Re: [AMC-List] Another Re; E Stick, now Drivers

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

Nice summation of the wacky tranny stuff John!

The state-of-tune of engines has obviously changed wildly. People
thought nothing of putting a car in far-too-high gear and just
let it lug-lug-lug up to speed. My father drove everything
from VW Beetle to V8 Chevy van that way. If performance isn't
a concern, gas is dirt cheap, and no one sniffs tailpipes,
it's a pleasant way to operate a car.

Shifting requires two or three operable brain cells, a tiny bit
of attention, and some care for how the engine works. Clearly,
there's been a mad rush away from needing those things for
some time!

As I was poking through the 62 American TSM, I happened on the
igntion timing specs for the flathead and ovehead six:

     flathead: 7 degrees total advance @2000
     overhead: 12 degrees total advance @2100

Sure, lug that thing all day! With 7:1 compression it will
never ping.  1200 - 1800 rpm, full highway load? Why not! Just
can't be in a hurry, is all...

With old two-speed transmissions, this sort of tuning would be
necessary. With a closed-loop computer-driven car with an equally
smart 8-speed transmission there's no comparison possible,
but as good as that stuff is I really like having my hands,
butt and ears attached to the old stuff.

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