What'this overdrive 1934

The installation of an OD in a torque tube type of drive-line is a pretty rare application.
I knew a man in Idaho in 1950 that had one in a '41 Chevy coupe, the OD was in the car when he bought it.
About two years ago I saw a '50 Chevy for sale at the Pomona Swap Meet. The car was a mess, needing a complete restoration, however, the OD unit was complete, installed in the drive-line close to the differential..
I would make a guess that BW had an installation kit available to install the OD's in torque tube drive-lines, thereby making the application user friendly.
 
I have one of these units in my '40. I know not to operate the unit in reverse in overdrive, but if the solenoid is off and one forgets to pull the lockout handle before reverse, what would happen? I'm assuming the unit would just freewheel and not damage anything but I'd like to be sure before I start driving with it.
 
With a 2.87 overdrive I would think you would need some really good brakes to get stopped in an emergency.
 
Automotive Stud said:
I have one of these units in my '40. I know not to operate the unit in reverse in overdrive, but if the solenoid is off and one forgets to pull the lockout handle before reverse, what would happen? I'm assuming the unit would just freewheel and not damage anything but I'd like to be sure before I start driving with it.
Click to expand...

It will grenade the sprag assembly
 
I built a bunch if these years back for model a’s. I have some cores, a bunch of partially machined parts and raw end castings and tooling that I would consider selling if anyone is interested. Im not building any more of them. Email for info
 
It would only freewheel if the unit is not locked out. The problems would happen if it actually shifted into OD while freewheeling in reverse.
 
I see there is some new activity here. I am attaching a document I came across in my research that will hopefully answer a lot of the questions in this thread...

It shows pictures of an entire enclosed drive shaft installation broken down to its component parts and how to repair. quite detailed.

I also have a document that I cannot seem to upload that is named "1C-Borg-Warner-OD-Restorer-Mar-Apr-2005" maybe people can search and find that one if interested, more about operating the units. (I think it is to big to upload) I can also email directly if someone is interested.
 

Attachments

That's a good link that explains everything very easily. A must read for anybody with a BW overdrive, torque tube mounted or not.
 
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