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Ok , so if the car is idling and I reach down and squeeze the kick switch , should the engine die ?
And if the kick switch is bad will it not let it go into OD or just not let it kick out ?

If the OD solenoid is not engaged or physically held in the engaged position, pushing the kick switch should not cause the engine to die. The kickdown function is a matter of careful timing by several parts. The other necessary components to provide a ground to short out the coil and kill the engine will not be active under normal conditions with the car just sitting so pushing the switch by itself will do nothing. To answer the second question of will a damaged switch prevent going into OD, short answer is possibly yes depending on where the damage is. Some added information might be presented in the following long winded explanation.

Here is the kickdown function for the R11 overdrive. R9 is is a bit different because it has more electrical parts.

When the R11 car is in OD, the solenoid is engaged and ground to the ign cutout circuit is provided by a set of now closed contacts in the solenoid. The ground cannot get past an open set of contacts in the kickdown switch at this point so nothing will happen at the engine.

When kickdown is desired, pushing the accelerator to the floor moves the kickdown switch plunger and performs two functions in rapid succession. First, the set of contacts at the two terminals nearest the plunger open cutting the ground coming from the governor thru the lockout switch to the relay which drops out the relay cutting power to the solenoid. The solenoid also starts to drop out but cannot complete that action because of torque pressure holding the pawl in the sun gear.

Just after the relay contacts in the kickdown switch open to release the relay, the second set or cutout contacts in the kickdown sw are closed and will pass the ground coming from the solenoid on to the coil distributor terminal shorting out the pulses from the points. That action will cause the engine to miss a few sparks and that loss of power and torque will let the spring in the solenoid pull the pawl out of the OD releasing the sun gear. Almost as soon as the pawl clears the sun gear the contacts providing ground from the solenoid to the ign cutout circuit open again removing the ground from the coil and lets the engine resume firing. The pawl being out of the sun gear means no overdrive and you can do the passing, mechanical lockout or whatever else you needed to do without overdrive.

As soon as the accelerator is relaxed a small amount the kickdown switch starts to move back to the rest position. First action will be to open the ign cutout ground path again preventing any farther danger of shorting out the ignition. Continued movement of the plunger, assuming the OD knob was not pulled to lock out OD, will re-establish the other ground path still coming from the governor to bring the relay in again. The relay provides power to the solenoid which tries to come in again but is blocked by a mechanical part in the OD.

When the driver finally wants to go back into OD, then assuming he did not do a full lockout of pulling out the knob at the last kickdown he lets off on the accelerator which causes the engine to slow but lets the rear wheels keep going at speed. The slight difference in speed between engine rpm and rear axle makes gears in the OD reverse direction for a moment moving the mechanical part which was preventing the pawl from reaching the sun gear out of the way. With the mechanical part out of the path the solenoid can complete the engagement and when the accelerator is pushed again the car is back in OD. Ground to the ign cutout circuit is provided thru the solenoid again and is at the ready for the next time kickdown is desired.

Thanks for the explanation , I’m checking every component and wiring and making sure all is well . I did however find a inconspicuous ground wire that was grounded to the frame from the governor . I repaired it so I’ll take it back out and see if it works .