In defense of the moss box

[BLN39]

Hello All, I don't post to much but i thought i would try this, Defending the Moss gearbox, Yes, that horrible old moss box....... I like mine and i know it is nowhere near as bad as people say. A few points, 1, Drive your E-type, if you only do a couple of hundred miles a year you will never get the feel for it,I do 4000 plus a year, for the last 10, and it gets better each time i go out, practice makes perfect. 2, Make sure that your slave cylinder( i know thats not very PC) is working right, When i first started to use the car i put a new one in, but it did not feel right, I had it look at, and sure, enough it was not put together right, had it rebuilt and a big difference in both feel and shifting. 3, I think it makes you a better driver, my Dad use to say that it was a drivers box, He would have known, having rallied and raced a MG PA and a T35 Bugatti in post war England, it makes you pay attention to driving the car, it will let you if you don't! And with all the Muppets out there in their SUVs and Huge Pickups your need to pay attention! Anyway, my two bucks worth,what say you? RFoster

[Gfhug]

Those of us, and considering the average age of the forum members will mean enough of us, who learnt to drive on a full crash box and even having to go up and down to high and low ratio drives will empathise with you.
I even used to double de-clutch a modern Beemer due to the ingrained habit

Geoff

[mgcjag]

Nothing to defend......its a Moss box......you just need to drive a bit differently.......Steve

[Philk]

I have a Moss box in mine (I had the option to go to 5-speed when we did the mechanical refurb of the car but declined). Whilst certain upgrades are almost a necessity on a 3.8 (i.e. the radiator and brakes), the gearbox is part of what makes driving a 3.8 a particular experience. You DO learn to read the road better so you can be in the correct gear as you approach a roundabout (to save trying to drop it down into 1st) and, being just a four speed box, it has tall(ish) ratios (particularly with a 3.07 rear diff) that suit the nature of that particular engine.

Personally, I do not see the point of owning a classic car and then attempting to make it drive like a modern car. That's why we all have other cars to drive day to day.

[Allrand]

Hear, hear.

[max-it-out]

Agreed , it was only 1st gear that was troublesome , the others were fine . Also , Many people probably drive using a `box that has plenty of wear on it - they may have been better when new

[Allrand]

Yep those synchro cones can't be replaced, they're an intergral part of the gears, so they just soldier on.

[mtnjag]

My Moss box is in good condition, under my work bench waiting for the day that will ultimately come when i sell my 62. The kids would rather have the money.

I too learned to drive on a fully non-synchro box so i know the drill. But I replaced it with an EJ box way back- better ratios, smoother shifting, synchro first, quieter, you can wind it out in first without feeling like it will blow up, i know it won’t but…. So yeah, a quaint box of a bygone era. Race it, sure who needs first gear.

Although I will say that tractor first gear ratio is nice for starting on a steep slope.