Is this thing for real?

Seems too good to be true.

formatting link

Reply to
Georgia Studebaker
Loading thread data ...

formatting link
Sort of. This scan is from Dec.'51 Hot Rod Mag. There were several of these devices on the market in the early '50s. Another one was called Select-O-Drive, and was merely a floor mounted dimmer switch. You can do the same thing with a toggle switch wired from the governor to ground. With some method of grounding the governor right at your fingertips, you can 'shift' into or out of OD at any speed. The claim of clutchless shifting is somewhat true if you are moving, but are below governor cut-in speed due to the free wheeling feature. Using the device as an automatic hillholder is not a good idea. What they are doing is turning the OD switch 'on' when the car is at a stop on a hill. The transmission cannot turn backward in this mode, and the gears of the OD unit will eventually be damaged.

Reply to
Dwain G.

These units work great. Don't know how he gets hill holder qualities out of it unless it is by locking the car in a lower gear. I had this same unit on several cars. A 48 Studebaker, a 49 Merc, a 51 Ford, and

55 Ford. It connects in the wire that runs between the solenoid and governor on the overdrive unit. The selector in the overdrive position connects directly to ground so the car will shift into overdrive at any speed. In the freewheeling position there is no connection to ground, not even through the governor, so when you let off on the gas the car goes into freewheeling. In the automatic position the overdrive works in the normal fashion, shifting at 30 to 35 MPH.

You can have the 6 gears forward by connecting a wire from the governor wire to a switch that goes to ground. Then by putting the switch in the on position the overdrive will shift in at any speed, but you have to be sure that you don't have it locked in overdrive when you park where you can't back up. It won't come out of overdrive unless you go forward a little and you can't shift into reverse if the overdrive is locked in.

Reply to
55studecat

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.