I'm almost a man

[MechAg94]

I drove a stick for a couple years.  I liked it a lot. 
You know you are decent with a stick when you can drive a stick in town and eat a Dairy Queen Dip Cone before it melts. 

[mfree]

"You know you are decent with a stick when you can drive a stick in town and eat a Dairy Queen Dip Cone before it melts. "

Or do what I do, head off for work (In my Sonoma, not the nicest riding vehicle...) every morning with a steaming hot cup of coffee in hand.

Cup, I said. The ceramic kind with the handle and no lid. Been doing it for years, only spilt once

As for rev-matching, I used to do that all the time. Could even do it in the Shadow going uphill... except for 5'th. *&^*&^ synchro in fifth was some kludge add-in that was plenty strong but my god the engagement time took FOREVER.

As to three-on-the-tree: It's not that hard, just unusual and slooow. It's just like a three-speed pattern turned sideways and attached to the column; the only trick is that the "sweep" of the lever is usually something like 120 degrees or more.

[K Frame]

Yep, I had a silver, 2-door 1977 Maverick with the 302 V-8.

I LOVED that car.

I came very close to buying a Maverick a few years ago. Had the 302 V-8, but it was a 4 door.

[Thor]

I got burned out on stick shifts getting stuck in stop & go traffic in San Diego. The Coronado Bridge really turned me against stick shifts!! Haven't owned one since I left San Diego.

[wmenorr67]

Taught myself to drive a stick on a VW Bug.  Basically had to since I had just bought the car after high school.  Needed to go somewhere and dad was at work and mom didn't know how to drive a stick.  Took all of five minutes.

[280plus]

Learned how to drive a three on the tree at 15 on a cushman utility truck. learned to drive on the street with one in the 71 351 Mustang with the Hurst shifter. Took me a few days to figure out it locked out first once you went to second. Starting out in third gear ain't that easy, especially on the clutch, let me tell you. Learned how to change a clutch soon afterward.

[roo_ster]

You're not a man until you've taught *someone else* to drive stick. Now that's humbling

Especially when it's your future (now ex) fiancee and the vehicle in question is most of a '69 Ford F100 with manual everything, 3 on the tree, and 15/16 of a 360v8.

No mystery why she's your EX.  My wife nearly didn't marry me after having her drive my Nissan manual PU for the first time in...Little Rock, Arkansas.  "Heel/toe...burnout...whatever it takes, honey."

[cosine]

What's this "stick shift" you guys are speaking of?

[mfree]

"No mystery why she's your EX."

Actually, there is, somewhat... water under bridge. It sure wasn't the lesson though, she'd have had it in one lick if the starter hadn't failed on the third go. Ended up push-starting the old beast to get to autozone, same deal to get home. Thank goodness I'm good at it... managed to fire the engine up with half a parking space worth of backwards roll, handy 'cause that lot was tightly packed. I did cheat though, pushed the timing back a little while I was poking around underhood :-D Nothing's more satisfying than getting to smack (lightly) the distributor with a hammer and knowing you actually did something useful.

Second trip was lots and lots of loops around a Lowe's parking lot. That and road time was all it took. Apparently something stuck; she's driving rigs now.

My "key" to teaching stick is two things... learning the "tickle point", or how to tell when the clutch disc is *just* engaging, and teaching enough throttle control to keep the revs level.

[Brad Johnson]

A real man knows how to double clutch, drives a "three-on-the-tree", and carries a crank instead of jumper cables.  Tranny synchros and reliable electrical systems are for pansies.

Brad

[wmenorr67]

And the military has switched over to all automatics because too many recruits couldn't drive sticks, let alone figure out the double clutch.  Now there are still a few duece and a halfs and five tons running around that are sticks but they are slowly being replaced.

[Ron]

Auto transmissions have come a looooong way from when I started driving.

I didn't mention I drove a manual tranny school bus (Sunday school) for a while and then they gave me an auto trans bus after that. The auto bus was newer and faster. The transmission was great, shift points were right on, not that it was that critical with it being diesel.

I had a 72 Duster with an auto transmission and a slant six, it was ridiculous. That car was like driving a forklift, no acceleration, no top end and no suspension.

[mtnbkr]

Mike, Charby, you guys missed my tale above where I drove from I395 to Manassas in rush hour traffic without using the clutch (pressure plate broke and I couldn't disengage clutch).  I had to kill the engine to stop the car.  Lots of fun when you're in stop and go traffic. 

Chris

[SteveS]

Never driven one with 3 on the tree.  That would be an accomplishment.

The summer camp I worked at in college had one of these on a truck that was built in the early 80's, IIRC.  I can't say that it made want to get one, but it was ok. 

[K Frame]

"Mike, Charby, you guys missed my tale above where I drove from I395 to Manassas in rush hour traffic without using the clutch..."

I didn't miss it.

You've told me about it before.

That's like the time I was coming down the side of a mountain in Pennsylvania and the brakes failed.

That's when I began to refer to the 1972 Scout as the International Terrorister...

And I thought you were on vacation. What the hell are you doing logging in?

[mtnbkr]

Technology, man.  I'm 20miles outside of Durham, NC (Shell's driving, Abby's asleep).

Chris

[K Frame]

"Technology, man."

Well DUH... I didn't think you were sending packets via carrier pigeon... 

I just figured that you'd shake the dust of this place off your shoes for a week.

"Abby's asleep..."

Do me a favor... Whack her a shot for me...

[CAnnoneer]

"stick shift"? That must be a Kama Sutra position I am not yet familiar with. But, so long as it feels good on the whole, I say go for it.

[Gewehr98]

I figured it was a rite of passage.  I learned to drive in a 1960 Chevrolet Apache 20 pickup, granny four speed, Eaton 2-speed rear axle, for 8 forward speeds, 2 reverse. 

I quickly learned not to use 1st gear for anything other than starting movement of the truck with heavy loads.  I also learned that if you started in 1st gear and put the rear axle in low, you could exit the truck, walk alongside, and adjust the "creeper" speed of the vehicle by tweaking the throttle knob on the dash.

The old girl would just mosey along at a fast idle, with me walking alongside, giving it occasional steering wheel inputs and adjusting the hand throttle. 

That was a fun truck.  It had no power steering, no power brakes, and a huge handbrake lever next to the gearshift that actually worked by clamping a round brake shoe around the driveshaft.

I kept my eyes open for several years, looking for another '60 Apache 20.  There are not many left, so last fall I settled on a 1953 Chevrolet 3600 series flatbed, found in a nearby farmer's tractor shed.  I had wanted a 5-window, but this one came with a spare 235 engine, and the sheet metal was fairly straight. 

I'll be more than glad to teach Fistful how to drive a 4-speed.   

[Perd Hapley]

I think the next time I have fifteen cars behind me trying to turn left, while I'm repeatedly killing my engine, I'll just hop out and tell them it's ok, because all of you morons said that driving a stick was the easiest thing in the world to learn. 

I'll also let my Dad know how easy it was when he's installing a new clutch and starter and rebuilding this transmission some miles from now.  Let me know where I can send the bill, you jokers. 


 

[roo_ster]

[Lt. Col. William Kilgore]You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm Clutch, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm clutch in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed were hauling agregate up a hill, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body clutch. The smell, you know that gasoline smell dead-clutch smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's uphill stoplight's gonna end...[/Lt. Col. William Kilgore]

[mtnbkr]

I think the next time I have fifteen cars behind me trying to turn left, while I'm repeatedly killing my engine, I'll just hop out and tell them it's ok, because all of you morons said that driving a stick was the easiest thing in the world to learn. 

Learn in a parking lot first.  Practice starting and stopping before you get on the road.

I'll also let my Dad know how easy it was when he's installing a new clutch and starter and rebuilding this transmission some miles from now.  Let me know where I can send the bill, you jokers. 

Installing a clutch is easier than rebuilding a slushbox. Unless you're a real slob with the clutch, you shouldn't need to rebuild the manual transmission for at least 200k miles. 

I just figured that you'd shake the dust of this place off your shoes for a week.

I will once I get there.  A week down in Mobile (fishing!) and New Orleans...I'll forget your names and the address of this place by noon the first day.

Chris

[Brad Johnson]

I'll forget your names and the address of this place by noon the first day.

Senility is terrible, ain't it. 

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

Learn in a parking lot first.  Practice starting and stopping before you get on the road.

Well, duh, I did that.   

[Marnoot]

I learned on my dad's truck when I was 16. What got me from stalling it every other time I started out to almost never having a problem was being stuck in a single hour-long stop-and-go traffic jam. After having to stop and start that many times in that short a period, I got the timing of it all down pat.

My current vehicle is an automatic, after I got sick of working the clutch in traffic jams while commuting for a summer. I now miss the manual and will probably get one for my next car, then I'll probably miss the automatic and get one for my car after that. The grass is always greener . . .