I am in search of a Borg Warner R10 Overdrive but I am not sure what EXACTLY what I am looking for. reason: my vehicle has a Mechanical Speedo, E-Brake on the passenger side, and shifter on top middle of 3 speed I believe. anyone have ideas what exactly I need to search for? I have found a few on E-bay for $1000 up to $2500 and am not sure if they will work. I see some pressure switch's on some with two electrical ports and am not sure what those are for on the Tranny. thanks for the insight.
The R10 overdrive was fitted to many different transmissions. Each version is made to fit that transmission, with the correct transmission mainshaft, and bolt pattern that fits the rear of the transmission, and the correct output shaft and spline to work with the driveshaft. So, an R10 for a Chevy wont fit on a Ford, nor a Studbaker, nor a Hudson, nor a Packard, nor a Dodge. If your transmission was never offered with an R10, then you'll need to modify the output shaft (if possible), and figure out how to bolt the overdrive to the transmission case. It might be easier to adapt a transmission that has an R10 overdrive on it, already, to fit your car.
I must be getting older, I never payed more than $150 for a 3sp+OD. There are 2 versions, an R10 and an R11. The R11 is the heavy duty version and was found behind motors such as Ford's 427 in Galaxies and other full size cars. I believe Chevy used the R11 in truck applications like the Suburban too. The R10 is still plenty strong, and can handle up to a 350 ci motor with out too much abuse. I did strip the teeth off of 1st gear on an T89-R10 unit with a 351W, doing a clutch drop and hard launch, so it does have its limits. The best thing to do is find a complete trans and OD unit with bellhousing for the engine you want to run it with. I ran one that came out of a 289 Galaxie behind the 351W in my '51 Ford F-1. Had to use a mid 70's Dodge clutch disc to match the transmissions input shaft spline to the bigger 351W truck clutch plate. The only connections you need to worry about are the governor and electric solenoid. There are plenty of threads on here on how to wire one up. It can range from simply actuating the solenoid with a push button switch, or more complex and effectively making it a semi automatic transmission like Packard and the other manufacturers did.
There can be differences to the transmission case it's self. So an overdrive unit might not bolt to a none overdrive transmission. You'd be better off starting with a complete overdrive transmission assembly. -Dave
A R-10 is typically on a column shift 3 speed trans. If you wish to keep the top shift and hand brake set-up you need to find a ‘34 to 38 Chrysler or DeSoto trans with overdrive.
I've got two 3 speed O/D trans' currently behind OCM Mercs. One is an earlier unit with the partial bell housing built into the trans. The other is a later unit which uses a conventional bell housing. Both units are complete with governors and solenoids. My guess is they are 6 volt. Condition unknown but a hell of a lot cheaper than $1000 to $2500. PM me if interested. Just a short drive up the 15 from SD.
Ford o/d transmissions are cheaper and easier to find for some reason, Chevy ones are more money and harder to find especially the later sync'd ones. What are you trying to mate it to.
I just found an 82-87 chevy T-5 5 speed with Mechanical speedo in L.A. that will work with Vintage Metalworks adapter. the guy wants $1300 for tranny and the adapter kit is a few hundred. that is what I was thinking of going with and buying today or tomorrow.
$1300 sounds like a lot for an S-10 five speed (non-world class), even if it does have the mechanical speedometer tailshaft housing. The exception is of course, is if the trans is newly rebuilt. Also as Squirrel says that particular trans may not have the best gearing. The S-10 tailshaft housing can be swapped onto any other T-5 if want a different gear set and the forward shifter location. Kato Kings here on the HAMB can convert the electronic speedo tailshaft housing to mechanical. There also aftermarket speedo drive units that read from the electronic pick-up.
1300 REBUILT is what I have found after looking for about 2 months now. I have seen there is an electronic speedo to Mechanical attachment that is sold. but am not sure of price. anyone have leads on one cheaper?
If you trust the seller and/or re-builder and the trans is what they say it is, then 1300 is probably not a bad price. Normally I would suggest you look for a trans the usual places, but it sounds like you have already done that. A speedo drive is about $3-400 depending where you get it. It would give you some flexibility in choosing a trans. You may be able to find a later trans with the electronic drive considerably cheaper than the one you have found. https://www.google.com/search?q=ele...gILQ&biw=1366&bih=625#spd=2680085457569725915
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