HMC- ‘29 Austin 12/4

[somewhatfoolish]

It's not a clutch, the pedal just tells the box to shift. How it works.

[lesapandre]

In effect it's a big foot-operated switch between ratios which are 'pre-selected' on the column.

[Sigmund Fraud]

The Wilson/Daimler box uses epicyclic gears, brake bands for gear selection, and a torque converter. I'm not an engineer, so my little brain can best make sense of it as an automatic box without the automatic selection.

They were amazing compared to the manual boxes that were around in the 1930s, but by the mid 1950s they had become so much of an anachronism that even Daimler began fitting fully automatic boxes.

If you slip the gear selector pedal like a clutch, you are basically putting quite a lot of torque onto the tiny friction surface of a brake band. Said brake band will soon wear out, resulting in the box slipping. There is a small amount of adjustment possible, but once you've run out of friction material the box needs to be taken apart and the brake band reconditioned (because it's certainly not a part that GSF keep on the shelf !).

[andy18s]

On 26/12/2024 at 14:54, Matty said:

It's genuinely getting to the point that you can only surpass yourself next time by buying a 1920s biplane or something similar 🤣

Funny you should say that .. 

 

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

The Wilson/Daimler box uses epicyclic gears, brake bands for gear selection, and a torque converter.

Being pedantic (unlike me I know) it's a fluid flywheel rather than a "proper" torque converter.  Does much the same thing though.

[Sigmund Fraud]

57 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Being pedantic (unlike me I know) it's a fluid flywheel rather than a "proper" torque converter.  Does much the same thing though.

You are absolutely correct ; the Daimler system is a simple fluid coupling that does not multiply torque.

I was just using the term to emphasize the similarities between the Daimler transmission and later automatic boxes (that many of us are far more familiar with !).

[HMC]

Going from the austin 12 crash box it feels like a space ship 😂 

[artdjones]

17 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Funny to think it was considered a vintage car in 1955, when my Cresta was brand new, which was considered a classic in 1977 when my Dolomite was brand new, and has been a classic itself for 20 years...

Vintage has a specific meaning in this context, that is, a car built between 1919 and 1930. 

[IronStar]

11 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

It's not a clutch, the pedal just tells the box to shift. How it works.

An amazing read. Thanks!

Lubrication has really come a long way since as well. Recommended gearbox oil change interval at 3000 miles and that was considered long life! 

[2flags]

I think my dad might have had one of these when I was born. He said he had a big Austin that he used to be able to just wheel the pram into the back. [Full size Silvercross type.] He worked for Regent oil at the time, so managed to 'acquire' his petrol. Apparently, it did like a drink. 😁