Model A O'Drive.

D

Dale Fairfax

Senior Member
A few years ago there was a guy from Ohio (I considered him to be "an older fellow" at the time) who was marketing an "inline" B-W Overdrive. Saw him several times at the Hoosier Swap and Show in Indy. It consisted of a standard Ford/Merc planetary set separated from it's transmission and inserted into the middle of the A drive shaft/torque tube assembly. He eliminated all the electrics and substituted manual actuation. Does anybody remember him or his product? I'm interested in the actual mechanics of his conversion.
 
sorry, re read your post, I guess unless your looking for drawing or assembly details, you seem to know how it was setup.
 
It may have been a Ryan OD unit. I believe he stopped producing them once Mitchell started making brand new units.
 
Dale,

There are hundreds of us still running the old Borg Warner OD setup like you described, however most of us use an electric switch and a lock out cable.

I hve seen them converted to strictly mechanical but most of us use the switch.

Just a couple of days ago there was a post on BW OD's and who still converts them.

His name doesn't come to mind right now but he lives in Redding CA and is probably on the vendor list on Ford Barn.

They work fine, but have fallen out of favor. Mitchell is now the preferred brand. You can pick up converted BW OD.s prety cheap if you put the word out.

Richard
Anaheim CA
 
I had one with the two cables instead of the solonoid.In place of the solonoid there was a little post,with a rod in it that operated kind of like the front brake actuators in the A.The cable pulled a little lever and the rod slid in or out.I like things mechanical but on that application I would prefer an electric switch.I sold the setup because it was a 33%overdrive,and it was a little bit too much to me.You kind of have to watch where you get the OD unit to convert also.If you get them out of the midwest or the south they are worn.Simple reason is the cars got used.Up here in the northeast we find those units with virtually no wear.Back in the 50's and 60's highway running was not that common,and winter salt ate the cars away long before they wore the drivelines out.The man that bought mine decided to go in a different direction with his project and had on the old Fordbarn for what he paid for it.It was quite a while ago so I doubt he still has it.
 
There is a Mr. Lloyd E. Young in Winchester, Ohio, phone 614-837-7832 that makes a conversion that uses your torque tube and drive shaft. I have a pamphlet from him that is about two or three years old that states a "Model A Overdrive" installed for $1,350.00. The pamphlet doesn't say if it is a Borg-Warner or what. Wayne
 
Lloyd Young is your man. He put a B/W in my Town Sedan 2 years ago. Runs perfectly. Word of mouth has him up to his eyeballs in O/Ds for all types of cars. I was over there a few weeks ago and he just finished a Buick and a Packard. Give him a call. He would love to hear from you.
614-837-7832
 
i make those conversions also...uses a cable and lever mounted to ******. has a splined coupling to front length of driveshaft and another splined coupling to a stub shaft in pinion gear if you need specifics email me at al@godevilgarage.com
 
I have a BW with a cable to engage the unit. Then an electric switch to the solenoid whiic cuts in the OD about 25 mph or so when you lift off the gas. One thing to watch is that once engaged you are in "free wheeling" and have no compression to slow you down. Maybe contributed to the French Lick accident but I doubt anyone would have been using an OD on that route? Got to watch your distance when engaged.

Great unit, love it on the road.
 
John in SATX said:
I have a BW with a cable to engage the unit. Then an electric switch to the solenoid whiic cuts in the OD about 25 mph or so when you lift off the gas. One thing to watch is that once engaged you are in "free wheeling" and have no compression to slow you down. Maybe contributed to the French Lick accident but I doubt anyone would have been using an OD on that route? Got to watch your distance when engaged.

Great unit, love it on the road.
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All my Studebakers with factory B/W O/D freewheel under 25 MPH unless I have the lockout cable pulled. Once the car O/D engages the ****** is then locked into a high gear.

I haven't worked on any Model A overdrives, but I would think the B/W on a Model A would be set up the same.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
All my Studebakers with factory B/W O/D freewheel under 25 MPH unless I have the lockout cable pulled. Once the car O/D engages the ****** is then locked into a high gear.QUOTE]

In the past I have had a few Chevy's that were equipped with the same type OD and they worked exactly as Tom says.
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If you use the solinoid and the governor it will not engage until about 35 Mph. If it is set-up mechanically, you can engage it at any speed. Also if you keep the solinoid, but remove the governor, you can engage at any speed.
 
The problem I see with the mechanical set up instead of using the solenoid/governor is that you can inadvertently forget to disengage the OD when you shift into reverse and can do damage to the internal gears of the OD. As for engaging at any speed a simple override switch will allow OD operation at any at speed and gear, which is very helpful when climbing hills in second gear.
 
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