3 speed overdrive!!, now about getting it in.......

[Janky59]

OK, finally time for an update and driving report.

I had a local mechanic do the majority of the installation. Between a lack of free time for me and him having a garage and lift it was the way to go for me.

While the tranny was pulled he had the flywheel resurfaced, it didn't need a lot taken off. I'd already purchased a new clutch kit from LMC, so that went in too. He decided to reuse the existing bronze pilot bearing, installed the new throw out bearing and clutch/pressure plate.

Being my OD was from a car (versus a truck one) he drilled/tapped/installed a Helicoil in the bottom two trans mounting ears to keep it the same as the old tranny. I wanted to have some skin in the game so I told him I would finish up the remainder of the installation (wiring and lock out cable hook up).

So the initial drive was just in 3 speed mode, but I could tell the freewheel effect the OD had right off the bat. The other thing was the new clutch was a 10X improvement over the old, that change was worth it alone. General shifting was better too. The old tranny always worked better with a double clutch between 1-2 and 2-3, but this tranny didn't need any of that.

All was not wine and roses however as the trans. would jump out of 3rd gear after a minute or so at a steady cruise. Very disheartening, but more on this issue later.

So, Sunday evening I got working on the lockout cable hook up and wiring. I'd already did some of the wiring installation earlier so there wasn't a lot to do. I thank those who posted earlier their wiring setups.

After checking over my work it was time for a road test. I admit the 1st couple of times I tried to get the OD to engage I wasn't successful. It was getting late so I packed it in, tail between my legs, and thinking what or where did I go wrong.

The next day at work I went over my wiring set up with an electrical engineer and confirmed I had the right layout and decided on a trouble shooting path.

Long story short, I think my unsuccessful attempts were my fault. Mainly I was being too impatient. When I went out on the next road test I lifted on the throttle longer than I had previously - and bingo - that was the trick! I felt the sort of tug of the engagement and when back on the gas, the rpm drop. Yeah baby, I was smiling ear to ear!

Since then I've done a commute to work and a couple of trips in to town and back, I've probably got 100 miles under my belt so far.

On my work drive I used a Garmin GPS to track my rpm/speed and odo readings. The odo reading were spot on in agreement with each other, confirming the speedo drive was the same as the original tranny. FWIW my speedometer reads right about 10 mph under (what's deal with that?) the GPS reading.

This other part is the best - I'm cruising right at 60 mph and my tach reading is dead nuts on 2,000 rpm (give or take 50 rpm). As I thought from the ratio numbers, instead of screaming along at 3,000, she's humming along relaxed at 2,000 - perfect. This is with the stock 3.90 rear and P235/75R-15 tires.

I'm getting the hang of the other traits of the OD too, like clutchless up and down shifts, no 1st gear grinding at walking speeds. I'm digging the Borg Warner T10 Over Drive life!

I've tracked my mpg over the last 6 months and I'll continue and post up later what I learn. Thanks again to those who have posted in this thread - invaluable information.