My Stepdad says that a Muncie Rock Crusher is so tough, that you can shift gears without hitting the clutch. Even if this were true, wouldn't it eventually just tear it up?
That was called power shifting where you would slam it into the next gear at full throttle. You will tear it up doing this!
He is totally correct, but it's a bit more involved then that. If you can 'line-up' the rpm of the engine EXACTLY with the rpm of the tranny, you can slide into gear without using any clutch. I drove semi after awhile, you can 'hear' the engine rpm it is possible to slide out from one gear into neutral, then left the rpm drop slide into the next gear. Takes time practice, but it can be done. It involves how the teeth inside the box are cut is certainly nothing you can do in a hurry.
you can do that with any transmission if you know how. that does not make it tough. if you know how, you can get a running drivetrain moving without a clutch or starting in gear. the only requirement is undamaged blocker rings in the transmission. notice that would be a synchronized transmission. you just use a little pressure on the shifter the vehicle will roll on flat ground. move the shift lever from pressure on first gear to pressure on second gear, as you move quicker, just ease it into first and away you go. when its time to upshift, tap the throttle as you remove it from gear and steady pressure on the next gear and it will fall into gear. when downshifting, you need to rev the engine some and then apply pressure as the rpm,s fall.
The M-22 (rock crusher) was tough in its day, but it's got some serious flaws, one of which is a cast aluminum housing. No matter how nostalgic people are, new cars put out far more usable power than the old muscle cars, and the components that worked then, would be scattered behind the new motors.
