[pfilean]

Have a Slim Jim question and you may be one of the very few who might have an answer. I can do a lot of searches and find others who in years past have mentioned the same problem but never received a good answer. Maybe there is no good answer. Car is a 61 Ventura.

When approaching a light or stop sign I don't get a downshift until about 5 mph. If the engine is not warm it can kill the engine. If the engine is fully warm it just drags the RPM down to about 300-400 but will recover to the set 600 after the shift. All in all it is like driving with a stick shift and forgetting to push in the clutch. If I get down to about 10 mph and accelerate it feels like it is definitely on 1:1 ratio and I never feel a 3-2 shift.

Manual says I should have a 3-2 downshift (OK - 4-3 depending on which philosophy you are using but let's not go there) at 20-15 mph and a 2-1 downshift at 16-13 mph. I don't think I am getting there. If I change to DR at about 20 mph it helps a little as it is then in 1.56:1 not 1:1. Or if I change to L at about 20mph it stops with no dropping to low RPM.

I have adjusted the TV rod per the manual and then lengthened or shortened it with little if any change. Of course the manual does not mention this as a trouble shooting problem. Am I missing something here? Seems like for whatever reason the front clutch never releases or at least releases late.

I know that any mention of Ole Jim in any forum gets a lot of passionate responses of how it should be junked in favor of a 200, 400 or 700 (pick your favorite). But I have had Ole Jim for years and know what to expect. Really I like the overall first gear ratio and know how it will shift (strangely). I probably should have changed 10 years ago when I might have been able to do it myself but those days are about gone.