I've always been a stick fan because its cheaper to throw a clutch in & keep driving than it is to rebuild a slushbox. After tearing into a TH350 in shop class and seeing the valve body & fluid passages I got spooked. No way am I ever going to rebuild one of those things....
Too much traffic in SoCal, so my daily has a 700R4. But I do have a 5speed to replace the T-10 in my 55.
depends on the builds purpose. my 53 chevy will be a road cruiser and will get an auto, of course not a lot of caddy 500s have manuals behind them. my 29 tudor will be more of a "hot rod" and will be getting a T5 if my size 13 feet and three pedals can be made to fit everyone has different reasons and will get no grief from me on their choices later jim
Pedal car for me. No one has even mentioned that stick cars sound way better when they/you shift them.
Especially when the engines on song, they/you are banging through the gears of a close ratio box an it sounds like every gear is first. Better heard than explained!
3 pedals for me = a real car, Ive owned a few autos and still have 2 but I really love the manual gear boxes.
Got my driver's license in 1964,never owned a vehicle with an auto trans.My wife drove a friend's car and had a hard time dealing with the just put it in drive and go A hot rod with two pedals just ain't right. But buy and drive what you want .......
I'll have to go with the stick. It's just that much more fun to drive. Just being able to drop it in second and tear around a corner - or on ramp, as the case may be - makes it worth it.
Stick or auto, chocolate or vanilla, Frank or Dean, bacon or sausage, 3W or 5W Deuce. All the same question, right?
Doesn't matter to me as long as I look cool behind the wheel. And I'm ok with it being all in my head...................................Agreed,I had enough of shifting, stickin' it in dr. and hammerin' it is much easier and less to get my feet tanngled up in.
cool thread.. perception is everything.. i love seeing mid 60s biscaynes with factory four speeds and also very rare 1959 Bonneville convertibles with 3-on the tree. i dug the hard clunk shifting on my '55 Pontiac's 4-speed hydramatic, and i like the smooth dyna-slush on the 60 Electra..
Simple for me,,, Auto in my 55 Lincoln, cruise..... Stick in my 39 Coupe, Hot Rod... (Not to say an auto wont hot rod, because it will), but what I am saying is that a manual in my 55 would be way out of character for that car.
Automatics are for daily drivers in traffic. I want to decide what gear I should be in and I love listening to the pipes as I use the engine to slow the hotrod down. I'm still a kid and love to run it up in second and let off on it. I'll never grow up. My 56 will be 3 on the tree w/OD. Hopefully a longer distance driver. My 34 P/U is a T-5 for better MPGs also.
I'll mention it. The gear whine of a 4-speed is a drug. The sounds of an old 3-pedal car are a big part of why I enjoy them.
My pick up is a 4 speed stick and I love driving it but in traffic it kind of sucks. I have a 66 chevelle with a high reving roller small block that has a th400 with a manual valve body so you still have to up and down shift. I have been thinking of a tko600 or a t-56 for more control and good highway maners but its too expensive. Hot rods have to have 3 pedals and one is not a parking brake. Stick all the way just dont get carried away with a high friction clutch.
I went with auto cause i found a good one for cheap,,and I have driven big trucks for 30+ years,,shifting gears is over-rated. My last hotrod had a 4 speed,,cause that's what it came with
In my younger days I said I'd never have an automatic. Somewhere along about 20 or so years ago I relented and got an automatic because I needed the car to be able to be driven by family who'd never driven a stick. By about 10 years ago I was firmly in the "No sticks for me" camp. Now, with degenerative joint disease, I couldn't drive a stick if I wanted to. One of the few things certain in life is change.
Sticks are for rods. Autos are for customs. But that's just me. When I pull the Jimmy 302 with the T5 out of my truck for rebuilding, the combo will be replaced with a Nailhead 322 and rockcrusher. I'm all about the sights and sounds.
I'm in the middle of changing from a TH350 auto to a Muncie 4-speed in my coupe. Auto in my new(er) daily driver and sticks in the rest. My wife drives a 6-speed too.
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