I have never driven a stick before, and I found a nice IROC 305/5 speed. How bad would it be for me to learn on this? Would I just end up going through a clutch or 2? Or might I screw it bad?

 

with the V8, dont pull 3000 and drop the clutch...start at 1500, SLOWLY ease out the clutch, and remember to remove your foot from the gas when you shift and put it back on the gas as soon as you shift. JUST TAKE IT SLOW. I would also suggest staying away from hills...probally away from traffic too. I learned on a country road. Good place.

Dont forget to press the clutch when using the brake either or you will stop the car real fast (by stalling it).

Main rules: take your time, dont drop the clutch, and dont over rev (you will be moving too fast or driving sideways before you know it.)

Good luck and enjoy the feeling of shifting when you want.

 

Have you read this thread....https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=117793

 

I don't think it'll be too bad, considering it's not a really fast car. I learned on an '85 Stang 4 cyl which was slow as *****. I sold that car and about 2 yrs later I drove a 6spd '02 Vette the one in my sig. That was a little tricky getting used to the BIG power difference.

 

i learned how to drive stick on my car. i've had no problems with the clutch. besides, stick is more fun to drive(in my opinion)

 

Yes I have, thats what prompted this post. I felt that above mentioned post didnt really cover this topic.

Thank you all for your replies. I am not worried about it now. Now, to go check out the car

 

My car was very easy to learn on, because you can just let out the clutch without giving it gas, even on small inclines! One time to show off, I let out the clutch without giving it gas in third gear

 

I learned on an old Ford tractor.. Im sure the other post had some problems before they got the car..weak clutch....or they really slipped the s*** out of it. Its not that tough...an hour after you begin, you will be surprised how natural it will feel. Just find a nice quiet spot to practice....where no one will laugh..

 

There are many things you will encounter which may not be covered and only a person who drives standard will notice when you drive. I would suggest getting someone out there with you to help practice. Don't worry about people laughing, because I guarantee at some point you will be in tears from laughing yourself. It takes more than an hour to be natural... I would say 3 at least to look competent. It will take probably 5000 miles for you to keep up with more experienced drivers. It is much more fun and worth the rewards. Plus, I hear the 305 TPI IROCs can run pretty well with the 350s.

 

I learned on my 84(still has the same perfectly working clutch today...), took me about 30mins to figure it out how to drive

 

the way I learned was when I was 17 I got an 85 318i at an auction for 2 grand less than stickerso I was so excited I forgot to look to see if it was stick so I had a car and my ride left
I got in and was like oh poop
basicly I stalled a couple of times till I was on the freeway
then got the hang of it

but I will tell you that I was all the way panicking

 

My wife had never driven a stick either before my T/A, and she learned how in a matter of minutes....if you really like the IROC, then definitely go for it. Don't worry about learning how to drive it, practice makes perfect.

 

My wife showed me the basics. It took about an hour to get the hang of it and a couple of days to be proficent. In the end I became better at driving a stick than my teacher which really made her mad and jealous. You can do it and a IROC stick will be lots of fun and well worth it. Hopefully the clutch is in *** shape already. i would find out the mileage on the clutch before purchase of any stick.:lala:

 

Yeah, not clutching while you brake is one of the mistakes I made when I was first learning. Instead of holding the clutch in, you can just shift it into neutral and brake, that's the easiest way in my opinion. I learned by taking my five speed S10 out into friday afternoon traffic. I killed it a few times, pissed a few people off, but I learned fast.

 

My wife learned to drive a stick with another '57 I had at one time.

3-speed w/Hurst floor shifter.

Tweaky, no-torque, high-compression 302 engine.

On Highway 212 in Montana.

On our honeymoon...

 

i tried to learn on my dads old nissan sentra...its had no tach so i really sucked at driving it and gave up. `Then the other day a buddy of mine let me drive his 2001 tiburon and i did fine with a tach. i already knew the basics so it was easy to learn...like he says "i can tell you the basics but until you have to drive a stick everyday you wont really learn"

 

Given the amount of torque, you guys shouldn't have too many problems with a 3rd Gen. manual (stick!). Hell you could probably dump the clutch from less than 2 thou' and still get away!

I learned (20+ years ago) in a rice (non rocket) 4 pot pushing all of about 50 horses, and we're talking about 4k revs for a shallow hill start!!

Still drive a stick in the week (a 1.8L, 4 pot, Gas Turbocharged "dayvan"), and save my lazy auto for the odd few weekends is doesn't rain here.

 

Oh my,,,,such the romantic....

My wife learned to drive my stick way before we were married....

Oh ..I have a 700r4.........

 

I learned when I was 17. It was late, the party was over and some ladies needed a ride. I didnt have a car and my buddy said "Can you drive stick?" I lied, got the keys, and scared the hell out of the ladies. but after that I knew how to drive stick. By the way it was a crappy low rider truck that bounced like crazy.

 

Here's a story for yall......my mother didn't know how to drive a stick until she and my father went to a party and he drank way too much; so she drove him home in some early 70's Toyota.

 

yeah, just take it easy when you let out the clutch, the 305 should be torquey enough to let yo get away with a lot of stuff.

I gotta agree with Riley. Old tractors are awesome to practice stick on. They are geared so low (25:1 final drives) that you can dump the clutch at idle on a 30 degree slope and it won't stall. Mine was a Ford 1910 Diesel

My real test was on my '68 International. the shift pattern went something like this:

1 2 4
|-|-|
R 3 5

No synchro on first or second, and check out the 1-2 shift. No safety detent on Reverse, either.

 

I have a ford 1910 it sits in the barn and dosn't run but
mine wasnt stick either it had the "new" ford shift-O-matic transmission

it ran when I was a kid man thse things are tuff

 

the old Ford was the first motor swap I ever did, kinda. We just took the back half of one tractor and put the front half off another on it..kinda cool how they come apart. Those things run forever and could climb a tree if they could get traction.
Too many people are intimidated by a clutch..I think I was born with the skill, I come from a long line of truckers and farmers.

 

I bought a 1992 305 TPI 5-Speed Z28 on Saturday. I too never knew how to drive stick. I learned in about an hour, but that night the clutch died once I got home! $600 for a new one. (canadian currency).

Let me tell you though, I thought I was driving perfect that night, but once I got in with this new clutch, oh ***, I was back to stage 1, it was totally different.

 

That means that your old clutch was slipping. Probably pretty badly. So dont blame yourself for the clutch.

 

i learned how to drive a stick in my first vehicle, a 1974 international scout II, slowest thing i have ever drove but almost impossible to stall, it had the 258 straight 6 and massive wheel hop , it was a great vehicle to learn in and i almost wish i didnt sell it..