Took her in the other day, to a series of shops, getting estimates for reworking the new, but poorly installed exhaust system and one shop owner, wanted to put her on the rack. Well, Julio got in Sassy, started her up and then backed her up out of the parking space, totally lugging the engine. He was driving it, like she was a Honda Civic with a feather-weight clutch and a sewing machine motor. She didn't like it. Not one bit.

I watched as he put her in first and then lugged the engine all the way up to the four post lift and I told him, "Ya gotta give her some rev's", but he didn't take my advice. Stalled four times, trying to get up the ramp. Stalled it again and again and finally, got her up on the rack. Boy, was she pissed!



Not going to that shop. If the guy, can't drive 60's or 70's muscle, with a four speed, then I don't want him working on it. Ya gotta give it some revs as you engage that big clutch and no lugging period! When we brought back the '69 Chevelle Drag Race convertible from the dead, with the heavily built small block, I had ZERO problems getting that car out of the garage and moving around. Healthy revs, feeling out the clutch for the first time, no problem!

 

Sad to hear that. The generation that created American Muscle Cars (capitalized out of reverence) is slowly going away to be replaced by entitled ricers with cell phones and bad attitudes.

 

I drive a ton of cars every week. i'll drive an identical car to my daily driver and stall it because the owner smoked the clutch and the pedal feel isn't the same as mine. it usually takes a few minutes to figure out an engine and clutch combos temperament. it might take longer with a carburetor engine. If I was working on an old classic car and the owner was watching me pull it onto a drive on lift, I might get a little nervous too. sometimes I stall my Corvette pulling it onto the alignment rack at work, I wouldn't discredit this guy's work just because he stalled an unfamiliar car.

also, I can Idle my Corvette around with very little throttle and not sound like it's lugging.

 

We have a shop too and while I agree with some of what you said, I'll have to still take exception. He stalled it FOUR times! Even after I told him to keep the rev's up. If I'm driving typical American Muscle, I always have an emphasis on the rev's and the clutch 'feel' over anything else. If the clutch is toast, you can tell, by the way it's almost at the top of the travel, the soft, mushy reluctant engagement and sometimes, even the residual smell. And I'll always take into consideration, the carb over the EFI too. A carb will always demand a little more 'attention' to what you're doing, than an EFI car, that's for sure!

I wouldn't have minded at all, if he stalled it once, going up the rack. Heck, I might have done it myself, but four friggin' times, told me, he didn't know how to drive a car from that period very well. Even after I repeated two more times, to keep the revs up! I've never, ever had a problem, driving vintage muscle (like the kind we work on at the shop). You know what they are and how they behave.

 

Allow me to add this. Horses and muscle cars have a lot in common. You have to know them and if you don't know them, then that horse, will know it immediately! So will the car. My 3rd ex-wife (yeah, I know...) taught me how to ride and I got pretty good on quarter horses and even the skittish thoroughbreds.

The horse equivalent to the muscle car, is the Arab. And boy, to those people who think horses are stupid, woe to them, if they ever have to deal with an Arab. We had one, that belonged to a nice, little old lady at the stable. His name was 'Buddy' and he was the descendant of the Polish Calvary Horses. The same ones, that went up against the **** mechanized forces in WW II! I knew nothing about the breed until I met Buddy. Thought he was just another horse. Boy, was I wrong.

Buddy was the kind of horse, who would size you up, as you were getting out of the car, two hundred feet away. He'd poke his head out of the stall and with a wise-*** look, tell you in no uncertain terms, that you weren't man enough or experienced enough to even attempt to ride him.

I tried him out once, with the sweet little old lady present. Buddy, did what Buddy wanted to do. I wasn't in charge, he was and he wasn't reluctant to point that out, either. "Ya, you want to go that way, well I don't think so...". It took a certain amount of dominance and experience to even deal with him or any other Arab.

And that's how I deal with the various muscle cars, trucks and Corvettes at the shop. You have to dominate and take charge. I always note the personality of what I'm driving, because most of the vintage cars have it in varying amounts, then it's clutch in, start it up and take charge. You have to be on top of what these cars are doing. Is it cold, does it run like a little bitch and you have to wait for it to warm up? You patiently wait, giving it some easy revs, while you find that sweet spot, where it won't die while it warms up. And then release the clutch, feeling it, while you over-rev, just a bit, to gauge how it reacts. Is it sounding happy, or running crappy? You judge it and make appropriate adjustments. Just like a horse.

 

Id rather have someone lug the motor than smoke the clutch but thats just me

 

I could see how she wouldn't be happy!

I'm just tickled that the mechanic didn't launch her over the ramp and into the back wall of the shop!

 

I have 2 Arabs, 1 Crabett and 1 Egyption, along with 2 vettes. All of them are tempermental, fun and exciting! T

 

I've been used to a 2000 Honda Prelude 5 speed since 2005, it's my daily driver. I can't remember stalling out the car and letting it die. Very easy manual to drive, you can ease out on the open road with no problems at all.

I got a '71 Vette with a Muncie 4 speed on May 31st. I put about 10 or 15 miles on it before I stalled it pulling out in 1st gear...lol. Force of habit I guess, she let me know pretty quick that she's not to be driven like the Prelude. I let it happen one more time after I had about 100 miles on it, again it was my fault because I pulled out in Prelude fashion. I've put about 245 miles on it now and I think she's made me understand that I need to stay into the throttle just a bit before disengaging the clutch all the way.

One things for sure, these cars are a joy to drive. Nothing that I've been behind the wheel of even compares to it. I had an '85 4+3 with TPI that I had a lot of fun with years ago, but the fun factor of the '71 with a Holly 4 barrel carb and a Muncie 4 speed far exceeds that experience when it comes to thrill behind the wheel. It has a little less power than the 85, but it makes up for the short comings for being just what it is, an old school classic. I'm truly loving this car and happy to be a Vette owner again.

Thanks for the story(stories) OP.