Hello everyone, I have the ashton 14 years and have had no problems with it's vac. system. because of where I live I have to use it right out of the stovebolt firehouse station 51. I agree with hotrod that the vacuum is smoother shifting. Shifting a vacuum shifter can be challenging at times. Like Billy I found a nos unit in the box some years ago and sucked it up just in case. Having a 51 GMC 350 and a 51 Chevy 6100 the gmc has the better setup in the vacuum valve and its mounted on the firewall. Chevy uses a linkage rod to go down to the inside of the frame rail. When I got the dump and once one humid summer since, it froze up and I couldn't actuate the shifter when I went to make a shift. Kroil and working the shifter slowly back and forth freed it up to the point of smooth shifts.
