Overdrive Questions?

[Ford_Crazy]

I have decided to use my T85 R-11 overdrive transmission behind a 390 in my 1957 custom.  I will not be speed shifting or racing.  I don't have any parts other than the tranny and a manual overdrive cable and bracket.  I will be manually locking out the overdrive around town and for normal driving. I want to be able to switch the transmission into overdrive and leave it there for turnpike driving only. I do not care if the car downshifts in and out of overdrive for passing. Do I have to use a relay to activate the O/D solenoid or can I switch it with 12V direct?  I want to use the overdrive just to cut down the gear for highway driving.   If I manually power the solenoid in this way, will the tranny work as I described?  Thanks!

[Hoosier Hurricane]

Yes, you can run 12 volts directly to the solenoid, bypassing the relay and governor circuits.

John

[Ford_Crazy]

Thanks for the reply.  How about this?  I bypass everything and rig up a 12v switch directly from the battery to the solenoid.  When I turn on the switch, I assume the transmission will shift into overdrive on the first rotation and stay in overdrive until I turn the switch off.   When I leave the turnpike, I will flip the switch and pull out the manual override to go back to direct drive.  If this works, does it hurt anything to start off in 1st overdrive.  I suspect that I will have to be careful or the overdrive will be history. Think it will work?

[57 Ford Kustom]

I may be wrong but think that overdrive will not engage until 25 or 30 MPH. Also do not run the switch straight from the battery , run it from the ign. switch so it will not run the battery down if forgotten.


TOM

[Hoosier Hurricane]

Tom:

You may have misread his post.  By running a hot wire directly to the solenoid, the governor is bypassed.  The governor is what controls the shift at 25-30 mph.  You are right about running the wire through the ignition switch so it can't be left on accidentally.

John

[Ford_Crazy]

Got it on the ignition switch wire.  Thanks for the input. It will be interesting to see how it works.

[57 Ford Kustom]

John
   You are correct I read the post than posted my answer about hour later it came to me that you said that he can buypass the governor .  My bad,  thanks for the correction the old brain is not as fast as it was years ago.


TOM

[JimNolan]

flawebmaster,
      It would be interesting to know what differential gear ratio your running. I ran that overdrive setup in my car and it was one of the sweetest factory setups I'd ever seen. I wish I hadn't got a bug up my ass to change it now. The drag racing periodically just made it too demanding on the T85. The transmission shifted into high at 28mph and shifted back to low at 22mph. When it came to down shifting with the accelerator switch (passing) it would feel just like an automatic transmission with no more time involved with shifting than a good automatic transmission would have.
     My advice is to hook it up like your talking about but be looking for the parts to put it together like the factory did. When I first got my car it was hooked up like you're talking about doing but it was as much difference as night and day driving when it's hooked up as intended.
     O yes, I forgot. The reason I wanted to know what your rear gear was, was because if it's very low I'd think you would be working your ass off trying to keep up with the transmission if it's changed manually. Even in city driving. Jim

[Ford_Crazy]

At this time I have the stock 3.70 open gears.  I plan to run those until I can get the car on the road and see how it runs. The car is in for paint right now and only God and the painter know how long it will be there.  My painter is great, but the car is going to be all black and he is very slooooooooooooow.  But good...

[JimNolan]

flawebmaster,
      I run a 3.70 posi and that's low. I'm going to be selling my T85/R11 and the overdrive switchs and wiring soon. The way you are getting ready to hook up your transmission if perfectly OK. What I'm trying to convey is the original setup will make you wonder why all manual transmissions weren't built this way. Borg Warner had a fantastic overdrive transmission set-up with a lousy shifting mechanizum. John ( Hoosier Hurricane  ) tried to tell me I couldn't make that transmission work for drag racing, $1200 dollars in gears and rebuild kits later I found out he was right. You still have to have a good overdrive solenoid and speed governor to make the transmission work properly. With luck, yours will be OK.
     Make me an offer on the overdrive switchs and wiring, you'll find I'm easy to get along with. I'll never go back to the T85 because I'll never lift my foot off the accelerator again during a drag race. Jim

[Ol Ford Guy]

Hey Jim,
I might be interested in your T-85...I'm in Warsaw now and will call you later.
Paul J.