Overdrive or not???

Fred K-OR

Fred K-OR

Well-known member
If a person was to install an overdrive, what would be the best one to consider? Also if you do install an overdrive, what else do you need to do to the A to take advantage of the overdrive?

After having my rig up and running for a couple of months now, I can see if a person wants to go on a lot of long tours, some kind of additional "ump" is needed. But if all you do if go to town for coffee, then the standard rig does it well.

Just thought I would get some comments. Maybe this has been hashed out before on the Barn but thought I would bring it up again.
 
Fred, I have run both a Borg Warner and a Volvo. They each require modifications however I think the Volvo is my choice because the shift is electrical with no reverse problems.
 
Not. Why do you want to lug down the engine and go that fast for? You only have forty horses on a good day. Slow the engine down, you'll have less. Wind resistance squares as speed doubles...would Henry put an overdrive in?

skip.
 
skip said:
Not. Why do you want to lug down the engine and go that fast for? You only have forty horses on a good day. Slow the engine down, you'll have less. Wind resistance squares as speed doubles...would Henry put an overdrive in?

skip.
Click to expand...

Skip, you are right in that an old guy like me (75) shouldn't go that fast anyway. But it is tempting to have one so that I could take a few longer trips on freeways (maybe).
 
Re: Cofee Shop and Beyond

Fred & Skip,

I'm not satisfied with an occasional trip to the coffe shop. I may stop at your coffee shop for a cup with you on the way to Vancouver BC in 3 weeks. I will have about 800 miles on the road from Anaheim CA by then.

Life begins about 300 miles from home through the windshield of your Model A. It's almost ******.

If you can't maintain 55 mph or more, a Model A is a menace on the freeway. An Overdrive and a High Compression head accomplishes that.

I don't feel everyone should have an OD. I have the highest regard for totally stock Model A's but you better have a trailer and a tow vehicle if you want to experience America the Beautiful in your Model A.

My "Avitar" shows my 28 Tudor in front of Portland Head light house in Maine last October ;).

Regards,

Richard
Anaheim CA
 
I will second Richard Parrish's thoughts....here in S. Calif. it is almost a necessity to use the freeways to tour much, and with an overdrive, good brakes, etc. you can easily cruise at 55-60 for hours. I happen to have the Mitchell and love the ease of operation and the versatility of being able to use 2nd hi when needed...it is great on twisting mountain roads!
My car is a Town Sedan, which is heavier than a coupe or roadster, so a high compression head is really desirable to help pull the higher ratio. If you have never experienced an overdrive in a Model A, take a ride with someone who has one, and experience what it is like to engage it at about 45 mph.....the car is much quieter and working easier....it is amazing.
If you are not going to tour much or use the freeways, than you probably do not need the expense and work involved.
 
I wouldn't be without one. Most of my driving is local, but on
occasion when I want to get out town without taking the back
roads, I can jump on the interstate and keep up with the traffic.
mine is a BW T-5. For those who might argue that "It's not the
way Henry built it" I would counter with "Roads of today are not
the roads that Henry drove." JMHO I agree with Skip on a lot
of subjects, but not this one.

Jack
 
I run a 4.11 rear with an overdrive. You have the lower gears for great acceleration and then switch to OD and drop to 3.25 or so. The Mitchell OD is had to beat.
 
As has been stated in the posts above, an OD is not needed if you are going to putter to the coffee shop each morning or motor to a car shoe or parade. But if you are on the highway regurarly as in a tour or have to comute to a club meet 5o miles away each month and OD is nice. If your Model A is restored right and engine in good condition and tuned correctly your engine can sustain 50-55-60 miles per hour, but she is operating at maximum capacity and that is not good for any engine to do that consistantly.

That is part of the purpose of the OD. Not to go faster but to lower the RPM and take some of the strain off the engine. For example my Coupe with F150 OD, in fourth gear, can run at 55 with only 1950 rpm. By comparison third gear which is same in stock Model A ****** she will run almost 2400 RPM. Also the engine makes less noise at 1950 RPM than at, Say 2400 RPM.

With the price of a rebuilt engine today we do whatever we can to preserve and prolong that engines life.

Lastly If you are gonna get'er up to 55 or 60 ya better be able to stop her "on a dime".

Just my 2 cents. Ken
 
The noise with my '29 Tudor (no overdrive) is almost exclusively "air noise". Running the engine at lower rpm with an overdrive would not help my noise situation.
 
To answer your "what else" question, a high compression head would be most helpful, but some OD users in our club are happy with stock heads. Also, good brakes are essential.

If you try OD, you'll never go back. I've got the F150 conversion and love it. In addition to 4th gear, quietness and synchromesh are sweet--I still get all giggly every time I downshift into low. See earlier threads on mods needed for the F150 or T-5 conversions. My only regret is that I wish 2nd gear were higher.

If you don't mind another lever to fiddle with, the Mitchell is probably most efficient: minimal mods and 6 forward gears.

Steve
 
A few years ago we did a comparison of all the available overdrives in the Model A Times. The choice comes down to what kind of touring will you be doing and what road conditions. Touring in Southern California is a lot different than Denver CO. If you are in an area with lots of hills and back roads you might consider the Mitchell it allows for shifting into OD going up hill when you drop down to 2nd gear. The other ODs require some coasting to engage. But they work well on flat terrain and freeways. We installed all three on cars to try them out and found each has positives and negatives it comes down to what you plan on doing with your car
 
Hey Guys, doe's anybody know where and when the Volvo overdrives were used, which model car and is there a name for it, like T-5 or something ? I have read a few things good about them. Electric switch no gear shift on the floor.
 
John LaVoy said:
... If you are in an area with lots of hills and back roads you might consider the Mitchell it allows for shifting into OD going up hill when you drop down to 2nd gear. The other ODs require some coasting to engage. ...
Click to expand...

In case someone's confused, John is talking about overdrives coupled with the original trans. Either the F-150 or the T-5 are complete, synchronized transmissions with OD as the highest gear that replace the old trans and let you shift up or down anytime, just like in a modern car.

Steve
 
I put a T-5 in my 29 Pk Up and never looked back. I had to do an open drive line to do it but the rear end was shot and embabassing, it was really a growler.So I installed 3.54 gears, 16 Wires, A sweet B engine, Warmed a bit, and she would run, or just mop along if needed. But i'm not a pures't and really enjoy driving and old gal with some refinments. A F-1 Box is also a great addition for an old man like me, and I reciently got a 30 6 wheel roadster in the shop for some TLC. When the owner felt my steering set up he wanted an EZ Steer Box. And his is so original that its like Henry just made it, but hes all for a bit of MODERN in his old girl. You got to make your self happy with your ride. Iceman
 
Thanks guys. Gives me a lot to think about. It may seem like putting in a replacement ****** may be the easy way to go rather than doing a Mitchell which I understand you have to replace the drive line. Well at this point, I have to get the boss (wife) adjusted to the fact that maybe somewhere an upgrade to the old rig may be good to do. I have just got the shock of the orginal rebuild sort of cooled down so it may be awhile before the upgrade. Maybe a few more rides with her on the freeways at a slow speed will do the trick.
 
To me, an overdrive like this (Volvo) is the way to go.
 

Attachments

  • DSCF2007A.jpg
    DSCF2007A.jpg
    47.5 KB · Views: 87
Ok, rookie question, but the above Volvo...This is essentially like the Mitchell correct, looks to be in the driveline. So where does one get the Volvo version? Is there fabrication to create this? What is the volvo deal? Thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top