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

[Gianyveedub]

To Vortech: yes you can. I did and this is how I run mine right now.

To Inmca Racer 3: I think it is an advantage to have it because I like to keep up with traffic on the freeway and by lowering the RPM's by 30% definately helps out when you want to go faster. plus if you want to drive at 55mph you can save quite a bit of fuel.

To Blue666: The one you have linked to is a momentary switch. You can use those if you connect them to a latching relay.

[70inline6]

I've been interested in this thread for a while now, and look what followed me home today... With the resources available here and via links, I'm looking forward to getting this installed into my 60.

[Vortech]

Ok, Which terminal do I use on the solenoid, green or blue circle on attached photo. Thanks for the help.

[Vortech]

It's green. BTW, my OD was not working even though I could here the solenoid kick in. Turned out the OD cable was bound up and not fully engaging the OD. Works like a charm, although my governor is not working. Have it grounded to chassis for now. I'll work on the governor next.

[Janky59]

Hi Folks, the few posts I have done have been on the '47-59 board, but this thread has a lot of really good info. It has been part of my inspiration in moving forward on buying (and then to install) one of these overdrives. Think it would be good to have my info in the same place. I’ll post pictures and info as I go along. It will be several months before I do the installation, I want to be able to drive the truck this summer, and it will be more a fall project. Plus it’ll let me spread out the expenses.

So, the beginning is, I've got mine now. I got it off eBay for $250.00. It was close enough (Richmond, VA) that I was able to have my retired brother pick it up for me. Now that it in my garage I’ve worked on cleaning it up, scraping off the years of grime. I’ve worked the reverse/1st and 2nd/3rd shifting by hand, and used the manual lockout to confirm I have meshing gears input to output.

My next step is to try some manual bench checks see if the solenoid works, take the side cover off and look around, maybe drain the oils, just see what’s what. That does it for now, regards.

[Turtleman]

Nice Janke59...

Whats the EXCEL Rims fit on?

[Janky59]

Originally Posted by Turtleman

Nice Janke59...

Whats the EXCEL Rims fit on?

They are on a '99 Yamaha WR400 (like an old school truck, the WR is kick start only). Basic trail basher for me, I love woods/trail riding - fitting it in the rest of life is the hard part. Do you ride some too? Being in AZ, I'm guessing desert riding or motocross.

[Turtleman]

AMA National # 2 Senior 1997,,, Hare & Hound Nationals

[Improbcat]

Does anyone know what seals to order for the input shaft & yoke on the 3-speed overdrive? would they be the same as the regular 3-speed?

[Gianyveedub]

They are the same. As a little side note, I have been calling this a T-85n for the longest time, but this is actually a sm319. It is the same as a sm318, but with overdrive.

[Janky59]

Just a little bit of progress, I removed the solenoid cover to have a look. Sort of what I thought with a light coating of general grime and dirt. A bit if clean up with some WD-40 and a rag has it looking better. Who knows what sort of conditions this trans live in until I got it. The seller didn't know its heritage other than it came out of an old building on some property he bought a few years ago.

I noticed this trans doesn't have the two external electrical lugs like I've seen in many other pictures. Maybe this is a clue to the original vehicle it was installed in or something like that, pipe in if you know.

Instead of the two lugs it has the two wires exiting thru a rubber grommet, an orange wire and a light green wire. Looking over what the wires connect to and with the aid of the Borg Warner service manual I printed out, I'm pretty sure the green wire is for the solenoid pull in function and the orange is for the kick down function. Since I'm not going to bother with the kick down feature, and use an on-off switch, I'll just tuck the orange wire out of the way and run the green wire to my relay.

I could work the plunger in and out manually, and feel how it engages with what the manual calls the "sun gear control plate", so far so good.

Here's a couple of pics of the top end. Tomorrow night I'll remove the solenoid and try the bench test that the service manual describes to see if it electrically alive.

[Janky59]

Well, it is a working solenoid. I stripped back the green wire, ran a wire from battery negative and another wire from battery positive to the green wire and clack!
Breaking contact 3-4 more times, each time getting movement from the plunger. On to something else.

[Improbcat]

Next dumb overdrive install question. I have a long tail-shaft OD, will I need to replace or extend the speedo cable to make it work in my '64?

[Janky59]

Next I opened up the governor. It wasn't too bad, grungy but not so unexpected. I used a rag and screwdriver to scrape, rub and clean up in general.
The interesting things are the way the spring loaded contact is set up. It is an over center design, so the last eighth inch or so before the cover come home the post in the center of the wedge shaped pieces pushes on the little bump of the center strip and separates the two contacts.
Based on this, the post must move inward when the speed is right (27-30 mph) for the contacts to close and send power to the solenoid to engage the planetary.
The wedge shaped pieces moved freely, poking them with my finger. I engaged 3rd gear and turned the input shaft, thinking I would see something in the governor spin, but nothing was evident to me. Maybe the spinning parts are hidden from view.
I do have to solder a new wire to the external lead, the original was just a nub of wire, not enough to connect to.
I didn't take it apart any further - has anyone tried? Or should I just leave it be?

[Gianyveedub]

I would leave it be. I have taken one of these down to where you were and like you, noticed that everything moved freely. So I left it alone.

The parts inside the governor will start to move up towards the cover plate when the vehicle starts to move. It will make contact with the plate around 28mph. That is why you were unable to make it work in third gear.

[Janky59]

I've made some progress. I used most of the weekend to work on getting the electrical side of things in order. Using the schematic drawn up by Gianyveedub (thanks) I made up some leads, mounted the relay, mounted a terminal strip to pick up battery power, mounted a toggle switch in the dash. The toggle switch should glow green when I have the OD powered up, sort of like someone else mentioned.

I used the open hole in the dash where the cig.lighter used to be for the toggle switch, I cut a little plate to hang the relay from the bottom bolt of the battery tray, and drilled and tapped a hole in the side of the battery tray for the terminal strip.

I can't say this will all work as I haven't gotten the trans installed yet, so wait for a later update for confirmation.

I have to order and install a push/pull cable for the lockout arm. I'll install that to the right of the toggle switch, where the high idle speed push/pull is now.

I picked up a simple gasket kit for a standard 3 speed, and ordered the output shaft seal. I took the door off there the shift linkage attaches and looked around with a flashlight. Things look decent, there is some tooth chipping on the beginning of the gear at the top. It doesn't seem too bad to me (from a guy that has next to zero transmission experience) for something with non synco 1st gear. I took a magnetic wand and swept around in the bottom of the trans and I didn't come across any gear debris.

I'm on the fence of whether to have a local trans shop give the trans a once over, to check it out and see if they think any bearings, syncros, etc. should be replaced. I keep going back and forth - yes, then no - well, now is the time to do it, then people say these are overbuilt, durable transmissions so do I really need to open it up.

If anybody has $.02 to add about that, feel free. That's it for now, cheers.

[jayoldschool]

A stock looking push/pull knob in place of that toggle would be really cool.

[Janky59]

Time for an update on my 3 speed w/OD.
I decided after all to find somebody to open the trans up and give it an evaluation. A local fellow with decades of manual trans and differential experience was just the ticket. It was all good news as he didn't think anything needed replacing, everything looked good. So we freshened up all the seals and gaskets and called it good to go. A good source for the OD supplies is www.garagemotorsports.com.

This weekend I painted it up and will hopefully be installing it is a couple of weeks. Tonight I ordered a new clutch kit from LMC. I've got bad chatter if I try to feed in much power. I think the current clutch is oil fouled.

So, I hope my next update is one with a driving report, cheers.

[jcramsey]

Originally Posted by Janky59

Time for an update on my 3 speed w/OD.
I decided after all to find somebody to open the trans up and give it an evaluation. A local fellow with decades of manual trans and differential experience was just the ticket. It was all good news as he didn't think anything needed replacing, everything looked good. So we freshened up all the seals and gaskets and called it good to go. A good source for the OD supplies is www.garagemotorsports.com.

This weekend I painted it up and will hopefully be installing it is a couple of weeks. Tonight I ordered a new clutch kit from LMC. I've got bad chatter if I try to feed in much power. I think the current clutch is oil fouled.

So, I hope my next update is one with a driving report, cheers.

Looking good! I'm working on figuring out how to mount a floor shifter to work with my OD, then I'll install it

Cant wait to hear the driving report!

[bullwinkle3331]

Originally Posted by Janky59

Time for an update on my 3 speed w/OD.
I decided after all to find somebody to open the trans up and give it an evaluation. A local fellow with decades of manual trans and differential experience was just the ticket. It was all good news as he didn't think anything needed replacing, everything looked good. So we freshened up all the seals and gaskets and called it good to go. A good source for the OD supplies is www.garagemotorsports.com.

This weekend I painted it up and will hopefully be installing it is a couple of weeks. Tonight I ordered a new clutch kit from LMC. I've got bad chatter if I try to feed in much power. I think the current clutch is oil fouled.

So, I hope my next update is one with a driving report, cheers.

Way to Go.... It is looking "Great"!

I ended up buying the other 3 speed overdrive from the Gentleman here in Richmond and am holding off on the project for now until there is some downtime...
I may look at getting the persons name that went through your transmission and see if he would be interested in going thru mine.

Good luck with the project!

Sincerely,
Paul

[lalablue57]

I am having an issue with my 57 chevy truck overdrive and need some help. The transmission was working flawlessly then... Now when I try to put it in overdrive I hear a whirring noise. It also does not go into the freewheel mode. By that I mean it still has engine brake. Prior to this when I backed off the gas it would be as if in neutral. Any ideas?????

[tkeduk8r]

Just an aside question....Does anyone have a pic of a factory installation in cab/dash of our trucks?

[Improbcat]

Originally Posted by lalablue57

I am having an issue with my 57 chevy truck overdrive and need some help. The transmission was working flawlessly then... Now when I try to put it in overdrive I hear a whirring noise. It also does not go into the freewheel mode. By that I mean it still has engine brake. Prior to this when I backed off the gas it would be as if in neutral. Any ideas?????

Is the overdrive lockout cable engaged? I'm pretty sure that would prevent freewheeling, and keep overdrive from engaging.

[MikeN]

Nice!

[lalablue57]

The cable moves the arm completely to the stop. I also checked the solenoid and it appears to be working. The tramsmission will go into overdrive but will NOT freewheel and makes the whirring noise.