Thread: My Grandson's '66 Mustang Trip

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You have a bit of a point Randy, relatively speaking the old 60s had long shifts and depending on the clutch could take a bit of strength to kick in. Years of wear it only aggravated the situation. That being said, when everything was tight and properly adjusted they really weren't that bad (remember the Mustang was originally targeted to sell to young secretaries).

Both Mello and his son have driven the car and they should have an idea of how it clutches and shifts, but I wonder if an afternoon adjusting, greasing (especially the cross shaft) and replacing shifter and clutch linkage bushings might make a difference.



.We must have been typing at the same time Mellow.

Originally Posted by rspears

We may have to consider revocation of your Man Card, Sally.....

I can take the heat, Roger!!!

MUSTANG SALLY - WILSON PICKETT. - YouTube

Originally Posted by Mike P

You have a bit of a point Randy, relatively speaking the old 60s had long shifts and depending on the clutch could take a bit of strength to kick in. Years of wear it only aggravated the situation. That being said, when everything was tight and properly adjusted they really weren't that bad (remember the Mustang was originally targeted to sell to young secretaries).

Both Mello and his son have driven the car and they should have an idea of how it clutches and shifts, but I wonder if an afternoon adjusting, greasing (especially the cross shaft) and replacing shifter and clutch linkage bushings might make a difference.

Somewhere along in the 80's I also had a Honda Prelude & a 280ZX. Both were 5sp sticks and had easy clutches & quick shifts. Compared to those, my Mustang conversion drove like my grandpa's old wheat truck!!
I definitely love a 3 pedal car but I want it to be more fun than pain!

Thanks for all the ammo, Y'all . I think I"m gonna look around the National Forest Area and see if I can find a good location to take him and teach him to drive a floor shift and also tell him of the many advantages of a standard over an automatic while we're doing it. My 2000 Nissan Frontier just might be the thing to start with and once he gets some confidence then he can step UP to the Stang. My other two Grandkids could drive a stick when they were in their early teens but they were raised in the Country around farm equipment, farm trucks and stuff.

Originally Posted by randyr

My dad had the pedals, clutch & 4sp tranny from a '65 Mustang he had parted out so we decided to swap it in. The result was I kinda hated it because the clutch was really stiff, the trans didn't really shift smooth or quick, and it was a pain as my daily driver. So I got the auto trans rebuilt and stuck it back in there. Now, if it has shifted as easily and smooth as these more modern sticks, I would have loved it! Just sayin....

Takes a good man to admit something like that Randy!!! Should be some sort of 12 Step Program you could get involved in to help overcome the grief and shame of going from being a 3 pedal man, to be simply shiftless!!!!

When I built my 57 Plymouth, I used an 833 Overdrive 4 speed and rebuilt the stock Inland shifter, used a stock clutch and a 57 Plymouth pedal assembly (additionally I also left it a manual steering/manual (disc) brake car. When I finally got it together and could drive it my first impression was it drove just like the new base Road Runners we sold at the Chrysler Dealership I was working at back in 68-69........I LOVED (and still do) driving it.

That being said my daily driver for several years up to that time had been my 351W, 4 speed overdrive 77 Mustang II. A lot tighter steering, the short throw sifter and light clutch it was a fun car, but an apples and oranges comparison.

Some may remember my thread where I un-built the mustang for the wife to drive.......traded out the Edelbrock heads for stock smoggers, changed over the 4 speed to a C4 and replaced the Posi rear for a 2.79 open. Basically I turned it back into the the Mustang II that everybody justifiably makes fun of. I am keeping my man card however as I only drive the boring POS from the driveway to the shop about once every 6 months to change oil (and I usually check the street to make sure nobody sees me).



.

SUCCESS - - - - Grandson does NOT want to put auto tranny in Mustang. I took my Nissan Frontier and picked him up today. It was a total surprise when I offered to take him to the National Forest and let him learn to shift a manual in the floor. He did great after a couple of tries and then it was stop when you want to practise and drive until you get tired. Sure is nice to have access to those forest service roads with NO traffic. I think we met one truck and trailerl while he was behind the wheel. OH BTW, I did tell him that autos in a Mustang were for the ladies and he understood perfectly. Thanks for all the input Y'all.

Just a few words of caution about basics on the older transmission/shifters---------Over the last few years, every one of the earlier floor shift 4 speeds that I have been under had some grossly screwed up shifters-------neutral gates weren't aligned, trans arms on backwards or wrong position, missing bushings on the arm ends-----------and when properly serviced with new bushings, aligned neutral gates , arms installed right location and proper direction, they all shifted very nice----not super short throw, but very positive feel and no missed shifts-----------


And then , there were the old column shift 3 speeds that didn't have syncro first gear---but you could put it in reverse and after getting a good roll rearwards, shift from reverse to second and then low, dump the clutch, floor the throttle and burn rubber like there would be no tomorrow-----------of course just the right rear (before posis)