I have a 92 camaro RS, that is a 5 speed. My brother said that since the clutch has been in it so long that I should be able to shift like from 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th without using the clutch, just lettin off the gas and shifting. He said he does it in his Bronco, and we tried it and it worked in my car without grinding the gears or anything, BUT.. is this bad and is it going to screw up anything???

 

I shift with out the clutch on my P/U but I also understand that it wears on the syncronizers. In a straight cut gear trans like a semi or a drag only tranny, you don't have the syncro's. In a street trans where you have a helical cut and you don't use the clutch you are using a syncro to facilitate the gears syncronizing and the shift, hence the name.
Yes it can be done, however, yes it does hurt. It increases wear on the syncro's and can lead to grinding and rounding of the gear edges. The metal thaat gets ground off get recirculated and wears on the bearings shafts and other moving parts.
If you get to such a point that you can time the shift to the road speed and the engine speed perfectly the syncro never gets used really but that is a very narrow window to hit.
The rule I use is: Helical cut street trans, clutch. Straight cut, float but, clutch if ANY probs. Still after almost 7 years and countless thousands of shifts in 13,15 and 18 speed tranny's I scratch the occasional gear. To the best of my knowledge the SM465 that's in my P/U is a straight cut with syncros, But I hate it and want a TH400. So if I were to tear it out it's not a really bad thig right?

 

Just a quick addition, it has nothing to do with the clutch.( since the clutch has been in it so long)

It can wear the syncro's if it takes a while to get into gear when you try to force it. Two gears are trying to mesh. The syncro's try to match the gear speeds so that they will go fit together without grinding. Usually this just takes split second when the clutch is in, because the input gear can be sped up or slowed down easily by the syncronizers. However, with the clutch out, the engine is controlling the speed of the input gear. The syncronizers have a very difficult(if not impossible) time slowing down or speeding up the engine to match the output gear. The output gear speed in both cases is controlled by the driveshaft. Driveshaft speed is very difficult(if not impossible) for the syncronizers to control.
In my wifes 94 sonoma(before the head gasket started leaking and we traded it) with a 5 speed I did an experiment. At idle, I tried to force it into first gear with the clutch out. Engine speed dropped and I started to move forward. I'm sure I killed the life of the syncronizers a little bit, but the synconizers did thier job until I got moving fast enough and it let it into first gear.


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82 camaro--original steering wheel, brake/gas pedals, seats--everything else modified
82camaro

 

The clutch is there for a reason. Use it! You're just asking for trouble if you dont.

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1991 Camaro Z28
5.7L 5-Speed (originally 305)
13.25 @ 107.18 MPH
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