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I just bought a 51 200 Deluxe with a 327 (added) and a 3 speed on the column. I believe it has an overdrive as I can see the solenoid towards the rear of the transmission. There is an unmarked pull knob to the right of the steering column towards the bottom of the dash. Is that the overdrive selector? If not what should I look for?

Your 51 will have the R11 overdrive and here are the instructions as published when the unit was introduced in mid 48. While the instructions refer to a 22nd series 49 model, the operation is identical on your car.

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Thank you Howard.

Howard, thank you from me, too, but I’ve never pulled my OD out with the car moving. I would need a couple belts before I would be rolling along at,say, 40mph, floor the pedal to drop into the engine roar of passing gear, then reach down and pull out the OD lock out cable. Assuming this is the same for R9 ODs, has any braver soul actually tried this?

Do not try this with an R9 or R6. You can however push the knob in at any time.

Where would I find the Kick down switch for the overdrive? I saw it on the wiring diagram, but couldn't find it in the engine compartment. I did find the relay and three disconnected wires that are in about the right place for the kick down switch.

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The kickdown sw goes in the hole in the accelerator pivot bracket. For an R11 there should be 4 wires hanging around.

You can get a universal replacement switch at Napa that works but I believe it has a longer and smaller diameter threaded stem from the original. If there is only one nut in the box you might have to provide an extra or some kind of spacer and washers if the hole is so large the nut doesn't have a good solid place to grab. You may need to fiddle with the adjustment a bit. When the accelerator is fully depressed the switch plunger must also be depressed enough to break the lower set of contacts and make the upper set. If the switch adjustment is off and lets it change too soon the OD will also kickdown sooner than desired.

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Thank you Howard. I have seen them on ebay as well. The unit is an R11? I don't know-haven't gotten that far yet.

You should have the R11 overdrive in your 51. Packard used the semi electric R6 overdrive in 39, the fully electric R9 from 40 to mid 48 and the much simpler in both mechanical and electrical operation R11 from mid 48 until the end.

Externally the easiest way to tell the difference between an R9 and R11 without climbing under the car is to look at the relay in the engine compartment. R9 relays are square black boxes almost the size of the voltage regulator and have 6 terminals while the R11 relay is a smaller usually a silver or natural metal colored rectangle with 4 terminals and a fuse on the side.

Under the car the R9 solenoid and lockout cable is on the right side while the R11 has them on the left side.

The aftermarket kickdown switch could be made to work for both units but wiring is different. The R9 would only use the two terminals nearest the plunger while the R11 needs all 4.

There is a relay on the firewall that looks like a voltage regulator with a fuse on the outside. It looks like one of the wires is mossing as there are only 3 wires. I will look at the schematic to trtace where it should come from. Thanks again, Tracy.