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History Do you know what a "Straight Shift" is ?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by F-ONE, May 15, 2019.

  1. spanners
    Joined: Feb 24, 2009
    Posts: 2,074

    spanners
    Member

    I run an inline shifter in my HA/GR. 3 speed all synchro.
     
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  2. Casey Riley
    Joined: Jun 27, 2018
    Posts: 543

    Casey Riley
    Member
    from Minnesota

    So a "straight shift" is a manual transmission floor shift?

    We refer to transmissions like this: automatic/auto, manual/standard or stickshift, 3 spd manual, 3 on the tree, 3+OD floor shift, 4 on the floor, 6 spd auto. etc
     
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  3. No, a straight shift is not always a floor shift. It can be on the column, too. But it is definitely a manual transmission.
     
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  4. Well growing up in the 50's we called it Stick or Auto in my part of the
    Right coast!

    Just my 3.5 cents

    Live Learn & Die a Fool
     
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  5. 26Troadster
    Joined: Nov 20, 2010
    Posts: 787

    26Troadster
    Member

    heard straight shift, manual and standard all my life.
     
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  6. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    must be a southern thing, first time i'm hearing it. i always heard manual or standard transmission or stick shift.
     
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  7. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,817

    BJR
    Member

    On all the old TV westerns cowboys were always "Plumb Tuckered Out".
     
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  8. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Been so long since I've had a straight stick I wouldn't know what to do with it. Used to be an automatic. :cool:

    Always just stick, 3 on the tree or 3 speed, 4 on the floor or 4 speed around here. Took high school Driver's Ed in a Chevy with 3 on the tree. Boy did that get abused.
     
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  9. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'd agree that straight shift is fairly regional but heard it from older guys when I was young.
    Usually meaning a three speed on the tree or a 3 speed floor shift
    Straight stick was usually the term for 3 on the column around here when I was young. = Joe bought a 55 Chevy tudor with a straight stick. As opposed to a Powerglide.
    If it had an Overdrive you had a Stick-over. My 51 Merc had a "stick-over" when I bought it in 1963.
    Granny 4 speeds were known as "compound" 4 speeds and still are by many around here.
    If you had a floor shift conversion that was always noted and if it was a Hurst you had a 3 speed Hurst. Cheap shifters didn't warrant name recognition.
    Due to the ag industry here this area is a mixed bag of people who came from all over the US and other places with a lot of them coming from the Ozarks to pick fruit as migrant workers and then deciding to stay when they found full time jobs after a few years of traveling around following the fruit. A lot of those guys with "back Home" as a prominent part of their vocabulary as in " back home we raced 3 power poles we didn't do no 1/4 mile" bought a lot of their regional terms here.
    Anyone who was drafted in the 60's will tell you that there are a lot of terms that were/are used in one region that mean the direct opposite in other regions of the country.
     
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  10. Usually it was called a "straight stick" or a "stick shift" around here, or just a stick. Some of the older techs at work years ago would refer to them as a "hand-shaker".

    If they were working on an old Chevy van with a manual trans it was a "Hippie-Hauler" with a "Hand-Shaker". :p
     
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  11. MO54Frank
    Joined: Apr 1, 2019
    Posts: 440

    MO54Frank
    Member

    Stick Shift when I grew up in SE MO.
     
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  12. I have heard straight in place of stick shift. But I have wandered more then most. :D Used to hear straight stick in the Ozarks a lot.
     
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  13. bowie
    Joined: Jul 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,098

    bowie
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    357D347E-4F53-4FA5-8E65-1CD822DB13FB.jpeg Yes I do...
     
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  14. bchctybob
    Joined: Sep 18, 2011
    Posts: 5,190

    bchctybob
    Member

    It was a "standard shift" (dealers and old folks) or "stick shift" (younger crowd) where I come from (SoCal). Comes in either "Three on the tree" or "Four on the floor". Never heard "straight shift" 'til I heard it here.
     
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  15. badvolvo
    Joined: Jul 25, 2011
    Posts: 471

    badvolvo
    Member

    Straight shift is new to me. We called them manual, clutch car, three on the tree, 4 speed, slush box. Of course if you had a truck you had to be more specific. Many called a 4 speed a 3 speed with granny gear. If you had a powerglide, it was a powerslip.
     
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  16. sevenhills1952
    Joined: Mar 14, 2018
    Posts: 956

    sevenhills1952

    Virginia lots of people say straight shift.
    A left coast tech friend says there they say (When you plug something into an a.c. outlet) "plug it in". Right coast here we say "plug it up".

    Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk
     
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  17. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,757

    Deuces

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  18. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    I agree with most of Mr.48's post.
    Here in California, grew up in Santa Clara (now silicon valley) but spent much time in L.A.
    Used car salesmen used the slang, and it got on the windshield ads of used cars...also in the 'leaders', or ads in the paper.
    "'55 Chev, straight stick, loaded" That meant std. 3 speed transmission, no overdrive; radio, heater.
    "'57 Ford, T-bird engine, stick-O.D." That was a std. transmission with overdrive.
    It was hardly regional, just salesman talk.
    "Corvette engine, straight stick, runs out real good..."
    Straight meant 'straight thru', overdrive meant +.
     
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  19. My father in law calls gas pedals "foot feeds"

    He also calls going fast "getting on the pipe"
     
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  20. Blues4U
    Joined: Oct 1, 2015
    Posts: 7,589

    Blues4U
    Member
    from So Cal

    I've never heard of it till I read HRP's thread. A manual trans, was a stick or column shift, or just a manual. Don't really understand where it comes from either, what's "straight" about it?
     
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  21. Blues4U
    Joined: Oct 1, 2015
    Posts: 7,589

    Blues4U
    Member
    from So Cal

    From the days of riding 2 stoke bikes. You installed an expansion chamber to increase the power, but it also moved the power range further up in RPM's. When the engine reached those RPM's it would pull really hard, or "on the pipe".

    Those pipes work on 2 strokes by providing a large chamber to scavenge all the exhaust out of the cylinder, and some fresh air/fuel mixture along with it, then when the chamber fills with exhaust it would push back upstream and pack that extra air/fuel charge back into the cylinder, giving the engine a boost. The power band was narrow, and high up in the RPM range, but it was a helluva kick in the pants.
     
  22. CruZer
    Joined: Jan 24, 2003
    Posts: 1,934

    CruZer
    Member

    Never heard of it up here in the northeast.


    Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
     
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  23. Stick shift, three on the tree, floor box, floor shift, straight stick, column shift, side shift, slush box (automatic), that's most of them.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2019
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  24. InstantT
    Joined: Aug 15, 2012
    Posts: 716

    InstantT
    Member
    from SoCal

    Not as vintage as some of you and I grew up (1990s) on the west coast, so I got a conglomeration colloquial phrases from older rodders.
    Plumb= True or truly. A post is "plumb", a woman is "plumb" crazy, etc.
    I mostly heard "on the tree" because it can only be 3, "auto" for a slushbox, and "4 speed" or "4 on the floor".
    Unless it was a Hydro. Then it was called a Hydro.
    Never heard straight shift or straight stick.
    Most car guys when I was a kid referred to their transmissions (regardless of type) as piles of shit.

    Sent from my LGLS992 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  25. Mike
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 3,540

    Mike
    Member

    My favorite term for a column shift 3 speed is "bolt action three speed".
     
  26. Growing up in a cotton mill town you worked a "STRAIGHT SHIFT", ether first, second or third we drove "STRAIGHT DRIVE" cars and trucks. :) HRP
     
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  27. A Straight shift is when a heterosexual decides to play for the other team
     
  28. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,390

    Squablow
    Member

    I always thought my dad was saying "foot feet", not "foot feed". He's the only guy I've ever heard say that. My neighbor used to say "straight stick" but otherwise everyone just calls it "stick". Like, "do you know how to drive stick?"
     
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  29. And then a non-synchronized manual transmission was a "crash box" because the gears would "crash" if you didn't double-clutch properly.
     
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  30. jimgoetz
    Joined: Sep 6, 2013
    Posts: 517

    jimgoetz
    Member

    Here it was always a "stick shift" or an "automatic" whether on the floor or 3 on the tree.
     
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