helping a buddy build a pro-street '67, and he received his 1200 Lenco street 5-speed trans yesterday. we were oohh~ing and aww~ing the Lenco, and he asked: "how does it get first gear" ?
I understand the multiplication factors in each planetary section, but was just wondering if anyone around here had been inside one to share with me how it achieves the base (1st) gear ?
my theory was that all sections are base- geared same thru-out the 4 sections to achieve 1st, then as you pull the levers to engage the planetaries, each pulled section multiplies base-gear by that much, accordingly with the ratio pre-set inside each planetary, to achieve 2nd,3rd,4th,and 5th.
I posted this here in Bench Racing 'coz it's more of a curiosity question than technical.
thanks.

Ive driven a racecar with a Jeffco transmission in it, pretty much the same thing as a lenco, awesome transmissions to say the least!!, and very quick/fast as well.

What type of clutch?

per Lenco's recommendation, the clutch is dual-stage McCloud in a Lakewood housing; rear drive is geared 3.55 in a 9" Fffffford..... (his car,, not mine):thumbsup:

I'm no expert and have never used one, but that's the way I understood it.
When all planetaries are in low, that's the overall 1st gear. 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. can be what ever levers you decide pull next.

thanks.. I'm just wanting to understand how it functions 'coz I'm most-likely the one who's gonna help him get it straightened-out when he messes up and hits the wrong lever out-of-sequence ....

Wrong lever out of sequence is no problem at all. Doesn't make any difference or harm the trans in any way. You could pull them all at once if you wanted to!
The only disadvantage is it may select a less than optimum ratio that was intended for a different shift. ..that is, if the individual planetary sections have different ratios from each other.