Re: Pre War Overdrive

Posted by Tim Cole On 2013/3/26 20:26:16

Dear Tom:

I never installed one myself only worked on ones that had already been installed.

There is an outfit in California (whose name escapes me) that could help you more. I worked on one that was done back in the 50's at a Chrysler dealer and was impressed with all the brackets and stuff they made up for it. But then I found that whoever made all those fantastic brackets didn't understand a few fundamental things and so the car had a history of the overdrive throwing oil onto the clutch. (This was on a Model 30).

I worked on another one on a 10th series car that was very well done. They had drilled holes in the frame for the brackets which requires some planning.

As far as benefits, the car didn't really need it when new because it would rev to the limit without fuss. But as those motors age they don't run as smooth as they used to so the overdrive is a worthwhile investment if you want to drive the car a lot. It cuts back on motor noise, but doesn't increase the top speed because that requires horsepower.