i took out ol nelson today for his first drive up a mountain (i live in the blue ridge mountains of southern VA). it is a mountain that i frequently travel up in order to access an on-point to the appalachian trail. the last time i took nelson sr. (w/ the old engine) up that way, there was much smoking, and i even had to eventually shift into 2nd to make it up the last leg (this is a 45mph zone). today however, nelson-2 had no trouble whatsoever motoring up the side of the mountain. there was no smoking involved, and NO downshifting out of 4th. well, thats not quite true. i did have to downshift into 3rd once because the astrovan in front of me couldnt take the hill and slowed to 40! it took that hill in 4th at 50mph like it was nothing. sure, i was on the gas, but what does one expect? and, as an added bonus, to my surprise, the engine temp never moved from just a hair above 175F. thanks so very much to all the guys who helped me succesfully rebuild my good pal's powertrain; he's never been better.
happy benzing,