Technical 3sp trans and a over drive .. whassit ?

Seller says it came out of a 50’s Chevy

runs great has an R11 overdrive


Will this work in my 56 with a 261 inline 6 ?

 

does it say R11 or R10 on the overdrive? I thought they were the lighter duty R10

55-57 Chevy car overdrive would look like that.

 

Oh yea. It’ll work.
Be ready for “why not a t-5” comments

Super EZ to work on.

 

So this should be a direct bolt in to my 56 ?

would I need a driveshaft ?


He says it’s an R11

I know the R10 is the common one for 55-57 chevy’s .

how would I know the difference between the 2 ?

would much rather use this then the T-5 I have .

 

I have a T5

but an over drive unit behind a 261 with split exhaust and 3 carbs .

be like I transported back to 1956 !!!

and with an over drive I’m cruising hwy speeds easily and having a ton ‘o fun !!


So realistically, why a T5 when I can have this for pretty much the price of a cross member , and custom drive shaft ?

plus I’ll have knobs , levers and switches to play with !!


Yoooooooooooo *****es I got switches !!!!!!!!!

 

Google says the r10 was used on the Saginaw. The r11 on later fords. Has a stronger planetary.

 

R10 or 11 will be cast into the tail shaft housing

if I remember correctly both OD and non OD are the same length and spline.

I can measure one tomorrow if needed

 

And side covers will swap if needed
The 66 c10 I just got might get one very soon

 

Pretty sure the tri 5 standard and O.D. used the same driveshaft.

 

Used “incorrectly” with a toggle switch these make a 6 speed if your careful and know what you are doing.

 

Overdrive & PG use the same shaft, 3 speed is by itself ...

 

hmmm....the really old chevy parts book shows one prop shaft for all 55-57 p*** cars regardless of transmission, except 57 Taxi.

 

I stand corrected. Was thinking front half of '58 - '64 ....

 

Oh my. It came out of a Dodge.
I can’t believe the ask…

 

I’ve read this before , how does this work compared to how it’s supposed to work normally .

im going to ***ume looking at the pics , seller has the trans and what’s connected to it , probably missing the ancillaries .

also if this trans is out of a 57 or later car would it have a synchro first ?
As mine does not .

 

Using a toggle switch also disables all of the protective features, making it easy to destroy the unit with one little miscue.

 

Normal Operation:

Accelerating from a dead stop, you shift 1st, 2nd, 3rd as you would any other 3 spd. When the car reaches between 35 and 40 mph, the governor will arm, and once you pedal the throttle, the trans will shift automatically into overdrive.

Depending on the vehicles gear ratios and the governors engagement point, you may shift into overdrive after 2nd gear, and then 3rd+OD once up to highway speeds. Typically 2nd+OD is nominally the same ratio as 3rd. My Packard is this way, I typically let it go into overdrive after the 2nd gear shift, accelerate more, and then shift into 3rd at around 55 or 60 mph.

0 to 15 mph - 1st Gear
15 to 35 mph - 2nd Gear
35 to 60 mph - 2nd Gear + OD
60 mph and up - 3rd Gear + OD.

The car will automatically disengage overdrive as you slow down, or if needed by mashing the throttle pedal to the floor.

Toggle Switch Operation:

You set it up to byp*** the governor and use the toggle switch to engage and disengage the shift solenoid so that you essentially treat it like a 3x2 transmission. Like I said before, 2nd-Over and 3rd-Under are typically the same approximate gear ratio so you really only have 5 different ratios, not 6.

 

Thanks @FrozenMerc so shifting into 3rd , then toggle the OD on have a light on the dash indicating I’m in over drive , when I want to downshift I let off the gas toggle to OD off

then down shift as normal ?

what’s top speed with one of these ?

would be nice to do 70-80 on the hwy comfortably .

 

Depends on rear ratio and tire size
The r10-11 OD is 30%
I’ve got 4:10s with 33 inch tall tires. The OD in my Doug Nash is 20%. 80 mph is no problem

 

Notice how small the main part of the transmission is....part of the reason for that is because it doesn't have a synchro on 1st gear.

chevy used this non-synchro 1st transmission all the way to 1966. But for comparison, Dodge used non-synchro even longer

 

This is the BW manual for the R-10. There might be some odd differences in the wiring side for a Chevrolet but it’s pretty much the same set up for all of them. Kind of difficult reading, but it’s all there.

I like them better all hooked up as stock, with the kickdown working. I often add a toggle to allow for manual “disengage” above 27mph or so.

They work really nice with 3.9 to 4.2 or 4.5 gears. Typically if you’re rolling at all in 2nd you won’t miss having a syncro low. BW knew what they were doing, that why they were used for so many years.

https://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/TechData/BWOverdriveManual.pdf

 

Okay... anyone know what was different in Taxis?

 

It's pretty much a waste of time. The R10 and R11 OD units both use a .7 OD, if you do the math you'll find that 1st OD is nearly the same as 2nd, and 2nd OD is also nearly the same as 3rd.

And as several have mentioned, any screw-up while manual shifting can kill the OD unit. And the R10 units don't suffer other abuse very well either.

Installed, rear axle geared and treated as designed it's one of the best cruising transmissions ever built IMO; its main lacks are the non-synchro 1st gear and no engine braking when OD is enabled. It wasn't very hard to get 20+ mpg with any non-hipo motor. Ford was the last holdout to offer them, you could get one in F100s as late as 1970.

 

@Crazy Steve Steve of the crazies

whats a waste of time ?



I’m not looking to run a 10sp trans like the rubber duck

just have an extra gear to highway cruise

 

Grab it before it’s too late…lol!

 

How it worked originally?
Lots of info here and online. But basically it had a relay setup and an ignition interrupter thingy and a “kick down” switch for the gas pedal.
With the OD ready, cable engaged and OD powered up, you shifted like normal then the governor kicked in the OD. (Power up the solenoid) At that moment the ignition power was disrupted briefly.
When the governor seen the rpm drop (slowing down) it would cut power to the solenoid. Taking it out of OD
An accelerator switch set up would cut off power to the soliniod as well.
You need a working parking brake if parked with the OD mechanically (dash cable) engaged.
The dash cable pulls the sun gear in and out of the OD planetary. The solenoid locks in the “blocking ring” that makes the OD planetary do its thing.
The internal reverse safety disengages the sun gear when the reverse is engaged. Some also had a switch that cut off power to the solinoid as well. Power off at the solinoid disengages the blocking ring.

I got pictures here somewhere with the OD set up explaining how that **** worked.

 

Trying to use it as a six speed....