18-10-2018, 11:04 PM
I have Andrew Bird's 'Andes' gears in the 3-speed gearbox of my 1929 RK saloon.
For me it works very well indeed. The car is now capable of 40mph in 2nd gear and comfortable at 30mph indefinitely.
I live in The Scottish Borders which is very hilly but the hills are only moderately steep and it copes easily with these at 30-35mph. With the original 2nd gear I was down to 20-25mph. It is also very useful to be able to hold 30mph comfortably in town.
However I found on some of Malcolm Parker's excursions in Yorkshire that it was not so happy on the very steep hills around there. This is because I had to change down to 1st much sooner than cars with the standard 2nd gear. I still climbed the hills OK, just rather slower then standard box, grinding up in 1st.
The Andes gear has another advantage. The dog for top gear is modified so that it engages much more easily. This makes changes up to top much faster and hence reduces the loss of speed on hills during the change. In fact it can be pushed straight through without ill effects if necessary.
For me it works very well indeed. The car is now capable of 40mph in 2nd gear and comfortable at 30mph indefinitely.
I live in The Scottish Borders which is very hilly but the hills are only moderately steep and it copes easily with these at 30-35mph. With the original 2nd gear I was down to 20-25mph. It is also very useful to be able to hold 30mph comfortably in town.
However I found on some of Malcolm Parker's excursions in Yorkshire that it was not so happy on the very steep hills around there. This is because I had to change down to 1st much sooner than cars with the standard 2nd gear. I still climbed the hills OK, just rather slower then standard box, grinding up in 1st.
The Andes gear has another advantage. The dog for top gear is modified so that it engages much more easily. This makes changes up to top much faster and hence reduces the loss of speed on hills during the change. In fact it can be pushed straight through without ill effects if necessary.
Jim