Hot Rods Automatic or Straight drive?

Automatic in the '47 and straight drive in the OT.

 

I have both and the main deciding factors are the ‘nature’ of the vehicle and the torque/rpm range of the engine.

Example, my straight 8 Buick is a stick 3 speed that will be refitted with either a BW T5 or AX-15 5 speed. On the other hand, my ‘55 Chrysler with a OE style Hemi gets a late model OD automatic to replace the two speed Powerflite.

With a OT factory ‘performance ‘ car on the other hand, rowing the manual through six gears, where two would do, three at the most, seems ridiculous. The six, eight or 10 speed auto makes for an easy peasy Q-ship!

 

The '31 Model A, the '64 Falcon and my OT CJ7 all have 3 pedals. My old '42 (avatar) had a toploader. My '32 pickup project is getting a 700R4 just cause I'm ready for something different. I'm fine with either as long as the engine has enough guts to make driving fun.

 

My '57 has a stock three speed, column shift. My '54 had an automatic. My OT cars had both. I really don't have a preference.

 

I am 71, have B/W T-10. Yeah, I’m To old to shift too, but as long as I can walk, I’m gonna row em’.

 

The Dort is a 700R4, the roadster an old 3 speed top loader and the 28 Tudor another 700R4.
I have spent a lot of time getting that 3 speed with hydraulic clutch to work the way I want it. Pretty sure I'm there now.

 

Unlike coastal area's we live in the foot hills of the Great Smoky Mountains, where we travel to camp we end up in the Mountains, rough on brakes and clutches. HRP

 

A 727 came with the 440 I bought for my 1953 Chrysler. But I want it to have a nostalgic hot rod vibe. I was thinking a 4-speed would do a lot in that regard. But they sometimes want a lot of money for the A833 and related parts. Wasn't sure I'd find one I could afford, but I did. And I'm happy about it. It's been too long since I had fun with a 4-speed behind a big block.



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I've been looking at shift knobs LOL

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I might have to get a tailshaft housing with the forward shifter mount.
HINT !!!


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My '31 Hiboy has a toploader 4 speed and the '40 coupe has a T-5. the '40 is great with only a slightly stiff clutch from Ford Motorsports, but the Hiboy has a McLeod 11" that is just about too stiff for me at age 81 and a weak left leg from waiting too long for back surgery, and damaging the nerves. The clutch pedal is just barely manageable for me in it but the '40 is sorts stiff but not too bad.
I feel that I'm going to have to do something to the Hiboy this Fall after it's no longer good roadster driving weather if not before.
I'm torn between giving the McLeod "XST" dual disc clutch a try or going to an automatic, but leaning towards the dual disc as they require about 25-30% less pedal pressure. Tried the dual disc in Tudor's '55 Chevy last Sat and it's much softer than my roadster's clutch.
My OT DD Fusion and my OT Chevy pickup are both automatics and I like them, but I really would like to keep manuals in the hot rods as long as I can.

 

My 60 Pontiac has a 400 engine and a 2004R transmission out of a Buick Grand National. Super highway cruiser with the TC locked up.

 

Dave, I used a Mustang quadrant clutch in Brenda's Wagon and it takes very little effort to use the clutch. HRP

 

What's an automatic???......

 

Danny that toploader in my Hiboy is behind a McLeod safety bell housing which is behind a sorta bad ass sbc! I'm using a McLeod hydraulic T O brg. setup pushing against a McLeod 11" clutch with a combined mech and hydraulic ratio that uses up the full pedal travel of a 39-40 Ford type pedal assy. from P&J on their repop frame.

 

WC T5 in the '32, Chevy V8 Monza Bellhousing and clutch cable w/Adaptor to the Hemi!
Smooth easy clutch pedal.
My '57 Pontiac "three on the tree" from the factory and TriPower!
I like 3 pedal cars!
KK

 

I shift gears all day long, seldom using the clutch. For that reason, I like my drivers to be automatics. Nice to just get in, pull it into gear and go. If I want to keep my shifting skills sharp, I crawl into the ot 94 Ranger with a 5 speed.

I actually thought about putting a 5 speed in the Lincoln when I did the engine change, but the previous hacker torched the clutch pedal arm off.Figured it’d be about impossible to find a pedal set, so I went back with the automatic AOD. Maybe I’ll get to test it sometime this summer...

 

The coupe has an AX15 5 speed. My latest project has an OD automatic. The auto has a bigger motor and more power. The choice is a toss up.
There are days when my left knee really likes the auto OD, and there are days when the kid in me really likes the 5 speed.

These days, often the determining factor on which one I drive has more to do with how much gas is in them. Surprisingly, both get about the same mileage on the highway, but the 5 speed (with the smaller motor) has the edge around town. I don't live is a big city though. Gene

 

I'd rather eat worms than drive an automatic. Knothin finer than a set of solids and a stick. And yes I had my left knee replaced. Lippy

 

My 29 has an m20 , my daily has a tko 600 , the 37 has a tko 600 , the lark has an m20...The Blown sbc 57 150 has a Mike's reverse manual T400 with a brake

 

TH350 in the '40, M-20 Muncie in the Nomad.

 

Roadster has a AOD. Fairlane has an AOD. Ranchero has a T10 4 speed. Sprint has a C4. 53 has a C6.
The few time we have been caught in LA traffic I can surely tell you I am glad my Roadster has an automatic in it.

 

One of the things that I like about a "straight-shift" over an automatic?
Truthfully?
I can push in the clutch pedal and blip the throttle.

 

I like manuals, but dislike installing pedal assemblies, so I usually go with what is already there. Fortunately my bad knee is from Sportsters, and is on the right.

 

The Delivery has a 327 and Muncie -20 with 4.88 gears in the rear; when the " new" 327 goes in, a Borg Warner Super T-10 with a 2.64 first gear follows it. Now, in both my DD Trucks, they have transamatic automissions, TH-400's. The Street Sleeper/Bracket Car will also be getting a TH-400. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

How do you fully drive and have total control of a car with an automatic ?
To me a hot rod isn’t a hot rod with an auto, it’s a street rod, so manual boxes only at this point in time.
(If health or old/injured limbs necessitate an auto that’s fine).

 

2 x autos however I'm looking at another driver car with a big block and 4sp so I can reminisce about the good old days. It has a lot more HP that the others, well only one is a driver, so it should be fun!

 

I've only ever owned manual-shift cars in my life. Using a clutch in stop-go rush-hour traffic is something most drivers do where I live, as indeed in most of the world. I don't commute by car any more, and I still like to shift gears.

I'm very much into that extension-of-my-body thing. I don't want my car to obey me; I want it to become me. Shifting gears is part of that. But I believe that it can be done better, which is why I've been studying automatic transmissions very deeply for a while. My ideal is not so much a manualized automatic as a manual gearbox made out of automatic transmission parts. That is, a bistable* manual epicyclic gearbox with the torque multiplication and clutchless launchability afforded by a locking torque converter.

Rest assured that I shall have the good taste not to use an ignition interrupt like modern computerized automated manual gearboxes use. That hiccough must be the most arrogant automotive sound out there these days.

* Or relatively bistable. I'm on about monostability and bistability in transmissions here.

 

I grew up shifting manual transmissions. Back in my day a Hot Rod had to have 3 pedals. I have a T5z in my F1 and it also serves as a theft deterrent.

 

Automatic with od for me. Bad knees.