"Terry Harper" wrote in message
...
"Martin Underwood" wrote in message
s.com...

When people refer to "crash gearbox", do they literally mean one without
synchromesh (ouch!) or just a manual gearbox as opposed to a
pre-selector,
clutchless or automatic? The thought of having to drive a car without
synchromesh shares me ****less. As a matter of interest, how long did it
take to acquire the sixth sense of how much to blip the accelerator
while
double-declutching to allow the new gear to engage? With a synchromesh
gearbox, I've found the best way to do a clutchless gearchange is to
slightly over-rev the engine and let it slow down to the correct speed
when
the gear will engage under slight pressure on the gearlever; is the same
true of a non-synchromesh gearbox?

No synchromesh. If you do a clutchless change on a synchromesh gearbox,
the
synchromesh cones will align the speeds if you are a little out of synch.

Further to that, I worked with one driver on the East Kent whose method for
downchanges from 5th to 4th was to declutch and keep his foot flat on the
accelerator and the engine at governed revs. When the speed had fallen to 36
mph he snicked it into 4th. Most other drivers just kept their foot on the
floor and did the downward change at just over 36, with a pause as the speed
fell slightly. You can do the same on any governed engine with a synchromesh
box. With a petrol engine and no governor, like a Bedford OB, it doesn't
take long to get used to timing your changes. The "snatch" change from 1st
to 2nd on a steep hill is another matter.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/