Hoogah
Well-known member
A few weeks ago I sought the experiences of Ford Barn members about installing their Mitchell overdrives, and received some helpful responses, including copies of some relevant articles in the Restorer together with a great set of photos sent to me by Tom Endy (thanks, Tom!).
I’ve taken the plunge and installed a Mitchell in my ’28 Phaeton and thought that others might be interested in my experience, as I haven’t found a thread that discusses this here.
Not being a confident mechanic, I sought the help of Alan, a retired “vintage” mechanic in Portland VIC, 70 miles down the road from where I live. Alan’s got a Model T amongst his collection. In honesty I should say that I helped Alan to do the job – not the other way around!
The Mitchell comes with a brief set of instructions which assume that the installer has a fair bit of knowledge and can figure his way out of problems. I’d like to see the instructions beefed up to address some of the issues commonly encountered, and some good quality diagrams or photos to illustrate the brief instructions at each step. I don’t think this is an unreasonable expectation for an item of this considerable cost.
At the very outset we were faced with conflicting advice about removing the rear spring. Mitchell said to drop the rear end with the spring attached to the axle, but Tom’s advice was to leave it attached to the chassis and remove it from the axle using a spring spreader. For some reason, Alan decided to have a buck each way (!) and attempted to remove it from the axle without the spreader (which we didn’t have on hand). Tip No. 1 – DO NOT DO THIS! It broke a shackle and could have inflicted serious injury when it finally let go. The photo shows how we ended up – spring attached on one side and the rear end out of the car. You can see how far the spring “snapped” from its spread position attached to the axle.
Rust Alert: From this photo you’ve probably already worked out that my car is no fine point trailer queen. It’s a survivor, so you’re going to see plenty of the flaky stuff if you keep reading. . . .
There was no way we were going to get the spring back on without a spreader, so we hastily arranged for one to be sent overnight, on loan from Henry’s Model T & A Parts in Ballan VIC (thanks, Keith Eastwood!). Meanwhile we set to on removing the tail shaft with the puller we’d borrowed from Keith. 86 years of tight fit sure took some pulling. Tip No.2 would be to make sure that your puller is heavy duty. Ours had to be bent back into shape after using it to pull the tail shaft and pinion gear out of the diff, and again after pulling the pinion gear from the tail shaft.
Pressing the newly assembled rear shaft and pinion back into the diff also took some doing, and I was glad to be the “helper” as opposed to the key decision maker at this time. We referred to Tom’s articles and photographs frequently during the whole process to shed light on Mitchell’s scanty notes.
Day 2: The spreader arrived and we managed to re-attach the rear spring to the axle. Both rear bushes were found to be quite worn, so it was just as well we’d dropped the spring out. One of them had to be completely cut through internally with a hacksaw before it would let go. 86 years of “rusted on” takes some shifting! New shackles and bushes all round.
Re-attaching the rear end with Mitchell back onto the universal joint was also pretty awkward for just two people. Even using two jacks (under the diff and under the front end of the drive shaft), the sheer weight of the rear end plus the extra weight of the overdrive gearbox made lining it up with the universal physically difficult. At that point I’d have given anything for an extra elbow joint and bicep in each arm!
Installing the linkages came pretty easy, although the Mitchell instructions ignored any mention of the RH Drive adapter that had been included in the package. But my man was all over it! I had given this issue no thought at all until I was driving the car to my mechanic’s house and reflecting on how little knee room there is, even for a short (5’7”) guy like me. It suddenly occurred to me that if the shifter ended up on the RH side of the gearshift, it was going to be very crowded on my side! I didn’t need to worry.
Tom’s photos provided an excellent template for making a template (!) to position the hole in the floor for the shifter. The shifter has plenty of adjustment to enable it to be set at such an angle to clear the seat when in Low Range.
Floor back in and good to go!
After 18 hours over three days, the Model A is back on its wheels and under its own steam with an extra set of gears. We were finally happy campers. That’s my man, Alan, on the left. Thanks mate!
I traveled the 70 miles home with a blustery tail wind in squally rain – not ideal open car driving conditions! We sat on a comfortable 55 mph at around the same revs that the engine was pulling at 45 mph without the Mitchell on the way over. I think I’ll be happy at 50 – 55 mph on the open road (if safe to do so), and my wife will be more likely to join me for longer journeys - this was a major consideration in undertaking this modification. For my wife it’s more about getting there rather than the journey!
I love my survivor car, the options that the Mitchell gives me, and the fact that the installation is totally reversible – not that I ever see myself removing it!
Last picture was taken back at home, safe and sound, with the Mitchell sitting happily underneath after its maiden voyage – the only shiny thing under there! (Note to self, remove the lawnmower before backing the car out of the garage.)
I’ve taken the plunge and installed a Mitchell in my ’28 Phaeton and thought that others might be interested in my experience, as I haven’t found a thread that discusses this here.
Not being a confident mechanic, I sought the help of Alan, a retired “vintage” mechanic in Portland VIC, 70 miles down the road from where I live. Alan’s got a Model T amongst his collection. In honesty I should say that I helped Alan to do the job – not the other way around!
The Mitchell comes with a brief set of instructions which assume that the installer has a fair bit of knowledge and can figure his way out of problems. I’d like to see the instructions beefed up to address some of the issues commonly encountered, and some good quality diagrams or photos to illustrate the brief instructions at each step. I don’t think this is an unreasonable expectation for an item of this considerable cost.
At the very outset we were faced with conflicting advice about removing the rear spring. Mitchell said to drop the rear end with the spring attached to the axle, but Tom’s advice was to leave it attached to the chassis and remove it from the axle using a spring spreader. For some reason, Alan decided to have a buck each way (!) and attempted to remove it from the axle without the spreader (which we didn’t have on hand). Tip No. 1 – DO NOT DO THIS! It broke a shackle and could have inflicted serious injury when it finally let go. The photo shows how we ended up – spring attached on one side and the rear end out of the car. You can see how far the spring “snapped” from its spread position attached to the axle.
Rust Alert: From this photo you’ve probably already worked out that my car is no fine point trailer queen. It’s a survivor, so you’re going to see plenty of the flaky stuff if you keep reading. . . .
There was no way we were going to get the spring back on without a spreader, so we hastily arranged for one to be sent overnight, on loan from Henry’s Model T & A Parts in Ballan VIC (thanks, Keith Eastwood!). Meanwhile we set to on removing the tail shaft with the puller we’d borrowed from Keith. 86 years of tight fit sure took some pulling. Tip No.2 would be to make sure that your puller is heavy duty. Ours had to be bent back into shape after using it to pull the tail shaft and pinion gear out of the diff, and again after pulling the pinion gear from the tail shaft.
Pressing the newly assembled rear shaft and pinion back into the diff also took some doing, and I was glad to be the “helper” as opposed to the key decision maker at this time. We referred to Tom’s articles and photographs frequently during the whole process to shed light on Mitchell’s scanty notes.
Day 2: The spreader arrived and we managed to re-attach the rear spring to the axle. Both rear bushes were found to be quite worn, so it was just as well we’d dropped the spring out. One of them had to be completely cut through internally with a hacksaw before it would let go. 86 years of “rusted on” takes some shifting! New shackles and bushes all round.
Re-attaching the rear end with Mitchell back onto the universal joint was also pretty awkward for just two people. Even using two jacks (under the diff and under the front end of the drive shaft), the sheer weight of the rear end plus the extra weight of the overdrive gearbox made lining it up with the universal physically difficult. At that point I’d have given anything for an extra elbow joint and bicep in each arm!
Installing the linkages came pretty easy, although the Mitchell instructions ignored any mention of the RH Drive adapter that had been included in the package. But my man was all over it! I had given this issue no thought at all until I was driving the car to my mechanic’s house and reflecting on how little knee room there is, even for a short (5’7”) guy like me. It suddenly occurred to me that if the shifter ended up on the RH side of the gearshift, it was going to be very crowded on my side! I didn’t need to worry.
Tom’s photos provided an excellent template for making a template (!) to position the hole in the floor for the shifter. The shifter has plenty of adjustment to enable it to be set at such an angle to clear the seat when in Low Range.
Floor back in and good to go!
After 18 hours over three days, the Model A is back on its wheels and under its own steam with an extra set of gears. We were finally happy campers. That’s my man, Alan, on the left. Thanks mate!
I traveled the 70 miles home with a blustery tail wind in squally rain – not ideal open car driving conditions! We sat on a comfortable 55 mph at around the same revs that the engine was pulling at 45 mph without the Mitchell on the way over. I think I’ll be happy at 50 – 55 mph on the open road (if safe to do so), and my wife will be more likely to join me for longer journeys - this was a major consideration in undertaking this modification. For my wife it’s more about getting there rather than the journey!
I love my survivor car, the options that the Mitchell gives me, and the fact that the installation is totally reversible – not that I ever see myself removing it!
Last picture was taken back at home, safe and sound, with the Mitchell sitting happily underneath after its maiden voyage – the only shiny thing under there! (Note to self, remove the lawnmower before backing the car out of the garage.)
, but if it helps someone else I'm happy enough! 
Better start now!