Enough Low Rpm Pulling Power 3:73 Gears..????

Lift your wheels and make sure your brakes aren’t dragging. It sounds like you might be losing significant wheel speed between shifts.

 

The T14 transmission has a 3.10 first gear and 1.61 second gear. That’s a 92% difference. Compare that to the T90, which only has an 80% difference between gears. So you’re getting a significantly larger drop in RPMs when shifting the T14. Combine that with being on a hill (losing speed and RPM) and possibly short shifting (low RPM to begin with)

you say you’re shifting at 10-15 mph. With the gearing and tire info you provided, you’re only at 2,000 rpm in first gear at 15 mph. And only 1,400 rpm at 10mph. So you’ll be dropping below 1,000 rpm when you shift into second, and that’s before accounting for speed lost on the hill. I personally think you need to shift a lot later, as that may very well be the only problem.

Gearing Calculator | RPM and Tire Diameter to km/h - mph with Shift Tracer

 

from RATTYFLATTY..... If I have a Flat lobe on the cam... wouldn't It have the same NO Power symptom. in 1st gear...?? and how could using high zinc oil un-flatten a cam lobe...??

A flat lobe is less noticeable in 1st vs 3rd. No, high zinc oil will not fix the cam but it will make the new one I installed not wear out.

 

This sounds like an carb issue to me. You say its when you go up hill? Perhaps you are flooding over from the angle?
I have 3.31 gears, 33" tires and regularly start out in 2nd on my T18 which is essentially a t14 from 2nd to 4th gears.

 

OK... Thanks again... I really appreciate all your input........ You are probably right about me shifting too early and at too slow of speed at too low of RPM..... I was just guessing about the RPM... because I don't have a tachometer...... I know that I was Not going over 15 MPh , up a slight hill when I shift into 2nd........... probably too slow to move out of first into second...... I will get it out on the paved road and let you all know how it does at higher speeds & higher RPM... before shifting...

 

What do you mean "bogs down?" I have a '69 with the Dauntless and 3.73 gears and could offer some comparative insight... What I can for sure is you can run 1st gear well above 10-15 MPH. Despite the racket it makes, the Dauntless can rev much higher than you'd expect. Get a tach and when you're pulling shift at at least 3500 RPM.... The shift to second is a big jump in RPM. It's only a three speed and you've gotta work with what ya got!

John

 

This is some strange math. 3.10-1.62=1.49 and 1.49 divided by 3.1=.4806 and x 100= 48.06% so there is a 48 percent drop between 1st and second. Or said another way, 2nd gear is 51.94 percent less than 1st.

I guess you were saying that 1st gear is 92% MORE than second and that is true but not how you would measure gear difference.

Normally I would say start with ignition, the old adage that 90% of carb issues are ignition, but since this seems to be only going uphill I would start by adjusting float level and seeing what else may be wrong with the carb.

 

maybe you can make a video? Iv got the same setup and it has no problem even towing a 2000lb trailer up hill just off idle. Mine has always been not quite right either. When i first got it ran beautifully. Somewhere during the restoration it went wrong and i had a heck of a time getting it to run right. Replaced carb and dizzy and other stuff in the process. After much fettling got it sorta working right again but never really perfect. The other day i read modern carbon plug wires instead of copper core can make an old engine run bad. Just a thought. Also a thing to check would be the plastic covered timing gear I guess they fall apart. If i recall I think someone said you can see it through the dizzy hole. I checked mine for slop by turning the engine back and forth and see if the rockers have a delay.

 

Ok... thanks for the input.... I hear you all.... and I plan to take it out onto better roads next week and try driving it differently... and then if I am not happy with the results..... I will again look into the ignition and carb situation.... until then, ........ we will wait and see......