51 overdrive

Alberta50fordor

Alberta50fordor

Member
I'm on the hunt now for an overdrive for the woodie, the original overdrive is long gone and at some point was replaced with a non overdrive trans, i thought i had an overdrive that would fit but then remembered 51 still has frame mounted pedals so the transmission needs the pivot point for the clutch pedal
Does anybody around alberta have a 51 overdrive they can part with or close to montana?
another question is can you take an overdrive unit and install it on a non overdrive transmission? it doesn't seem like the transmission itself is any different
 
I can’t help with your O-D parts....but I’m putting a T-5 in my ‘51 and this is how I fixed the clutch pivot issue....Vanpelt Sales may be able to help with your parts..........Mark
1 (513) 724-9486
 

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If the pivot point is on the shift cover then it may be usable on the earlier 259 series as long as the rear mount situation can be solved. The 1951 pivot is unique in the way it is designed. The 49 & 50 are similar but the rear mount and pivot point changed. The later 1952 & 53 trans case should be the same but a person would need a 1951 Ford OD shift cover plate since it incorporates the reverse lock out mechanism.

The 1951 and later Ford and Mercury cars with the 259 series, have the late type gears that are referred to as diamond gears with better ratios than the earlier units. From February of 1951 Mercury cars started using the 259 series with a special cast iron bell housing so the transmissions are same as Ford with the exception of the pivot point shift cover. Ford & Mercury both went to a different cast iron bell housing in 1952 when swing pedals came out.
 
Your question regarding if you can remove the overdrive from one transmission, and add it to a transmission without OD, no you cannot do that. The OD is integral with the transmission, so it is a whole transmission swap.

I hope you find an OD trans. I converted my 54 Meteor a couple years ago to an OD and I LOVE IT!!

I'm also in Alberta (Edmonton area), if you ever find an OD trans and have issues with the electrical side of things, I'm quite familiar with all that so feel free to fire me questions.

I suspect you also need the wiring, kickdown switch, etc... as well? I don't have spares of that stuff but new parts are available from Van Pelt online.
 
I know of a gentleman in the Denver area who likely has one. Not sure if that is too far for you.

Ken
 
I don't know about the ford transmission conversion to overdrive, but back in the 60s my dad used to take chevy 3 speed transmissions and add the overdrive unit to them, I know he had to drill a couple holes in the transmission case for the reverse lockout I think and I am thinking maybe he had to change the main shaft in the original transmission to the overdrive type of main shaft, but I seen him modify a few over the years when I was a kid. It obviously wasn't easy, but he did it none the less. I cant say if the same was true with ford transmissions, but I would have thought it would have been the same process as Chevrolet since the internal guts of the R10 and R11 was interchangeable from Ford to Chevrolet, to Packard for that matter. I am not saying its something everyone would want to take on, but I would gamble if you really like the transmission you have and just wanted to make it a overdrive, if you found the correct overdrive unit and a main shaft, with some good ability, I bet you could do it to the ford transmission as well. I know for a fact you could convert the Chevrolet transmissions of the 50s era. If you were comfortable with taking a 3 speed transmission apart and capable of putting it back together, I would bet you could do it. Just my 2 cents for what its worth. Good luck.
 
rjlester said:
Your question regarding if you can remove the overdrive from one transmission, and add it to a transmission without OD, no you cannot do that. The OD is integral with the transmission, so it is a whole transmission swap.

I hope you find an OD trans. I converted my 54 Meteor a couple years ago to an OD and I LOVE IT!!

I'm also in Alberta (Edmonton area), if you ever find an OD trans and have issues with the electrical side of things, I'm quite familiar with all that so feel free to fire me questions.

I suspect you also need the wiring, kickdown switch, etc... as well? I don't have spares of that stuff but new parts are available from Van Pelt online.
Click to expand...

My 50 came with the overdrive so it’d definitely be hard to live without, it still has the relay and wiring intact, have a new kick down switch already too
 
Ron_r1959 said:
I don't know about the ford transmission conversion to overdrive, but back in the 60s my dad used to take chevy 3 speed transmissions and add the overdrive unit to them, I know he had to drill a couple holes in the transmission case for the reverse lockout I think and I am thinking maybe he had to change the main shaft in the original transmission to the overdrive type of main shaft, but I seen him modify a few over the years when I was a kid. It obviously wasn't easy, but he did it none the less. I cant say if the same was true with ford transmissions, but I would have thought it would have been the same process as Chevrolet since the internal guts of the R10 and R11 was interchangeable from Ford to Chevrolet, to Packard for that matter. I am not saying its something everyone would want to take on, but I would gamble if you really like the transmission you have and just wanted to make it a overdrive, if you found the correct overdrive unit and a main shaft, with some good ability, I bet you could do it to the ford transmission as well. I know for a fact you could convert the Chevrolet transmissions of the 50s era. If you were comfortable with taking a 3 speed transmission apart and capable of putting it back together, I would bet you could do it. Just my 2 cents for what its worth. Good luck.
Click to expand...
I ended up calling the guy in Saskatoon that still deals in old fords if he had one, luckily he does so I’m waiting for a quote on that one, I have a couple spare 49-50 units and a newer one that’s kind of a mystery so one day when I’m out of other projects I might get around to messing with them lol
 
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