Howard, I just took some pictures of mine but see others already have it covered. I agree there is no tapered edge on the outside. However, I do think that outer rib has the same width as the middle ribs.

Haha, sorry, that song immediately popped into my head when I saw the engine pictures. It looks good, and those are some nice numbers.

Brakes good, tires fair?

Does it have overdrive that just won't stall?

I haven't posted to my blog in a while so I figured I'd update it.

When I first started driving my car, around a year ago, there was drivetrain noise when coasting to a stop. I figured out it was coming from the overdrive unit, so I locked out the O/D. Of course the cable and yoke was rusted up, so this wasn't easy. I finally drained the sludge out of the transmission and o/d unit, and filled with fresh gear oil. However, I never tended to the lockout cable. This weekend I finally removed the lockout cable and engaged the o/d lever on the unit, and learned via my other thread that the wires attached to the lockout cable must be connected to complete the circuit for the overdrive to operate.

I drove the car to and from work yesterday and, WOW! What a difference the overdrive makes. The car feels so much more refined. Overdrive operation is nearly imperceptible! I am blow away at how smooth the operation is. With overdrive engaged, I can not hear the engine at 50 mph, whereas before I felt 50 was about as fast as I wanted to sustain for any amount of time. The free-wheel/coast makes the car so much smoother, since lifting off the accelerator no longer induces engine braking. Before, I spent almost no time in second gear - in fact it wasn't uncommon for me to shift from first to third. Now that I have second gear overdrive, it's much more usable. I don't drive my car on the freeway, so I didn't think I was missing much by having overdrive locked out, but now I'm kicking myself that I didn't do this sooner!

As always, thank you Packardinfo!

Gents - Thank you for the help here! John - having now driven my car with overdrive working, I can assure you that your efforts will be rewarded. Mine is a 49 with R11, and I haven't dug into the wiring diagrams as you have, but if you need me to snap some pictures please don't hesitate to let me know!

Thank you, Phil, for the insight on O/D operation without the cable! Your response posted while I was drafting my response to Howard.

Thanks for the response, Howard! That shaft collar is brilliant!

I've hung the cable up and sprayed it with penetrant. How do I know when it's "free enough"? How much resistance should be felt with moving the cable? I've cleaned the rust off the shaft portion at the transmission end, and worked it enough that penetrating oil (silicone liquid wrench) is all the way through the cable. It's much freer than before but there is still some resistance.

Also, any insight on O/D operation with the cable removed? Thanks!

-Mark

For continuity - in case someone else comes across this issue.

With a little persuasion with a torch, I was able to get the clevis pin out. It does, in fact, have a sleeve/bushing around the pin, between the yoke arms. See pic below.

Second picture shows other end of cable. Is this repairable? I "think" I remember reading that these aren't repairable if the ears of the housing, which surround the outer cable, are broken. Since mine are intact, can I just use a small clamp (hose clamp?) around the ears to hold the outer cable? Should I epoxy the outer cable in place? Advice is welcome!

Finally, is it possible to get overdrive to engage with the cable removed? I left the arm on the side of the o/d in the rear position, which I'm pretty sure is the NON-lockout position, correct? I went for a short test drive but couldn't tell if o/d was engaging. Do I need to temporarily connect the two wires that attach to the lockout cable, to complete the circuit?

As always, help is greatly appreciated!

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Thanks O_D, for the response. Now I'm thinking maybe my yoke was replaced at some point. It's not tight on the OD arm at all, and there were what appeared to be plastic washers on each side of the arm, in the yoke...of course those crumbled away as I was trying to work everything loose.

Howdy Gents. Decided I'd finally remove my OD lockout cable to see if I can repair it. However, I can't get the yoke end loose from the OD. The parts manual shows a simple clevis pin going through the yoke (3.299), with a cotter pin holding the clevis pin. I've gotten the cotter pin out and loosened up the clevis pin enough to spin around, but it won't pull out. Upon closer inspection it appears there might be a sleeve of some type inside inside the yoke, around the clevis pin - is this the case? Any ideas on how to loosen that up and remove the pin, or will I have to cut it out? Thanks!

On another note, I haven't posted lately but have been enjoying my car. Saturday night cruise in picture attached. It was snapped within a few minutes of arriving, and this was pretty much the standard sight for most of the time we were there. Amongst several dozen immaculately restored, detailed and resto-modded cars (including the Chevy with a 3x2 setup next to my car), my "old used car" sure does get a lot of looks. I love how many smiles and stories it evokes. "My neighbor/uncle/granddaddy/dad had one of these when I was a kid! I remember riding/falling asleep/having a blast in a car just like this!"

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