Hi. I've got a Ford 3speed + OD that i was thinking to put in my 53 Customline. I was wondering if there is any way to test if the OD works before i put it in my car? Im new to those gearboxes and thought it was a good idea to post the question here.
You can spin the governor shaft with a drill and check with an ohm meter and you can energize the solenoid to see if it clicks. As far as the hard parts go a tear down is the only sure way to check but you can shift into each gear, turn the input shaft with one hand while putting drag on the output shaft with the other---have overdrive manual lever in the locked out position. If smooth there is hope. Is your OD trans from a 6V or 12V car. Six volt will work a long time on 12V but don't know about the reverse.
This trans is from a 6V car and my Customline is converted to 12V. I Will test this and see if it works. Thanks!
You can get a new 12v solenoid if you want to. 6V stuff is usually made stouter than 12V so aside from operating faster than designed the 12v wont hurt it. That trans should be a Borg warner unit, I thin an R 10. They were fairly common and shared a**** different makers, Ford, Studebaker and mopar all used variants of the same basic design. Lots of stuff on the web about wiring them up and utilizing kick down switches etc. Nice thing to have at .70 or .73 OD relaxes thing under the hood when cruseing the highways.
I just put one of these in my 59 edsel. the trans is probably from a 55. It had a 6v solenoid, I looked up the number. I had a 12v from the busted od trans that I took out of the car. Overdrive is fun, takes a little getting used to, but it works. The wiring can be tricky, I did a kind of minimal wiring job on mine--used a horn relay, the terminal that would connect to the horn ****on is connected to the governor. Power is power, on mine it goes through a toggle switch so I can switch it off to "downshift". The terminal that would connect to the horn, is connected to the large terminal on the solenoid. When the lockout cable is pushed in (overdrive mode), the trans will freewheel until the solenoid engages, and you get into overdrive. So no engine braking at low speeds under these conditions. I pull the cable out when I'm driving around town, and also flip the toggle switch off. and I have to let up on the gas to get it to engage overdrive, so I accelerate up to speed, let off the gas for second, feel it engage, then back on the throttle at nice low cruising rpm. Better if you can find an overdrive solenoid, and a kickdown switch, and wire it up that way.
I forgot to add...you can take it apart and see all the parts. If the roller clutch races are pitted, then you'll have trouble with it. I also got to make a new gasket for mine, where it fits onto the transmission adapter. I think you can find overhaul instructions on the internet, I know there are chevy shop manuals online, and the overdrive itself is functionally the same on fords and chevys. http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1955/55csm0715.html
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