Mitchell O.D.
- Thread starter louieglen
- Start date
Chris Haynes
Well-known member
Yes. It is technically a gear spliter, not an overdrive. It gives you six forward speeds and two reverse.
Y-Blockhead
Well-known member
That is one of the advantages of the Mitchell. It has synchros, so you can shift up or down. You can even shift your stock trans by putting the Mitchell in neutral.
Synchro909
Well-known member
Yup, especially in hilly country. Things can be busy in there during the high 2nd-low 3rd change. That said, I try to keep my changes in the OD to a minimum. The synchro is weak (always has been).
I recently was on a hill where I needed high 1st. The motor in my car is pretty peppy so it was no wonder a few of the others didn't get up there.
The Master Cylinder
Well-known member
Just curious, what do you mean by "the synchro is weak". Just so I can understand.
I can't remember anyone mentioning any issues with a Mitchell. Has there been any failures?
Synchro909
Well-known member
No failures as such but both the transmission and the O/D are crunchy when I change. They started off OK but didn't last well.
BTW, I've been driving manual transmissions all my life.
TerryH
Well-known member
I can attest to how handy the Mitchell 2nd high is....really great for hilly or mountainous roads, where 2nd is a bit too low. But another really nice feature I enjoy more and more is just leisurely cruising at 45-50 in OD........many surface streets here are now at that speed, and it is just wonderful to cruise in OD at that speed.....very quiet and serene for a Model A. And my synchros are still working great after about 14 years now.
whirnot
Well-known member
I am one of the 5% of Mitchell owners that has a cable control. I Have a second Mitchell on order and am definitely going with the cable. Second high to third low is a breeze, just drop it into neutral, push in the shifter mounted cable, and continue into third. One smooth motion. Far better than twin sticks. Down shifting is just as nice. The top gear is nice, but the split shift is awesome.
CWPASADENA
Well-known member
It sounds like your clutch may not be completely disengaging?
I have over 16K miles on my Mitchell Transmission and O.D. and they both still shift quietly. I also do a lot of mountain driving and use the O.D. as a gear splitter. Second w/O.D. is a very useful gear.
My experience.
Chris W.
Synchro909
Well-known member
I think the clutch is fine. There is no trouble engaging first gear, which doesn't have synchro.
Good thought though.
SAJ
Well-known member
Synchro, I have to push or pull my Mitchel o/d gearstick very positively when warm, with no delay or pause with synchronizing pressure on the stick before the the baulk ring balls "pop" through. That is a straight-through up or down with no attempt to let the synchro rings do their job. Otherwise I can get between gears and then have to double declutch or it will engage and clashes badly. This is the same in both our cars. Another member has a Mitchell I fitted to his car and he cannot make smooth changes up or down. I have shown him many times how to smartly move the stick right through with no gear clash, but somehow he cannot do it.
Our Mitchell Synchro gearbox is quite different and synchronizes easily an smoothly no matter how I change gears-fast or slow , gentle or firm.. It has only about 7000 to 10000 miles on it at a guess. One overdrive has that same mileage and the other one about 22000 miles. This car still has the crash box, with Mitchell synchro box under the bench waiting to be fitted one day.
I quite like exercising the skill of managing a crash box though.
SAJ in NZ
Our Mitchell Synchro gearbox is quite different and synchronizes easily an smoothly no matter how I change gears-fast or slow , gentle or firm.. It has only about 7000 to 10000 miles on it at a guess. One overdrive has that same mileage and the other one about 22000 miles. This car still has the crash box, with Mitchell synchro box under the bench waiting to be fitted one day.
I quite like exercising the skill of managing a crash box though.
SAJ in NZ
The Master Cylinder
Well-known member
Thanks Synchro. Mine has been a bit "crunchy" since new and I just thought that is the way they were. I have only driven one other Mitchell equipped Model A and it was the same. I have learned to not try to "slow shift" a Mitchell like you would a stock transmission and it shifts better. I also have found that if I "blip" the throttle on downshift, it shifts better.
I see others have the same issue further in this thread.
Last edited:
Synchro909
Well-known member
So it seems I am not alone. I would say that about 80% of down shifts in the O/D are done with a double de clutch.
SAJ, After reading your comments, I couldn't say whether I shift quickly or not. I'll try speeding things up and see what happens.
I have more miles on mine than anybody else here who has put a figure on it but with the type of miles I do, changing is not done frequently. It is not uncommon to change into O/D after filling the tank and not coming out of it till I need fuel again. The same going up or down through the gears.
The Master Cylinder
Well-known member
Well, I can not say I have ever heard of one breaking and it certainly seems robust enough, I guess I just thought it would shift smoother.
Good point!
Pdgx
Member
Yup, wished mine was. Would be more like a 2-spd truck axle.
The two sticks just aren’t positioned for ease of shifting.
Do they have a conversion kit ?
Synchro909
Well-known member
The cable kit comes with everything you will need to change over