Looking for a Borg Warner Overdrive transmission guy. Has a number of questions on operating the overdrive. Rich
OK Just in case I need to ask: I want to operate the OD with the cable only. I want to lock it in OD and not use the soliniod, and in fact remove it. I want to shift it in and out with just the cable alone. Rich
You might read this first. Take your time till you really understand it. Then Jim’s comments will be obvious. http://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/TechData/BWOverdriveManual.pdf
The only things you can get away from are the governor and the kick down switch. You have to have a solenoid. I've used just the solenoid, and aftermarket cable, aftermarket relay and a toggle switch.
When you include all the parts that it was designed to use, it's a pleasure to drive. It's almost as if the engineers actually knew what they were doing.
As a couple have said, it won't work. Understand that the cable doesn't do the actual shifting; it's operation is simply to enable/disable the operation of the solenoid which does the actual shift. No solenoid, no shifting... The other typical thought is 'I'll have a six-speed trans' if shifted right. Not really... The OD reduces the gear ratio to 70% of whatever it is (virtually all B-W R10/R11 ODs use the .7 ratio AFAIK). As an example, a 2.57 1st gear ratio will now be 1.79 (2.57 X .7). But the average spread between the 'regular' first and second gears is about 62%, or only a 8% difference, barely enough to be noticeable. The spread between 2nd and 3rd 'standard' will be about the same. Any slight performance gain will be lost due to the time it takes to make the shift in and out of OD. Installed and used as-designed and in good operating order the B-W OD is a great 'cruising' transmission. Any changes only make it harder to use and risk damage if operated incorrectly.
If you pull the overdrive cable out at speed- catastrophic things will happen. I've driven lots of vehicles with the overdrive, feel free to send me a PM. Evan
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...3-customline-in-overdrive-around-town.350647/ With handle pulled out, the overdrive is "disabled" or locked out. In that condition it's exactly the same as any 3 speed/non O.D. car. That's just the way you should drive it "around town". With the handle IN, the O.D. is enabled but has nothing to do with operating it. With it enabled (and assuming it's functional) you accelerate to 26 m.p.h. (or more) and let up on the gas. At that speed the governor switch tells the shifting solenoid that it O.K. to shift. The solenoid then engages the planetary gearset in the O.D. Back on the gas and you're in O.D. To downshift, floor the gas pedal (against the kickdown switch)-the switch momentarily interrupts ignition to unload the transmission, and triggers the solenoid again-this time to DIS engage the planetary. The handle under the dash is NOT used for ordinary operation of the O.D. It is only there to enable or disable it.
The BW overdrive doesn't have a cone clutch arrangement like a Laycock de Normanville overdrive. It uses a blocker ring instead, which is basically a dog clutch. It doesn't have the same full-power clutchless shift potential as the Laycock design unless you seriously re-engineer it, in which case why not start with a Laycock unit?
I ran an overdrive for years with a toggle switch and a cable. I could use all six speeds even tho 1st over was not recommended. I had no other factory parts for kick downs and the like. I wasted to do a Saginaw 4 speed conversion for an 8 speed but never got around to it. Splitting the gears was a skill so you didn’t screw it up.
Back in college, I put a BW with O.D. in my '55 Chevy. I didn't have any of the related hardware. I fabricated a second shift lever that pivoted from the center bolt of my Hurst. The solenoid was activated by a toggle switch on the shift lever. As others have said, I could shift through each of the gears and add O.D. but the gear spread was almost the same as the transmission ratios. As a side note, I switched the rear end gears from 3.70 to 3.55s. Top speed and mileage stayed the same. But it wasn't as much fun to drive with the taller gear set. More recently, I built a Saginaw 4 speed and added the BW O.D. for my '37 Chevy with a 292 six. The idea was to relive a portion of my youth. A lot of fab followed. The shifter was a pain and there was no room to add a secondary lever, so a cable was utilized. After all that a friend gave me a T5 from a TransAm. I have obtained the proper S10 tail housing and the Saginaw will come out without ever being used. If anyone is interested in that unit, PM me.
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