best overdrive for the $$

TreeTopFlier

TreeTopFlier

Member
Hello All,

The next big thing for my model A is an overdrive.

My current set up is 4.10 gears on 16" v8 rims in a sedan.

what overdrives are the best bang for your buck?
 
Your going to get A LOT of opinions here. A lot. My v
Choice is Mitchell w/ up to 6 overdrive speeds.
 
I put a Mitchell overdrive in my S/W town sedan in 2001 and have driven 25,059 miles since the installation was completed. I would not consider any other overdrives!!!
 
I don't think you can go wrong with any overdrive. I have a 4 speed that's synchronized and I love it. But I can also see the benefit of having a mitchell. Any option is a good option!
 
Brattons has the Mitchell overdrive @ $2275.

I do not know the price from Mitchell.

You can shift on the "FLY". Six forward and two reverse gears. All new parts including drive shaft, torque tube and speedo gear assembly. Precision 30 degree helical gears for ease of operation. This is a 26% ratio. Floor mounted gear shift. Completely assembled. Used with round speedometer.
 
160B said:
Brattons has the Mitchell overdrive @ $2275.

I do not know the price from Mitchell.

You can shift on the "FLY". Six forward and two reverse gears. All new parts including drive shaft, torque tube and speedo gear assembly. Precision 30 degree helical gears for ease of operation. This is a 26% ratio. Floor mounted gear shift. Completely assembled. Used with round speedometer.
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I've not heard a single bad word about mitchell products... but i was looking to spend about half that at max!

guess i better start putting some $$ away for it now...
 
If you want to spend half that you can get a T5 from an s10 pickup for about $100 and the kit to install it the last time I checked was around $800.
 
A friend of mine has 3 Model As all with Volvo ODs in them. He loves them. There is no extra shifter sticking out of the floor. They are electric so you just have a wire and a switch which he has mounted to the shifter near the top, under the knob. It has a reverse lockout in it. Having owned and driven over 8 Volvos and never having trouble with an OD unit, which they all had, I chose the Volvo (Laycock) OK. I ordered and received one about a month ago.
Cost was about $1,600. plus shipping from CA. You need to send a torque tube and driveshaft back as a core.
The person's name is Rich Little and he's been doing these for Model Ts and As for years.
There is another person who builds them as well, also in CA, and has advertised them in Ford Barn withing the last 6-8 months.
To date I haven't not installed the unit. It will go in a sedan which I don't own yet.
 
My vote is for the Mitchell.........had it on my "A" for 9 years then sold it. I just don't need or want to drive so fast in my "A", 35-40 is fast enough.
 
Tree top flier--4.11 gears,specially with 16" wheels is very low gearing,unless you live in a very mountainous area.Why not change to 3.54 gears?You will loose a bit of power,but will increase speed quite a bit.You may find that you dont need O D.If you do install an O D,I think its best to retain the 4.11 gears as you will get the best of both worlds by having more power in high gear & more speed in O D. I have Columbia O D,s in both my A,s & love the 4.11 & 2.94 ratios.One of the O D,s has been in use in A,s since 1960 with well over 100,000 miles and still works great.
 
TreeTopFlier said:
How much does this cost? :)
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I think it's about $2800 from Gary Bernard at AAAA transmissions in Ft. Worth, Tx. He is the best of the best & one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He rebuilds them right, and makes sure they are good to go. I know of a person who build 4-speeds who are using used parts.... because this person came and asked Gary if he had any used parts Gary could sell to him so he could put in his transmissions to sell people.
 
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