Overdrive

the overdrive that miss victoria speaks of, I put one in a 1948 Ford sedan, removed the original trans crossmember (took out the rivets) made a new two peice mount,ie one for each side had to redo the floor board to clear top of trans, used a 39 tube and drive shaft assy no lath work when done like this. Other than floor pan work and rear mount work it was a bolt in. Extended the truck shift lever and reshaped so it resembles the swan type lever looks nice. Car actually drives better now syncro's are really nice OD is great 70 mph is not a problem if you want this is with 4:11's changing to 3:78's should be even better Laurie
 
41PICUP said:
I've got a Mitchell in my 41 pickup. Running a SBC with stock Ford ****** and 3:54s in the banjo, 26% Mitchell overdrive. I love it. Much easier than converting to open drive and a T-5. Two guys and four hours .. easy swap.
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Please tell all that was involved with the install of your Mitchell O/D. Thanks, Buford.
 
columbiA said:
I have Columbia ODs in both my model A s.Each has ratios of 4.11 & 2.94 .I adapted both myself & no lathe work was required. I have used one since 1960 in over1/2 doz A s & modified abt 15 yrs ago to fit a 33 coupe.Modified it a 2nd time a couple yrs ago to fit my A coupe.My A sedan has a 46 columbia that i had to narrow by taking 15/16"out of the Columbia hsg & used 36 axles & spider gears.For me the 4.11s give the best OD ratio even when in the 33 with the 59A.I think 3.78s would be to high geard for my likeing--unless you live in the prairies or the US midwest.
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What if you live in Prince George??? LOL
 
I did it the hard way. I used a '48 Lincoln trans with a borg warner OD in my '40 coupe. Modified the center crossmember & shortened the torque tube 13". It's alot of work, but it's worth it for the electric OD. I'm very happy with the end result.
 
Tiquer--My Columbia,s with 4.11 & 2.94 ratios worked just fine in the PG & Quesnel area! Just loafing along at 60 & pulls most hills in OD.
 
I have to caution you guys about your final drive ratio. Overdrives require low end torque to make then fun to drive and the cam you choose for your engine has allot to do with it. Dropping your RPM is great if you fall into the right engine torque range, but a bit**h if it doesn't. The Mitchel has the 36 and 25% option. The 36% unit requires more torque in the low RPM range and cruising around at 1800 rpm can increase fuel consumption with a long cam. The same goes for rear axle ratios in other OD applications. Every engine has it's sweet spot.
 
My 46 Pu had 273 gears and with the AOD trans it would not kick into overdrive until I was over 60 MPH. way to high gearing, so swapped in a new set of 373 and problem solved.Now the trans kick in at around 45 MPH and the gas mileage increased by around 5 mpg.
 
I love my mitchel in my 35 coupe. I did have to raise the floor. Like ol ron says, my problem is the 8ba will pull up a long grade in OD, but it will overheat. Take it out of OD and she cools down.
 
The benefit of the F150 conversion would seem to outweigh the Mitchell in that you'd get a much stronger trans plus synchro on first.
 
A Mitchell would not fit in my 1939 Ford STD. Coupe without cutting out a section of the floor pan around the step down. I would be interested in the F150 kit. Who makes this kit?
 
It must be a secret. Some how you would have to send your trans to them to have it modified for the torque tube. Then you'd have to shorten your drivr shaft. This would make a nice OD, but I still think you'd have to modify the "X" member.
However, I believe it a grear idea for open drive cars as the earky version bolts to the flathead.
 
I have a C4 with a gear venders OD in my 40 with an open drive,and it fits nicely.The OD is behind the X member.I have a Chassis Engineering modification to the X member.
 
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