Featured Technical Two pedals or three

Well maybe you remember my 40 pu, “Ol everyday”…….

 

Nice steering wheel! I hope there's a corvette mill under the hood.

 

Got the best of both worlds! Built my 50 coupe with a Muncie speed. Most of my cars have been manual transmissions... But my OT Chevelle was a factory 396/360 with a power glide, bucket seats and console. I converted it to a built TH400 and just can't bring myself to convert it to 4 speed. It is too much fun with the TH400.

 

Well I swear it’s a small block….. }

 

I never owned a 2 pedal car...

 

Hello,

How funny, two pedals or three. My brother bought his 1958 Chevy Impala new and it had three pedals with the stick shift lever on the column. The other winning Chevy impalas at the drags also had the three speed stick shift lever and the resulting three pedals.

So, that was the important thing. The automatic powerglides were just not up to the winning power of any 58 Chevy Impalas and that went on into 1959, too. The stick shift sedans won everything.

In our case, our mom wanted to use the Impala when we were home or not using the sedan. But, she had never driven a stick shift car in her life. So, our dad chuckled and moved to the next room. My brother said he was too busy with school and job to fiddle around with the driving lesson. So, I was the last resort.

Jnaki

Our mom was 5’2 inches tall and her leg muscles could not handle the heavy duty clutch strength when first starting. So, down the block, we did the clutch bounce until the car picked up speed and we moved to the next block. She was good at remembering all that I told her about watching all around and be ready to step on the brake approaching the corner.

After many bucking bronco starts, she started to get the idea of gently lifting up the clutch until she could feel the bump or engaging the drive. Then as the short time came for the green light, she could take her foot off of the brake and then accelerate gently down the street. She was so happy to be able to do that and we continued out of our neighborhood. She did well on some fairly busy streets and kept a strong grip on the wheel. We went about 8 miles away from home towards Wilmington on level streets. Our goal was the South Bay beaches.

But, as we got to Wilmington, she had to cross the railroad tracks from the harbor and when going over them, scared the crapola out of her. So, she did not want to drive a stick shift any more. Bad memories from early on and now, road hazards added to a change.

Note:

She said she wanted an automatic transmission like our dad’s car and said she would pay for it to be converted. So, out went the three speed/clutch and now a nice C&O stick hydro was installed. She did not know it but that one change over made the Impala so much faster that it was a pleasure to drive anywhere. The Cherry Avenue Drags was an easy show for me and the stick hydro allowed me to get out in front at each start by a car length or two. Yes, I took some ribbing by having an automatic, but those comments came from losing cars at the late night drags. yes!
two pedals stick hydro

Our mom took to the “automatic” like ducks to water.” She drove all over the neighborhood to visit friends and relatives. She even drove to a large grocery store in Bixby Knolls in the Impala to buy groceries. She had run into some of my friends and they pretended to rev up their motor to scare my mom. But, she gently drove across the intersections and made it home plenty of times.
Old photo from 1962
The next time I saw those guys, they apologized and said they were playing a joke on my mom. Due to the fact that I already beat them at the Cherry Avenue Drags many times, I knew it was all in fun. As my mom told me the story, she had driven across the intersection fast to get away from those “teenagers” so she could get home. So, actually, she won the race… YRMV

Three pedals, yes, and two pedals, only if there is something to utilize the power of the modified horsepower in the motor. Afterall, it is just a transmission for cruising… D for drive… and my mom drove it all over her So Cal area to go shopping.

Note 2:

I taught my wife to drive a 5 speed sporty car she wanted. So, we spent afternoons in an industrial tract after most of the workers had gone home. So, the streets were fairly empty. We practiced what we talked about for the clutch/brake/gas pedal starts. Once that was gone over several times, the parking brake was handy as the lever was right by the stick shift lever.

So, the parking brake on, the foot is on the clutch, and gas pedal ready. When the clutch is engaged slightly, a clunk is heard. The car tries to move forward. But, the parking brake holds it back. Then as the car is ready to move forward, the left foot is still on the clutch at that “clunk” point and the right foot is on the gas pedal for more power.

The parking brake lever is ready to move by lowering it slowly while the gas pedal is pushed, moving the car forward. Now, the transition is smooth and as the parking brake is lowered, the car moves with more power on the gas pedal. Shifting to the next level is simple with the gas and clutch pedals.

She picked it up within a week and her driving was superb. Several off camber sloping stop sign corners were the practice points. By the 4th time we came to the same off camber sloping hill that had a stop sign, the brake lever procedure was done to perfection. She was a fast learner. So, we drove off to conquer steeper slopes and continue the brake start procedure each time.

Finally, for a reward, she drove up the coast to Santa Barbara, then through Big Sur up into Monterey and Santa Cruz Harbors. Yes, there were plenty of nice motels on each stop for a day and night. So, our goal was San Francisco for a couple of days of wandering around. But, she did so well on the steep public streets stop lights that there was no worry that she would roll back before she took off at the green light. She always left a space between our car and the car in front. Just in case that person did not use the brake start procedure.

Now, that she liked the stick shift sporty car, she drove it daily. But, she did not want to drive it across from Yosemite Valley to Mono Lake on the other side of the large mountain range. It was the scary Tioga Pass Road with steep curves and deep drop off slopes. Everywhere else, she was an expert at shifting and starting on any hill, during traffic and odd angle streets. YRMV

It must have been the calm teaching methods that stuck in her mind… yes!

 

I'd have to plan on acting Old ;-)