I drove a VW Bug (63) for a year with a broken clutch cable. When stopped, I had to turn the engine off to get it into 1st gear and then I cranked the starter to get moving :) Up and down shifts were slow to match the engine rpm and smooth as silk, except 1st and R of course. No damage to the tranny.

Today, computers take over with the clutchless semi automatics.

Double clutching is not required unless a syncronizer goes out/fails. The syncronizers are the weak point in a shifter, but they are only used sparingly and ONLY while shifting. After you have shifted into 2nd, the syncronizer has nothing else to do, it will not keep your tranny in gear. That function is in the linkage somewhere.

Because you drop 2nd at about 3-3500rpm, remember that that is when peak torque is achieved. You are not going to generate the same torque in 3, 4, and 5th unless your are doing well over 100mph - and I don't advise doing such on public roads. But 4th should also "pop" out under the same conditions.

When neutral is selected, the driveshaft still spins the tranny, but none of the gears are touching. When the clutch is depressed, the tranny is disconnected from the engine but the tranny is still connected and in gear and rotating.

Klaus
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I still miss my 164