ODs may be hard to find now but I would hardly call them unreliable. The
one in my '79 has not given me even a hint of trouble in 21 years. Prior to
the Spitfire I had an MGB with overdrive that never gave me any trouble in
the many years I owned it. When I bought my Spitfire I told the dealer that
the OD was a "must have" or the deal was off. For highway and interstate
driving I wouldn't want to be without it. Not only does it make the engine
happier loafing along at a low RPM, but the gas mileage increases
significantly when I use the OD at higher speeds.
Reid
'79 Spitfire (original owner)
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Griffiths [mailto:griffco@mail.cadvision.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2000 5:59 PM
To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: So, who wants to sell me a Spitfire OD tranny?
With all this talk about hard to find ODs, and their unreliability, why not
contemplate fitting a 5 speed transmission?
I am sure it haas been done, but what would be a good model to use with the
least amount of work?
I know, I know, it's not original, but....
Cheers, Fred
David Moag wrote:
> Laura,
>
> I just wanted to second Dean's opinion of the O/D. When I first got my
Spit
> it didn't have one, and I'd have to wind it up pretty well to stay up with
> traffic. I tried to limit my freeway driving as much as possible (which in
> LA, as you know, is not too easily accomplished). Now that one in the car,
> it is SO much nicer that I really would NOT want to have one without an
O/D.
> But again, Nigel's engine is capable of quite a bit more than my stock 77
w/
> smog controls can give me.
>
> Dave Moag
> 62 TR3B
> 77 Spitfire
> La Canada, CA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-spitfires@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-spitfires@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Dean Dashwood
> Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2000 10:24 AM
> To: Laura.G@141.com; spitfires@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: So, who wants to sell me a Spitfire OD tranny?
>
> Laura,
>
> Good point about more things to go wrong. In fact, in the time I've had
my
> car,
> the overdrive has gone wrong far more times than anything else. But it's
> always
> been a simple electrical problem (broken wire, inhibitor switch worn, etc)
> which
> I've always been able to fix myself, so it's not really bothered me - of
> course,
> this will vary depending on individual ability.
>
> Personally, I would think twice about buying a car without overdrive,
> especially
> as a daily driver - it really is much more pleasant to be able to reduce
the
> rpms by 1000 or so when cruising along the motorway. To me, having to
> remove
> the gearbox tunnel every few months to fix a wire is a fair price to pay
for
> that.
>
> Of course, Nigel is not your average Spitfire, so he may be able to take
the
> high RPM much better than my car!
>
> Dean
> ------------
>
> Date: Tue, May 23 2000 10:21:54 GMT-0600
> From: Laura.G@141.com (Laura Gharazeddine)
> Subject: Re: Re: So, who wants to sell me a Spitfire OD tranny?
>
> None of my Spits have had o/d. With Nigel, we've talked about it. Then one
> of
> the guys from my local Triumph club said he could get me (a used) one at a
> good
> price. I thought about it. Talked about it with Dave. Talked about it with
> the
> English guy who works for Dave. In all, I talked to about 5 different
people
> and
> what it came down to is that it's a nice thing to have-but not a necessity
> and
> more importantly-it'll be just *another thing to break or go wrong*.
>
> That last bit, coming from individuals I respect and who hadn't confered
> with
> each other convinced me not to do it.
>
> This year, at least!
>
> Laura G.
--
Fred & Wendy Griffiths,
Calgary, Canada
http://www.cadvision.com/griffco/index.htm
mailto: griffco@cadvision.com
|