Skye Poier wrote:
>
> What does the non-synchronized 1st gear on the Mark I models entail
> exactly? Something special required for shifting into/out of first?
Yes, basically what this means is that when pushing the gear
lever into first, nothing will guarantee that the internals
will mesh properly.
Synchromesh uses friction rings with engagers on them that catch
the spinning gears and spin them up to speed before letting the
gearshift move enough to mesh the gears. You can feel it as a slight
resistance as you shift that disappears and the shift lever
falls in.
Without it, you are free to attempt to mesh the gears at any
time, and in some circumstances this doesn't work (grind grind
grind). During upshifts, the synchros don't do much because the
revs match almost exactly. The time it takes to shift is about
the amount of time it takes the engine RPMs to slow down to the
correct speed to mesh. This is why you can upshift without the
clutch at all if you are precise.
Downshifting is where synchro earns it's keep.
When it's first gear, it's no big deal, just come to a complete
stop before engaging first gear. Downshifting into first can
be lived without, which is probably why the first gear synchro
is missing in many designs to save cash.
You can downshift into a non-synchro gear, you just have to
double clutch, which is something of a lost art.
To downshift from 2nd to first without synchros, put in the
clutch, shift to neutral. Let out the clutch, and rev the engine
as you would for a normal smooth downshift. This "spins up"
the transmission innards to the speed they'll need to be at
to mesh. Then, push the clutch back in, and slam it into
first, and release clutch.
If done right, it won't grind, but IMHO it's best to slam
the gear in rather than attempt to "gingerly" put it in and
test youe double clutching. If you get it wrong and slam
it in, it's an awful clonk, but again IMHO it's better than
letting the tips of the teeth grind together for as long
as it takes you to realize and release.
--
Trevor Boicey
Ottawa, Canada
tboicey@brit.ca
http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
|