3-on-the-tree?

[/6 Matt]

There is a 69 Dart 4 door slant six with 3 on the tree for sale locally that I'm kinda looking into. I just have never had a 3 on the tree before. ( I've barely even driven stick shift cars ). What can you tell me about them? If I go check this car out, is there anything I should look for specifically? ( in terms of the trans/shifting, I know about the common general mopar stuff ). Is a 3 on the tree reliable? Would it be fairly easy to drive?

Thanks for any input guys...

My Dad has a 1965 Faclon with the 170 and the 3 on the tree, I learned how to drive a stick on this car at the ripe age of 14. 3 Years later, I'll tell you this: believe me, it's no harder than driving a floor shift. Do check for slack in the shifter though, I notice as I move Dad's car around the shop (major body is taking place) that it is very very sloppy these days.

 

[xlexl]

OMG my '53 Plymouth had 3 on the tree...was a BLAST! to drive, and knew that most car thief's could never figure out how to drive it away :-D.....seriously fun to drive, not fast shifting at all but an absolute blast for cruising.

 

[slant6/4speed]

My first car was a 54 Plymouth wagon with three on the tree and OD. Was fun shifting with no need to use the clutch except for first.

 

[48limo]

try driving an aussie mopar,got one left hand shift 3 spd,took a while to get use to it

 

[ESP47]

I'm gonna go against the grain here and tell you that the 3 on the tree might get very old for you. I've had two cars with 3 on the tree's. The 68 Barracuda had a non synchro'd first gear and a really sloppy shifter. It was a pain to drive and I ended up getting rid of it after a year or so (for other reason).

I just recently bought a 78 D100 with a slant and a 3 on the tree. Shifter is real tight but they just naturally feel flimsy, like they're about to break. It feels like you have to treat it as if you're holding a baby. This one is synchornized though. The 1st to 2nd shift is pretty slow and you'll wear out the bushings in the column if you try and rush it and slam it into 2nd. You most likely wont get any better MPG with it. If it was a 4 on the tree that might make some difference. The only positive I can think of is that with the slant 6, it'll feel a bit peppier than a stock auto slant 6. Even though the shift from 1st to 2nd is slow, the acceleration in 1st is much faster than an auto would normally be.