Transmission Trouble
Glen Herring of Arlington, TX has
owned this '65 Greenbrier since 1980. It is an 8-door unit with a PowerGlide
transmission and West Coast mirrors.
Here's what Glen had to say about his
van:
"I heard about the
'65 Greenbrier and drove south about 40 miles to
Cleburne, TX to see it. It was not for sale, but I
later received a letter with an offer to sell. I still have the letter.
The seller insisted on cash ($625), saying "I don't
believe in banks."
He really made a production of telling me that I could ruin the
transmission by towing it. I ignored it, asked him to double check that it was
in neutral as the shift lever and indicator plate were somewhat customized.
There were only three positions indicated. A few miles down the road I looked
back and saw what appeared to be smoke coming out of the defrost vents. Was I
causing the engine to turn over? Had I already destroyed the transmission? I
got out and hunted for neutral myself and found it was indeterminate. I towed
it on home. When I cranked it there was no neutral. It wanted to proceed
forward in any lever position!
Then I thought about the seller insisting on cash
and the opinion that I was going to ruin the transmission. Did I ruin it? Or
did he know it was bad and was setting me up to believe that I ruined it? He
had bought the used van with a 1960 model engine which eventually became an
oil spreader. He acquired a 140 HP engine and
someone else overhauled and installed it for him. I wonder if the shift cable
was incorrectly installed. I have not yet opened it to investigate further."
Glen owns many Corvairs; in his words: "5 marked as
keepers and 8 for scrap". Concerning FCs, Glen also owns 1961, 1963, and 1964
Greenbriers. The '63 has the factory camping option.
Talk about small worlds--Glen and I first met each other
online in around 1985, when we were both heavily into the Commodore 64 computer!
Information from the data plate
