Since I got nuthin' else to do . . .

I picked up a copy of the July Hemmings Motor News, and two things:
1. Cover girl is a '61 VW Sunroof Sedan. Can't tell if the photos are of a resoration, or the orginal '61 VW glossies. A totally original car w/ whopping 40 HP and 72.74 CI (~1200 cc) displacement. If you are in to that sort of thing . . .

2. Back in the fine print section, under P for Porsche one can find:
'57 356A Speester, "a very CA car", for $125,000; '59 Convertible D for $135,000; '60 356B Cab for $49,500; '61 S90 roadster for $85,000;'63 Cab for $60,000; numerous Coupes for $35K to $50K, and several other Speedsters and Cabs listed in the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" price range, i.e., call for the price if you are really serious. And so it goes. Of course there are ads from the replicar Co.s and one or two listed for sale. Some fun, eh?

See your Speedster anywhere? (Kidding. Couldn't resist.)

Howzabout we do another Hoopty cruise sometime, maybe to take the edge off the old anxiety gland?

Hemmings may be the Bible for our sport/hobby, but their prices are about 20% higher than the market, and thats being kind...

Cory,

I appreciate the invite for a theraputic (?) dose of Hoopty seat time, and have been thinking of same for a while now. You have manged a few technical improvements since I last had a spin (not to mention all the various roadside repairs), so a critical session behind the wheel would be way cool. My schedule has been pretty full lately, but maybe next week we can hook up.

Cool. Just no more of that rev-shift-rev business. I still don't understand why you do that; it's a perfectly rugged and fully synchronized gearbox.
It just LOOKS old. I know those "old Porsches" didn't quite have that dialed in ...

lol

Anybody else do that when they drive? Am I in left field playing right here? THIS guy goes along in third, cruising for days without shifting, and then revs the tranny to shift to fourth. Here, lemme try to describe it in real-time ...

mmmmmbwaAAA-klunk-BWAaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (first to second)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmbwaAAA-klunk-BWAaammmmmmmmmmmmmm (second to third)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmbwaAAA-klunk-BWAaammmmmmmmmmmmmm (third to fourth)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmbwaAAA-klunk-BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (fourth to redline)

or something like that ...

Cory young man, PLEASE tell me you know how to double clutch!? It is mandatory, absolutely mandatory. Not double clutching on a down shift is like wearing white patent leather shoes in the dead of winter. It is simply NOT ACCEPTABLE! I don't do it on the upshifts, but on every down shift.

Even with a synchro box, the double clutching smooths the downshift, reduces shock to the drive train and keeps the tires from breaking loose.

Besides. Its freaking cool. You don't want some fat 45 year old soccer mommy being cooler than you are do ya? Well, do ya?

(note, if you answered "yes" TURN IN YOUR MANCARD!!)
angela

Definitions of double clutching on the Web:

When an egg-laying individual produces two clutches of eggs in the same season.*
biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/z999.htm

The double declutch (or, more simply, double clutch) is a driving technique that is somewhat harder to describe than to learn how to do. At one time, it was a very common practice, because gearboxes had no synchronizers. Now it has largely fallen into disuse, except by drivers of large trucks, who still have to deal with the older, unsynchronized, type of gearbox.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutching

Which definition were you referring to? LOL

'course some of us do it jus' cuz it sounds cool.

Clutch, who uses a clutch except to start off?.. sorry the "grand old days" of driving an 18 wheeler came to mind :)

Come ON, Angela. Puh-lease! Do you think I'd be caught dead in white patent shoes in January? Heels in snow? My Gawd!
I'll be keeping that Man Card, thank you very much.

But seriously, if I'm not mistaken, a double-clutch from one gear to another should sound like "mmmmmmmmmmm-rev-shift-rev-mmmm-rev-shift-rev-mmmmmmmmm" in a car, or "gadagadagada-squeak-clunk-squeak-clunk-baddabad -- pause for breath -- dagaddagadda squeak clunk gadagadag" and so forth -- in the FWD (fig. 1).

Ahh, Cory, I knew you were man-card worthy! And yes, that is what it sounds like except you forgot the YEE FREAKING HAW~!! somewhere in the middle!

And regarding the productive hens. You know, I've been known to lay an egg or two myself but only in the form of a joke!

angela

Glad I learned to double-clutch when I was a kid. Had to drive my first kit car, a Gazelle, home from work one night when the throwout bearing arm broke. Shifting while moving was easy by d-b'ing but starting from a dead stop was something else. Secret is to shut the engine off, put transmission (hate to use the word tranny) into second gear, hang on while turning the key to start the engine. If your battery is up to snuff then after a couple of shuddering bucks you're on your way again.

Cory,

Do not dispair. We will get together next week and I'll be delighted to teach you the intricacies (?) of the double clutch downshift, and the more thrifty blip, when you are really in a hurry and trust your synchros to do their job. That latter would be useful 4th to third. 3rd to 2nd is almost always a double clutch, as getting 2nd gear to spin up properly before engaging (especially when things are getting spirited and Scotty back there in the engine room is "givin' 'er all she's got, Cap'n", as this puts a lot of strss on that synchro. It is usually the first one to go -- just ask Wild Bill. It's all about being smooth (and, OK, a little bit cool too) and keeping the jerks out of the the passengers necks and out of the tranny when engine/gear speed doesn't match car speed. Which of course says nothing about how to keep the (real) jerks out of your car . . .

PS: If you get real good at matching revs to speed in a gear, as Alan says, you don't need the clutch. It can be done. And is a nice thing to know if a condition arrives and the clutch has gone south.

It sure can. I drove 15 miles home with no clutch when my throw out bearing broke.