wearing slacks, sport coat, bow tie, and fedora. By the time I was done, I had more business for them.
It's still better than driving the HHR I was supposed to be borrowing for the winter.
The only machines that I have seen wake up happily from a long period in storage were Ford T-models or pre-T's of various sorts. I remember in 1986 reviving a 1907 Maxwell Model B that had been laid up in 1915. Fresh oil, new tires, water in the radiator, four dry-cells for the ignition battery and clean fuel in the tank, and the machine was ready for the road.
More modern machines, however have hydraulic brake lines to rust, seals to dry out, floats to flood, pumps and filters to fail...
I think it may be an adjustment issue. When coming to a stop at an intersection, with the clutch in, I have always had difficulty shifting into 1st gear. I had to wait for the RPMs to slow way down before it would pop in. It is my understanding, from looking at vintage advertisements for the car, that this was one of their big selling points: the transmission would shift very smoothly into all gears.
My car has the same transmission as yours, and first gear is the same way. I don't think first gear was synchronized on these cars, or if it was, it wasn't very well. I have an all-new clutch assembly in mine, and it still does the same thing when shifting down.
The idea was that you wouldn't normally *need* to shift into first until you were stopped. The torque, with a good clutch, is such that you can easily drive off from a dead stop in second if you have to.
The torque, with a good clutch, is such that you can easily drive off from a dead stop in second if you have to.
Moe, Lizzie, I hope you join the auto club if you haven't already. It is a must for anyone who drives an old car. They will tow your car to the garage or to your home or bring it on a flatbed truck free of charge. Will also give you a boost or bring some gas if you run out. I don't know how I got along without it all those years.
Synchro low was unknown until Ford introduced it in the sixties. With the old high torque engines it was unnecessary. If the car was moving you never had to go lower than second gear, and once you were stopped it was easy to shift into low. For the rare occasions you wanted to shift into low on the fly, a skilled driver knew how to double clutch.
If you have not mastered the skill double clutching works like this
Shift into neutral and release the clutch
Rev engine up to the speed it will be going, in the lower gear
Step on clutch and shift down.
The idea is to synchronize the speed of the gears, by revving the engine a bit.
If you can synchronize the engine speed to the road speed it is possible to shift up or down without touching the clutch pedal. Not recommended as a regular thing but I have done it for a "stunt" and also to get home in a car or motorcycle with the clutch out of commission.
My '58 Chevy had a synchro-mesh transmission.
Chevrolet had synchro-mesh from the 'thirties, but like most other makes it did not did not have a synchronized first gear.
Chevrolet did not introduce synchronized first until the 1966 model year as I recall.0
It's been years since I've driven a Chandler, but I seem to recall that first gear in their "Traffic" Transmission" was effectively synchronized, and this back in the 'Twenties.