Design of automobile transmissions

When did the Powerflite show up? I know it was around by '53, so it wasn't far behind the ones you mention. Its been a long time since I saw the dash of a non-pushbutton powerflite Chrysler product (it was probably a DeSoto with their dash mounted lever), but I think it was P-N-D-L-R.

All three had the P-N-D-L-R s*it pattern, or some

nate,

The VW 02A and 02J tranmissions have an integral shifter. The shift lever is connected to the transmission via two cables. The feel isn't bad. There's a weight on one of the selectors to add some positive response to the feel. You could put the shift lever and associated mechanicals anywhere, if you really wanted to.

Comes in very handy when you want to convert something to a short shift.

-Keith

The dash-mounted lever, IIRC, was a one-year-only '55 item. Don't know the quadrant arrangement, though I was fairly sure it was "RNDL" (no "Park" position in a Chrysler automatic until '60).

Oh, and what do *YOU* know of rocking a stuck vehicle? Have you ever even seen snow that wasn't in a photograph or on a movie or TV screen, mister I-can-work-on-my-car-in-shirtsleeves-in-the-middle-of-December?

DS (time shift means it'll soon be getting dark up here at stupid times like 3PM)

While I don't throw my vehicle into park at a stoplight, (and I've never seen anyone do it, myself, ) what's wrong with someone doing so? It only takes about 1 second to go from P over RN to D.

Ok, so you're fairly close to some dude coming to a stop, you see that he's thrown it into park. So, selecting another lane (and possibly screwing up the traffic pattern) is appropriate, as opposed to waiting

-LMB

I'll do that at lights I know to be excessively long. (And I don't take any eternity to get moving when the damn things f_i_n_a_l_l_y turn green.)

My father once tried telling my New Orleans uncle about snow tires. Unc had no idea what we were talking about until dad showed him the tires. Unc corrected dad; "Oh, those are mud cleats!"

Two words: gumbo mud. At least snow melts... ever tried to get clay mud out of the tread of a pair of work boots? :-p

About 6 here... which is still stupid early. I was really hoping that the little energy "crisis" would give some motivation to the move to go to year-round DST again like we did in the 70s.

Not all cars have transmissions between the seats. On most FWD cars the transmission is on either side of the engine. On a RWD car you either put the transmission right behind the engine, where you get the transmission hump you do not like, or you put it at the rear axle, but you still need a smaller hump to accomodate the driveshaft from the motor to the transaxle in the back.

Look for a FWD car that won't do this.

Not as supportive and comfortable.

-------------- Alex

Is this true for the manual C5/C6's? Seems like the shift rods would have to be extra long and they'd have a lot of slop if this was the case.

I would ASSume that they do it like Porsche did with the 944 (same layout BTW) and use a single shift rod, fore/aft is obvious, then the rod rotates to select which gate you're in (1-2, 3-4, 5-R) however I have no knowledge of recent Corvette mechanicals so I am prepared to be corrected...

nate

Yes, that's true for all C5/C6s, and the shift rods are probably a

you're right

Incidentally, in Googling on the subject, the shift pattern mandate seems to have come down in 1964, which prompts the question, how did Studebaker get away with continuing with the Flightomatic until 1966? (the Powershift had a more conventional shift pattern)

nate

I'd be curious to see your source on that -- there was no context through which for there to be any such a mandate in the US in 1964.

Remember, just 'cause it's on the net...!

I knew that because the first car I remember was a '53 New Yorker and Dad telling me that it was a 331 hemi coupled to a Powerflite 2-speed automatic later in life. That memory of the car itself is vague, though, because my parents sold it when I was just a few years old. I can't remember a thing about the dash, just the blue leather interior, dual exhausts poking out from under a big chrome bumper, and a pale blue exterior.

Woohoo! I just bookmarked that page- don't you LOVE the look of 50's manuals? It matches the manual for the 1949 Sunbeam Mixmaster I bought my wife a couple of years ago, except with smiling cartoon mechanics instead of smiling cartoon chefs :-)

Couldn't tell you, just picked that up in passing while looking for a picture of the column shift quadrant. This is certainly not an area where I can claim expertise so I'm prepared to be corrected... and indeed you are right again..

Standard No. 102 - Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect - Passenger Cars, Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles, Trucks, and Buses (Effective 1-1-68) This standard specifies the requirements for the transmission shift lever sequence, a starter interlock, and for a braking effect of automatic transmissions, to reduce the likelihood of shifting errors, starter engagement with vehicle in drive position, and to provide supplemental braking at speeds below 40 km/h (25 mph).

So there really was no issue, the Flightomatic was long dead by the time this regulation became effective.

nate