Borg Warner Coupler

kippmw

kippmw

Member
Hello all! Does anyone have detailed pictures of what the coupler looks like between the output shaft of a Borg Warner and the pinion? I have reason to believe that mine is on the way out and I'm curious if the coupler has pins in it maybe that hold it together? Thanks in advance!
 
I believe he is referring to the spline coupler that connects the overdrive output shaft to the stub shaft in the pinion gear sleeve.

The Borg Warner overdrives modified for a Model A are all a product of a cottage industry. All that I have seen had both shafts cut to the same six-point spline as the front of the Model A drive shaft. An off the shelf coupler will fit it. However, I don't know where they can be purchased.

Tom Endy
 
Here's one with a chain coupling.
 

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Thank you. I should have been more specific. I am hearing a noise as if something is intermittently touching metal (torque tube?) and assumed that it had something to do with the OD coupling. Seeing the chain setup makes me think that something has gone awry with the chain and is causing the noise. I hear a sort of "tink, tink, tink" noise when it's spinning in gear. It's noticeable when I'm decelerating on the road, but I can't hear it when accelerating.

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Let me know if you need a spline coupler. I have a bunch of parts leftover from when i was building those
 
Thank you! It may be a bit before I can tear into it. I'll let you know if I need one. If it happens to be the chain that is bad, any ideas on where I can obtain a replacement chain?

jetmek said:
Let me know if you need a spline coupler. I have a bunch of parts leftover from when i was building those
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Any bearing places will have them,or get one fast.It is a very common off the shelf item that is used in thousands of power transmission applications.My 35 ton lowbed has one between the hydraulic pump and the pony engine.I had one BW overdrive with that setup,but the last one I had didn't use it.It used a fine spline coupler welded onto the front section of the rear shaft.You won't be replacing just the chain,the sprockets are softer than the chain and wear faster.Also,they wear oblong,or egg shaped.Oddly enough the least worn part of that setup will be the chain itself.
 
The units that use the splined coupling between the output of the OD to the pinion stub shaft are the preferred arrangement. I believe this modification of the Borg Warner unit was designed by Bill Swigert in Washington way back when. Bill's design also used all of the factory electrical controls (solenoid and governor) to make its operation easy. I think there was a fellow in Ohio who made the units with the chain connection and used levers to control the operation. I ran a BW overdrive for 30 years and it worked fine.
 
The splined one I had used a fine spline.It was not the 6 spline Tom describes.I got the unit because the coupling had failed,and the car quit moving.The owner took it apart,and found the splined coupling had been pushed too far onto the rear shaft and welded there.It was not engaging the shaft by enough.I gave him a shaft and tube so he could drive the car,and take his time repairing the OD.He found the man that had done the conversion,and the man told him he had some medical problems at one time and his help had sent some out the door with the coupler welded in the wrong place.He realized he never used the OD anyway,so he sold it to me.Then he moved away and I never found out who made the unit.I like the units,but they are a little to high for me.
 
Thanks all for the input! Following up on this...I finally got around to tearing things apart today. One link in the chain between the overdrive and the differential had come loose. Looks like I need to find a new chain.
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Doug Linden said:
The units that use the splined coupling between the output of the OD to the pinion stub shaft are the preferred arrangement. I believe this modification of the Borg Warner unit was designed by Bill Swigert in Washington way back when. Bill's design also used all of the factory electrical controls (solenoid and governor) to make its operation easy. I think there was a fellow in Ohio who made the units with the chain connection and used levers to control the operation. I ran a BW overdrive for 30 years and it worked fine.
Click to expand...

Lloyd Young. He passed away a couple years back. A man took over his overdrive business about a year before he passed
 
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