Three on the tree......Am I gettin old??

I've had more than a few vehicles with column shifts and never liked them all that much.Vehicles used to have a gear change lever coming right out of the transmission hooked directly to the gears. Then Detroit figured moving the lever to the steering column gave more front seat room,a selling feature.Now you had a bunch of monkey motion levers ,some better than others.I like old truck 3 and 4 speeds with real floor shifts.
Column shifts are like silicone boobs,they look good but they feel funny.

 

Hey orphanautomill , don't count on a standard to keep the young'uns from texting and driving , I caught one of m daughters doing her makeup and talking on her cell tucked between her ear and shoulder while driving a 5 speed , and her deaf brother text while he's driving , regaurdless of how many times we tell them not to ,(they're too old now for us to do anything about it other than gripe , and have thier own car and insurance). GOOD LUCK !

 

BTTT fun thread!!

 

my old 88 f150 had the dimmer switch on thr floor

 

My first car was a 1930 Model A. [in 1956]. I knew how to shift a column shift as I learned in my dads 39 Pontiac. When I got home with my newly purchased 'A bone' dad jumped in and grabbed the shifter, gave it a tug and turned it against the dashboard! My jaw dropped, He said 'thats in case you need more legroom'. In A,s you controlled the spark advance and also a throttle lever. The choke was a rod that went down to the updraft carb, which also had enrichment control by twisting the rod. and if you wanted to make a grand entrance somewhere, all you had to do when you drove up, coast in and turn off the the key,retard the spark lever, grab a little choke, then turn on the key. 'BLAM!' nice little backfire. be careful tho, you could blow the muffler off! don,t ask me how I know. Model A,s were great little cars, wouldnt mind gettin one again. ____ohh and it also had a handcrank, which I used more than once. hmmm I am old.

 

it ain't you, i've known that stuff since i was in short pants, and i'm only 20!

 

man them schools jus dont teach nuthin right these days ....
seems like them 3 monkeys feel right outa the tree

 

I have a 66 chevy panel truck with a 327 and a three on the tree.Finishing up the body work,it's in red primer and running old school aluminum mags.I drive"the Beast" every weekend.I say if it's built to last,why monkey with it.Shifting with the three on the tree keeps me in tune with the r.p.m. of the engine.In addition to getting extra cardio by shifting thru the gears as I roll down the road.Your not getting old,think of yourself as a "Classic" shifting thru Life.

 

Anybody else have this problem? Both my DD's ('99 F150 and a Dodge Stratus RT) are five speeds. Lately, I've been driving my stock '51 Ford coupe with three on the tree, because it's easier to get in and out of with my arthritis. (The truck's too high and the Stratus is too low.) Anyway whenever I get into the Ford after driving the others, I'm always trying to grab another gear that ain't there. It's gotten to the point that when I get in the Ford, have to remind myself that it's only a 3-speed.

Another story, I and friend (who is about 20 years younger than I am) went together and bought a '48 Seagrave firetruck from a guy in Wisconsin. It had the small (Pierce Arrow) V12 and a crash box. My buddy wanted to drive the Seagrave back to Minnesota while I followed him in my Ranchero. I could hear him grind the gears a bit when he took off, but I figured that was normal. Everything went well until we ran into the first uphill grade. He went slower and slower up the grade and about 1/2 way up he pullled over and stopped. I pulled over behind him, got out and asked him what the problem was. After explaining double clutching to him (he was a quick study), we resumed our travel back to Minnesota. BTW, we drove through an Amish area in south-central Wisconsin, and the roads and scenery were terrific.

 

I remember all to well, trying to speedshift a 3 on the tree. If they were a little sloppy the shifter would pop past the fork and out of the slot, requiring you to get under the hood and pop it back out of gear so it wasn't tangled up any more. I also remember how many of those gm 3 speeds I destroyed.

 

well im either old or stupid and i prefer to be old.lol my wife ddis a 07 3ooc hemi. and for the life of me i can figure out how to make anything work on that damn car.when you drive this thing at nite and the lites hit a sign they dim. now that just aint right!!!!

 

88 old? That is a pretty new year model for me. You mean they make cars with the dimmer switch somewhere else?

 

My 56 Cadillac did that, but not very well. It would dim for an oncoming car, then when they dimmed it would hit the brights, glad it never did it to a trooper. I finally put tape over the "eye"

 

I am 43, and have never driven a column shift manual. The only cars I had with the column shift had been converted to a floor shifter due to being worn out.

Last year I took a friend and his 8 year old son for a ride in my car - and his kid was amazed with the crank up windows. He had no idea what they were - and thought they were the coolest 'option' ever. He spent the ride cranking the window up and down.

 

Three by the knee baby!

 

When I was a kid, I was the only person in my school who knew how to drive a model T. 3 pedals, a hand brake that was also high gear, throttle and spark advance on the column, and the choke and fuel shut off way over on the passengers side.
Taught my kids.
Dave

 

The first car I ever drove on the street was a 3 on the tree. Then my old man taught me to drive a semi. That was long before I ever got my license. When it came time for drivers ed in high school the instructor showed up with a 4 speed car figuring he would throw us for a loop. I got behind the wheel and just drove off before he could say a word. He had me pull over after a few blocks and told me that I passed the class and would have to sit in the back while he trained the two other kids that were with us. I ended up taking my drivers test in an semi as I had been a trucker for a year before I was old enough for a license. Been a trucker ever since.

 

my son said the same thing about my 54 belair but he did like driving my 60 belair with a 3 on the tree took a little time to get the hang of it

 

I am 43, and I drive 3-on-the-tree, daily.

 

Always figure I could leave the keys in my old rig, cause whoever would be looking to steal it wouldn't know how to operate the column shifter...

 

My 91 Dodge truck does not, nor did my 89, my 79 did.

 

Just to be different I'm installing a 40 Ford 3 on the tree column in my current build, a Stude powered, chopped 33 Ford 2dr sedan. The Stude 3 speed has OD.

 

Yes us young pups dont know all the old doo hikeys do but as a mechanic i love seeing the old timers try an wrap the heads around direct injection and vvt systems. Let alone what evap does!


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Oh, more of us get it than you might think. Thing is, we don't give shit. That's one of the perks of geezerdom.

 

All that stuff does is turn on that annoying light in the dash, piece of electrical tape takes care of that!

 

Haha cant wait to be a old geezer too. And yea your right about the tape thats all i got in my toolbox! Gues im one of the lucky young pups whos had a car with points and knw enough to get my self in trouble


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The first car I had was 62 Bel-Air 235,3on the tree.Everything on farm had the something,as kid I thought only city people had automatics.

 

WOW, Somebody dug up my three year old thread that I started...

 

I have a four speed in a '49 F1 using the original column shifter. That sure does raise a few eyebrows. . .

 

no one ever taught me how to drive an automatic