Hot Rods Borg Warner r10 overdrive

I’ve got a ‘40 Willy’s sedan that’s got the original drivetrain. Other than being lowered and a set of wheels it’s stock other than 12v. It’s got a top speed of about 50 mph. I’d like to drive it more and don’t want to cut the car up. I’ve tried searching adding an overdrive to it but am not having a lot of luck regarding interchangeability between trans. This has a side shift t86. Anyone have any experience with these units and swapping them from trans to trans?
Thanks
Jason




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You'll need a donor T86, not just the OD unit. The mainshaft is different, and there's a few machining differences in the cases too. AFAIK, the rest of the internal parts should swap.

 

Studebakers were a**** the most commonly equipped with overdrive a**** cars of the '40s/'50s
and mostly used the Borg Warner T-86 trans. The Studebaker Drivers Club (SDC) would be a good place to look for a gearbox.

Ray

 

It won't go more than fifty mph why? If it's foot to floor an OD ain't gonna help..

 

Yes, overdrives are wonderful.
No, they aren't magic; it takes horsepower to make speed.
Maybe, let's do some homework. I've got a spare R10 in a bucket, but no way to know what the Willys input looks like.

jack vines

 

Thanks for the info guys. Had a typo trans is a t84 not a t86.

Car is only 60hp. And its probably like pushing a brick down the road. Figured this would be a better option than changing gears as it takes hp to move it. I don’t want to be the guy to cut it up but it’s no good to me just sitting there.


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Mill the head, that may help in the HP department.

 

Big car, small flat head? Sounds like a good prospect for an o/d and a VS McCulloch blower.
If those motors will take a little boost. I don’t have a clue.

 

I would't want to cut up that beautiful car either!!! I have a couple of Muncie 319, 3 speed with overdrive transmissions, but that does't really help you. You want to go more than 50 MPH; I'll trade you straight across for my 56 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery, and I'll guarantee it'll do more than 50 MPH, and that's with 4.88 gears in the rear end. I'm not familiar with Willys, Studebaker, and some of the other defunct brands, but there has to be a way to get an overdrive, although you may not have the power to really utilize one. Good luck with whatever you decide on/do. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Thanks for the comments guys. It’s tached out at 50. It gets around town well. It’s the highway where it needs help. These are long rod engines so not sure how boosting it would work. It may just get a 4.3 auto. I think I can do that without butchering the cowl and just loving the factory radiator forward just a bit.


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I love the styling of the car. I would look to the Studebaker OD unit as the least likely to require major modifications.
My airport car for many years, was a 58 WV, an I was able to drive quite comfortably at 60 mph with 38 hp. My point is, that you are only using a small amount of power to cruise, and for hills, you still have the option to use the lower gears.
I used synthetic oil, which gave me more net HP and better mileage.
Other options you might pursue without making permanent changes to the car, would be to modify another stock manifold to use a two stage 2 barrel carb, such as a Weber off a Cortina or BMW 2002. The other suggestion mentioned above regarding milling the head would also appeal to me.
Of course, you could add a supercharger, but that would mean a lot of fabricating. Adding a blower would not necessarily reduce the life of the engine, that would depend on the amount of boost you decided to use. And just think, you would have the distinctive sound that only a blower makes.
Bob
I hope you find an option that works for you.
Bob

 

What engine? Current rear end ratio? Now many rpms at 50?

 

I had a 60bhp Fiat pickup truck which would touch 100mph on a gentle downhill slope. It wasn't any kind of aerodynamic ideal teardrop, either; it was probably worse than the Willys. I'd say you've got enough power for at least 90, if you weren't running out of rpm. Some kind of extra gear would definitely help, be it an overdrive or whatever. More than one way to do that; perhaps look at 2-speed axles etc.?

 

Willys put overdrive column shift transmissions in 2 wheel drive Willys wagons, Jeepsters, and pickups I believe. Most were in wagons. Should be lots of them around as the wagons get drivetrain up dates with big motors and auto transmissions. Try asking on the Jeep or Willys forums or look at the ads.

 

Come on you guys....This has got to be a joke.

 

.

Yeah that thought occurred to me..My Crosley will do 70 with 26.5 hp; have to be sure no frost heaves first..

 

very nice car
I would cut the **** out of it
V6?......no way, not here
small aluminum nail head?...possible
a pinto 4 banger would fit
a chevy 153 4 banger would be a tremendous improvement and look cool and trans options are super

hemis look nice in those

here is some 134 hop up advice
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/willys-f-134-banger-performance.251823/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/willys-l-134-hotrod-ideas.437792/
http://clubs.hemmings.com/wocv/willywilly/willywilly.htm

 

This isn’t a joke. I like to drive my cars and with the 4.30 rear axle ratio it’s tached out. That ratio helps with in town traffic. But I like to travel with my cars too. I was thinking v6 so I wouldn’t have to cut the firewall or structure in the nose to move the radiator forward.


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This may or may not help, but... hermtheoverdriveguy.com. Not sure he can set you up with the whole thing (trans and OD) but if you want the straight scoop, he's the guy. May take a couple of calls to catch up with him. He helped me get mine up and running.

 

One of the earlier V6 Buicks with old tech carb and distributor would be a good fit and simple to hook up.
Around 1970 I bought a '66 Datsun pickup...1300cc engine...great little truck but no power. A 225 cu in V6 Buick fixed that and was short enough to fit where the 4 banger had resided. The 198 Buick V6 was intro'd for the '61 or '62, so it's in HAMB friendly year range. The '64 was bumped to 225 cubes and the common BOP bell housing bolt pattern for several trans choices. Worth thinking about in spite of the howls of those well meaning, but crusty, fellow Hambers.

Ray

 

Hey, 32f;
Very nice Willys. Glad to see you're keeping the orig mill.
Bolt-ons work, w/o destroying originality. I believe the mill is the same as the early war-jeeps. Little things were sewing machines. The OD will work well[as mentioned, was a popular addition to the jeeps, because they worked. More speed for same rpm, but also more quiet for the same speed, less wear n tear also], but you may need a bit more power to pull it the ~ 30% faster in mph [=rpm reduction, therefore ~ 30% more speed at the same rpm, IF you have the power to pull it.] What's the rpm limit, ~4500? They are tough little mills, not at all fragile. If you go to a dual carb, milled head[or alum head if you can find one], better ign, you should be real happy. If you add a McCulloch blower - good for ~ 5 lbs, maybe 7 on that small of cid, what, 134?, you'll be even happier. Not a race car, but nice peppy street toy. I'd be surprised if the Stude BorgWarner T86OD wouldn't work.
Good luck.
Marcus...