Manual Transmission/Transaxle Class Update

Straight cut gear and helical gears

While most vehicles on the road have an automatic transmission, and a lot of them now have dual clutch transmissions, there are still some good old manual or "standard" transmissions, so it's been fun to take this class and learn how they work. The biggest project we've worked on in the shop is a big old 1981 GMC roll-back tow truck, and man it was a little dirty underneath! 

Part of the inside of a transmission. Here you can see two synchronizers, one would shift 1st and 2nd gear, the other 3rd and 4th gear. 

The transmission was fine on this truck, but the clutch needed replacing, and the flywheel needed to be resurfaced, so to get to those components we had to remove the transmission, disconnect the drive shaft, take off some of the cross members holding all that stuff in place, disconnect the Power Take Off connections,  and take off the gear shifter up in the cab. 

A shiny new flywheel on a Mustang. 

The new clutch you can buy from the store, but we had to send the flywheel out to be resurfaced by a machine shop. Once the new parts came back, we put it all back together too. 

Differential

One good tidbit of information we learned in the classroom is that a dual clutch transmission is really built like a a manual transmission that has the capability to be be shifted by the computer. The computer doesn't have a robot arm exactly, so it uses hydraulic fluid to operate the clutch, and then shift the gears. 

Inside one type of CV joint. 

Another fun tidbit is the Porsche name for their dual clutch system, which they've used since 2009, commonly called PDK. That's just an abbreviation for the German language Porsche Doppelkaplung, which I guess is double-coupling, but it just sounds cooler in German. Hey, and guess what? Since my Cayman is a 2009 model, it's from the first year of this transmission too!

Mazda truck and Ford Mustang on the lifts.

Right now we're studying drive shafts and differentials, so we've gradually worked our way from the front of the vehicle to the rear (for rear wheel drive systems.) Along with this class I've gotten used to calling a plain front wheel drive a trans-axle, since the transmission is directly connected to the front axles and differential. Go ahead, impress your friends, and make sure they know that your front wheel drive car has a trans-axle!

CV axles, with CV meaning Constant Velocity. The one on the right has a damper on it in the middle. 

Coming up after transmission class is my final automotive course, all about electrical fuel systems. Should get a charge out of that one!

What the HECK is a "Luftgekuhlt" and Why did I go to One?

NMS live at Luftgekuhlt 11 in Durham NC!

Bottom line up front: "Luftgekuhlt" is German for "Air Cooled." Specifically, Porsche cars built before 1999 were all air cooled, meaning they didn't have a radiator and coolant. Fast forward to today, and "Luftgekuhlt" is a special once a year showcase of air cooled Porsche automobiles. The Luftgekuhlt folks started these events in 2014, and they've all been held out on the west coast until this year, when they came to Durham NC. So, let's take a look around Luftgekuhlt 2025. 

There were Porsches all over the joint!

Unlike a museum exhibit, most of the cars did not have any signs or placards telling you what they were, so to be honest all I can say is that here's a bunch of air cooled Porsches! The location was also unique, the American Tobacco Campus, which judging by the huge chimney from the power plant building, was where they made Lucky Strikes. The industrial type of setting was huge, and it was still packed with people, and there were Porsches all over the place! 

They had something for everyone, like race cars!

From what I know about these events, car owners have to apply to be accepted to display their classic Porsches, and the event sponsors pick and choose what cars get put on display. 

World famous racecars, like the Porsche 906! If you've seen the Ford Vs. Ferrari movie, when Ford finally won LeMans in 1966 and took the top 3 places, Porsche 906s took the next 4 places. They only built 65 of these 1,300 pound cars. 

Cars all over the place!

Approved for all ages!

Porsche 917 Can Am racecar! Porsche 917s won at LeMans in 1970 and 1971, and had been introduced with a 12 cylinder flat engine. They have sold at auction for over 10 million dollars. 

The sign on the dash says "Mama I'm Goin Fast!"

Driven by Hurley Haywood. Mr. Haywood won at LeMans three times, five times at the 24 Hours of Daytona, twice at the 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as a Can Am title, two IMSA GT championships, and plenty more. 

The American Tobacco Campus, now an event center. 

Widow Maker license plate

Old conveyor belts leading to the power plant building.

Porsche 914 turned into an off-roader I guess. 

Now here's a design you don't see every day!

Thanks to the Pirelli Tire folks for handing out free event posters too!

IMSA racecar. I don't know what could be more German than a German racecar sponsored by Jägermeister. 

The classic Porsche "Pasha" interior. 

This indoor area featured cars that had driven in La Carrera Panamericana race. Display sponsored by watch maker TAG Heuer. 

Another Panamericana racer. 

Need a special color? Porsche offers a wide variety, and their Paint To Sample where you can get ANY color you want. For a price. 

The Luftgekuhlt was so large you needed a map to figure out where all the cars and exhibits were hiding! At the bottom of the map and right across the street from the Porsche event is the Durham Bulls baseball stadium. 

These crate-like platforms were a nice touch for the really cool cars. 

More Carrera Panamericana goodness. 

Porsche advertising. 

There were cars everywhere, and the brick buildings made a nice backdrop. 

Not to condone smoking, but it was a cool venue. 

The fine folks from Bilstein shocks had this small display. Sorry, no free shocks. 

Surprise, another racecar!

And another car driven by Hurley Haywood, and some young guys named Foyt and Unser. 

And there were dogs! Next to the classic "whale tail" 911. 

This old VW bus must have been used by a Porsche race team somewhere. 

Rally lighting anyone?

Singer interior. 

The Singer folks had several cars on display. If you're not familiar with them, picture a company in California that specializes in restoring and improving air cooled Porsches. For a price! These cars had a huge crowd all around them. 

A look back from my parking garage before heading home. This was a fun event, and I didn't have to go to California for Luftgekuhlt 11!

MORE from the Savoy Auto Museum

A roomful of Duesenbergs? Let's GO!

Last time we featured the exhibit from manufacturers that made both tractors and cars, so this time, let's focus on two other exhibits. Let's kick it off with a room full of luxury American automobiles that gave us the term "That's a DOOZY," which means the Duesenberg car company. After that, we'll show you some cool Jaguars that were on display. The weekend we visited also happened to be a big gathering of Jaguar owners at the museum, including their guest speaker Friday night Waybe Carini. He was the host of Chasing Classic Cars on TV up until 1921. 

1929 Duesenberg Model J Roadster Wood-Bodied by J. Herbert Newport. 
This is a very modified Duesy, and needless to say is a one-of-a-kind. 

Classic hood ornament and Duesenberg Straight 8 logo. That is correct, a straight 8 cylinder engine, not a V8 engine. 

1927 Duesenberg Model A Roadster. This car is believed to be one of only two built in this configuration. As an early Duesenberg, the chassis and engine were built in Indianapolis. 

1929 Duesenberg Model J. Introduced in December of 1928, this marked the first year of Model J production, just prior to the stock market crash of October 1929. 

I thought this wheel center was cool. 

Now THIS is an awesome hood ornament! You could hurt somebody with this thing. 

1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Victoria by Rollston. 

Like fancy Italian cars, the Duesenberg was a car brand where you bought the chassis, and then could choose whatever coach-maker you liked. This little badge outside a car tells us its from Murphy Coach Builders in Pasadena. 

While we were looking around a tour group also visited.

1934 Duesenberg Model J Riviera Phaeton. Sure, I'll put this on my Christmas list!

The three round silver balls on the steering wheel are not for decoration. Two of them control spark and timing, and the third one controls the headlights!

This 1934 Model J was one of only three built by Brunn Coachworks in Buffalo NY. 

1935 Duesenberg Model J Dual-Cowl Phaeton by LaGrande

1935 Duesenberg Model SJ Convertible Victoria by Fernandez et Darrin, Paris. This car was first owned by Mrs. Madeline John Jacob Astor. The couple returned from their honeymoon in Europe aboard the Titanic. Mr. Astor did not survive, but Mrs. Astor lived, and bought the car when new. 

Here is the chassis that you could buy from Duesenberg, and then design your own body and find a coach builder!

The suspension caught my eye. The leaf springs are like most pickup truck rear axles today, but while modern cars would add some sway bars, torsion bars, or replace the leafs with struts and springs, this Duesenberg adds a cloth "damper" to help smooth out the ride! Like today, the leaf springs hold the weight of the car, while the cloth helps to dampen the springs bouncing.