Test Drive Video (removed power glide for a 5-speed)

[bugdewde]

Finally learned how to post video on youtube. Hopefully, I'll be able to video one of my autocross runs in a few weeks
3:44 minutes.
Rowing through the gears then turning around and rowing through them again....
Then up my very long and steep hill in second gear.

Stock 2.3L 140 cubic inch with 2-barrel carb. Old rusty glass pack muffler.
Check out the old wooden shifter knob that was in the 4-speed parts car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe_s-CtuvpM

[SunbirdMan]

That was fun. Can I ride up front next time? I promise not to mess with the radio.

[Monzadude]

I love how on the 5 speeds 1st gear is in the 2nd gear position. My last car had that and it takes some getting used to. I had just a blank white shifter knob with no shift pattern on it. Every time a buddy of mine borrowed the car he'd start off in reverse the first couple of times. Always good for a laugh.

Thanks for the ride. That should hold me until the snow melts.


Bill

[MIKESMONZA]

That was amazing,sure beats the old trans or the power glide,,I espeacily like the way you, gave the trans a work out ,, with the stop sign's and turns ,,,on coming traffic,,you seem to have a training in some field of watching where you are and where your going ??? Did you mention your work in an earlier post,,, c/justice? any way it was well thought out,,, will there be a run down the interstate near Gun Barrel City,,a strange ride with lots of runaway truck passing on the left and hitting the gravel stops,,,, or a switch back in the Blue Ridge Parkway ,,,Heh Heh Heh,,,Mike

[bugdewde]

Yeah Roger....
Next time. I don't like people messin' with the tunes. I should have put one of the 8-tracks in to complete the test drive.
I tried to get the vid to pick up the tach, shifter as well as the road. Hard to do. .... gotta get the camera higher somehow.

Bill.... I hope you get out soon. That particular day it was about 65 degrees. I had the windows down and sun was shining bright.
Last I heard, we're expecting cold weather tonight. Rain/Snow tomorrow with a high of 43 and a low of 27.
If you don't like the weather in East Tennessee, just wait a day... it changes that fast.

I've always liked the T-50 shift pattern. The first European 5-speeds (Porsche, Massarati, Ferrari) used that pattern in the 60's.
First is real low geared(3.4:1). I used to pull out in 2nd all the time with the V6 powered '72 back in the day. The 215 powered '72 pulls out in 2nd very easily with a 2.5x rear ratio. Too bad they're weak and break easily.

Hey Mike,
It sure is much more fun to drive than with the Power Glide.
Yeah, I had some training way back during the law enforcement days. But around here, you gotta really watch yourself. Everyone is either runnin' moonshine at break-neck speed or in a hurry to get to Walmart(just a couple miles away)!!!!!

I'll get a run of the world famous "Dragon", or "Dragon's Tail" at Deal's Gap on the US129 TN/NC border. It's 12 miles long with 318 curves that literally turn back on themselves (180 degrees) with off camber angles and lots of elevation changes. Folks come from all over the world to "race" it. At one end, there is a "Tree of Shame" where body parts are hung when the driver's didn't fare so well on their runs (mostly motorcyle parts, not driver parts).
It makes all the motorcycle magazines and several sports car mags. .... with it's recognition, comes the law enforcement, too. They are really cracking down on it nowadays.
Here's some more info on it..... check out the tree of shame at the bottom..... http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon.html

[marco_1978_spyder]

What about some jumps like the guy in that yellow sunbird commercial

[bugdewde]

What about some jumps like the guy in that yellow sunbird commercial

Oh Marco..... I quit doing stuff like that on the street when I traded in the old '79 Firebird back in '90. That baby had the uni-body twisted 3 or 5 times, practically totaled 3 times and it left the ground every chance I could get to do it. No lie. That's one of the reasons why I have the '79 T/A..... mid-life crisis.... trying to recapture my youth..... but no jumping.

Actually, you can probably see me jump the Jeep one day. It's no H-body, but it's real fun to 'wheel.

[bugdewde]

Here's another link to info on the Dragon....... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deals_Gap,_North_Carolina

This is the reason why I wanted the in-car video. Actually, the Cherohala Skyway is the best road to drive on....... But that's another story.

[cos2482]

Sweet, Nothing beats the handling, sound and feel of putting a Vega thru the paces with its OEM 4.
Jim

[vegagtfan]

I to put a 5 speed in my 76 Gt Hatchback a couple years and I love it but I still miss my 4 speed sagy that to was a fun tranny but with the 2.8 V6 I have in it and the orginal Vega rear end gears still in the rear end it always sounded like I needed one more gear to shift into when I was driving it down the interstate 75 80 MPH in 4th gear but with the 5 speed it's really nice to put her into 5th gear and sit back and haul ass and fly by all the newer cars I love doing that in a Vega

Travis
76 Vega Gt Hatchback V6
72 Vega Gt Hatchback V8

[bugdewde]

I have another video of the car going across one of my favorite tight twisty roads just down the road from my house.... that goes to my Mom's.
I drove the car very, very, very hard. Shifting at red line in some places, downshifting and sliding around turns, greatly exceeding the speed limit, etc..... I mean really letting it have it.
Upon playback.... it looks like a little Sunday drive. It loses a lot of the excitement on camera. Boring.
It's just over 6 minutes but the size is too large to post on youtube(116M). I'm trying to get it to Movie Maker on my Windows Vista machine to edit it a bit to get below the 100M limit but it won't have anything to do with the .MOV video file.
Trying to see about getting the .MOV file converted to something Movie Maker recognizes.

[vegagtfan]

Can't wait to see it bugdewde

Travis
76 Vega Gt Hatchback V6
72 Vega Gt Hatchback V8

[monzamess]

See if you can mount the camera higher, pointed down more, and zoom in a bit. A lot of screen space is used for your headliner and the passenger seat.

[bugdewde]

Yeah.... I zoomed in on the second vid but the position is still the same. There is a velcro strip safety pinned to the top of the rear seat. The camera is velcroed to the top of the seat. I guess I could use a spacer of sorts next time.

[monzamess]

I've seen a guy zip-tie a tripod to his back seat and it worked out pretty well, plus that makes the camera completely adjustable. I built a rig out of copper pipe for my Z28 that worked pretty well but was specific to that car unfortunately.