When traveling at low speeds ( <15mph) at the tranny is in neutral and I push in the clutch and attempt to engage first gear there is signifigant pause and I can hear the synchro speeding up the tranny so it will mesh properly. I have 2500 miles. Has anyone else noticed this?? Everything works fine and there is no grind but I just don't remember this occuring a while ago. Thanks for any input.

 

I've had it since the beginning. I have now 5500 miles and it still does it. I just wait until I stop and then I put it in first.

 

I never put my transmission into 1st gear until I was traveling under 5mph. At 10-15mph, you should leave your car in 2nd. You have plenty of torque to move you out quickly. If you persist in putting yours into 1st gear at more than a fast walk, you will wear out the synchros early. I strongly urge you to discontinue putting your trans in 1st gear over 5mph, your trans doesn't like it and it is protesting. That is what you are hearing.

1st gear is used for only 2 reasons, IMO. 1. Maximum acceleration from a low speed rollon or stop, and 2. To get the car moving from a full stop when driving normally, ie. not racing.

Illustration: the first Jaguar XKE had a non-synchro 1st gear, used only when it was at a full stop, or double-clutched into 1st when racing or showing off.

 

The only time that I was downshifting to first was when I was rolling to a stop at a stop sign. I never release the clutch until I stop.

 

exactly what is double clutching? guys in another z33 forum had a really bad explanation.

 

Best technique for downshifting to any gear is rev matching -- blip the throttle up to about 4K and let it slip it into gear as the revs come down. I downshift to first all the time, and it's absolutely no problem if you know how to match the revs. Rev matching is the reason for heel-toe downshifting for hard cornering -- you bilp the throttle with your right heel while the ball of your foot is starting to ease off the brake when you hit the turn-in point. Main thing to remember in any kind of shifting is to let it slip in -- never try to slam it in. LOL... there's a deep moral to that too!

 

Double clutching = Push clutch in and move shifter to neutral, release clutch, rev match and push it back in, then slip it into gear and release clutch. Why all this you ask? Well, if you don't have synchros, that's about the only way to shift without turning your gearbox into hamburger. Most MT race cars don't have synchros, so you pretty much have to double clutch. You won't hurt the Z if you learn to double clutch it -- in fact, the goddess of the synchros may smile at you!

Learn heel-toe double clutch shifting and you'll be getting ready for the big time!

 

Hah, deep moral indeed! You'are braver or just a better driver than me if you can match revs into 1st consistently w/o grinding. I could do it, but preferred not to in case I got sloppy.

I posted a long time ago about the double hitch, not clutch, shift technique. You push in the clutch and, very quickly, shift to neutral, pause for a fraction of a second and with the clutch still depressed, shift to the next gear. My brand new 1965 Triumph would accept no other technique w/o hanging up or grinding, even when it had 45,000 miles on it. If your Z hangs, or grinds, try the technique I just described and it may work fine.

Incidentally, another poster on a adjacent thread, or earlier in this thread, was describing the same technique. After driving a car w/a cable shifter for 4 years, I could use the sloppiest shift technique imaginable and still have perfect shifts. Especially in fwd cars, which I bet a lot of Z owners had before they got their Z cars. Cable and mechanical linkages are worlds apart and first time rear wheel drivers need to use it as a mantra, if you can't remember it any other way. WAY DIFFERENT!

 

LOL... Last time I ground a gear was years ago. But then I've been driving MTs since around 1960, so that's probably over 5,000,000 shifts at least -- practice makes almost perfect...

 

You are BUSTED!..You drove w/o a valid driver's liscence for years! Don't try and tell me you grew up on a farm and had a special liscence to help out either. You probably had older brothers or sisters, or boyfriends you could twist around your little finger...Hmmmm? I'm older than you, remember? I only had a learners permit in 1960. My first drive was from OKC to Norman on Highway 77, a 2 lane Interstate highway! My stupid uncle, yes I mean it, told me I needed to learn how to drive and I drove 20 miles on a 2 lane major highway operating the accelerator and steering wheel and my uncle shifting the 3 on a tree for me.

Fortunately, I had a natural aptitude for most physical operations and we arrived intact to my home on Flood Street, me driving all the way. I ended up most of my 15th year driving my Mother's '54 Chevy illegally. I took Driver's Education the next year, and became a liscenced driver, scoring 100 on both my driving and written test, yes even the dreaded parallel parking maneuver.

OK, I will never accept you as an authority figure again, you rat! Just kidding, of course. There were more people than cars then, not like now, where there are more registered vehicles than people in the U.S. I never got a moving violation until many years later.

 

I plead guilty Boomer... I started driving a 3-speed '48 ****** Jeep when I was 12. Had to scootch up on the edge of the seat just to operate the pedals. I spent those BDL (before drivers license) years off-roading in some pretty rugged terrain. Consequently, when I did finally get my license, I was a terror to the highways -- bigger than me, go around -- smaller than me, run over (hey, that was my theory anyway). The old Jeep didn't have keys; just flip the kill switch, hit the starter (on the floor -- it even had a manual choke), and go -- so I'd go joy riding just about every day when I got home from school. We also had a Ford tractor and a White dump truck; the Jeep was more fun though. LOL... When I finally did get a license and drove my Dad's '64 Galaxy 500 convertible I couldn't deal with the AT -- I had to shift it manually.

 

Its hard to beat the habits of a lifetime, but then, why bother if you still like it, right? Got any pics of you in the ******? That would be a hoot!

 

Correction, it was a '46 ****** (I'm the one of the '48 vintage). Can't recall if there is a picture -- if there is, it's probably in a box somewhere in my Dad's attic. A funnier one would have been of me in the dump truck -- I could just barely see out between the steering wheel and the dash.