VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Driving again after 34 years

I am the current owner of a 31 sport coupe. My dad bought it around 1968. I inherited it in 2008. I got it back from the restoration shop two weeks ago. Before restoration, I last drove the car in or around 1978. Since then and until 2008, it was parked in my parent's garage. Driving the car again recently I have been reminded of a few things I quickly learned when I drove the car in the 1970s, which have stuck with me all these years:
1. 35 mph feels like 65 mph.
2. No rear view mirror on the door makes backing out of the garage very tricky.
3. After the engine warms up, it gets hot in the passenger compartment.
4. Double clutching and patience are very important to avoid gear grinding.
5. The car leaks oil, but less now.
6. The steering is not very precise at speed. It wanders a little.
7. A hard application of the brakes induces a pull to one side.
8. The transmission is loud.

One thing I am having trouble with is shifting to a lower gear as I am slowing. Anyone have any tips?

Jim.

First make sure that the trany has the correct fluid and level in it.The trany fluid is very thick(low viscocity). If you start driving and downshifting before the fluid warms you will have to fource it into gear. Check the nut holding the shifter rod to the top of the trany.Clean and lubricate it if necessary. Make sute the nut dosent back off. I used a bit of blue locktite on the threads to make sure. Take your time and wait for the syncros between the gears time to match speeds . First gear is almost better to wait until your stopped. The gears are more straight cut unlike modern tranys.Take your time and get used to the old girl again.

Perhaps item 6 and 7 are related. It should not wander or pull to one side. Easiest thing to check would be tire pressure. As far as the down shifting I think you have the right attitude-patience and practice!! Congratulations on getting it back on the road and welcome to Chevy Chatter-you will find this site very helpful.

Thirty one is a non-synchronized tranny. Thirty two was the first year for synchro's.

Hello JimmyV,
Man o man, you're on the road again and life is good. Well but for the fuel prices. It's been along time since I drove my 31 Coach but I think I know how you feel. When learning to double clutch in an eighteen wheeler, I too found it easier to upshift the gears then it was to downshift. For shifting purposes, what is the one thing you can control after shifting into neutral? It is the throttle. You must match the speed of the transmission gears with the engine driven input shaft gears by using the throttle. Upshifting (slow moving vehicle) usually finds the transmission gears slowing, in neutral, so lifting the throttle while shifting slowed the engine to match, allowing the shifter to mesh the driving gear to the driven gear. Downshifting is the opposite. Now the transmission driven gears don't slow much (fast moving vehicle). You must bring up the engine speed while shifting to match the transmission gears with the engine gears, by using the throttle. Once the gear speeds match, the shifter will shift. Of course, it takes practice and a sense of feel and sound. Make sure your brakes work good in case you find yourself out of gear on some hill and not able to drive and find the shift at the same time. Try practicing on the flats for awhile and use two fingers on the shifter to get the feel.

Patience helps alot. I guess I am more concerned about breaking or damaging something. I have probably gotten soft driving automatics for so many years. I am not yet accustomed to all the noises the car makes. It will take some time for me to learn what they all mean and to sense when a particular noise should not be happening.

Thanks for the tips. Drive on!

Jim.

When up-shifting, depress the clutch and move the shift lever to neutral and release the clutch. Depress the clutch and shift to the higher gear. You will develop the timing to not grind the gears after a little practice.

To down-shift, depress the clutch and move the shift lever to neutral and let the clutch out. Goose the throttle one or two times to get the engine rpms to where they should be and depress the clutch and shift to the lower gear. This should be done fairly fast to assure that the trans and engine speed match up.

Practice this until it feels natural and then you have to learn to do it while giving an arm turn siginal.

How about some pictures? Would love to see them.

Remember-with the stock rear end gears, max speed is about 45 mph. Mine does 42 and I am looking forward to changing out the ring and pinion from 4:11 to 3:50 which should make a well tuned 31 go 55 mph. I don't think I want to goany faster.

I, too,have had the problem of getting my 31 out of the garage without hitting the 66 Impala next to it. A couple of magnets with dowels glued to them and attached to the front fender of the 31 and the rear fender of the 66 solved this problem.

I have it on good authority from several old timers that if the trans and rear end don't leak they are out of oil. Put 1000 or 1500 wt Lubriplate oil in the trans and rear end and leakage will be minimal. Remember, we are dealing with rawhide and felt seals and they just didn't work that well.

The brake problem could be just a matter of adjustment. I would try that first before tearing into them.

Enjoy

I converted my 30 to the road gears by Larry Jackson. You can easily cruise at 55-60 mph. Just leave enough room to stop.

Actually the top cruising speed of a '31 Chevy is 55-60 mph with original rear gears. I drove my '31 Coach at 55+ mph for 50+ miles at a stretch many times on interstate highways. As long as the engine is in good shape it is capable of higher speeds than most feel comfortable traveling. Yes the vibrate and make strange noises but that is okay as they don't have all that noise absorbing stuff to muffle all those sounds and rubber mounts to absorb movements.

Good to know.