[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Yeah, they work great together, ....if that is what the goal is. To me it solely depends on how you drive. Split-shifting with an overdrive works very well which effectively gives you 6 forward gears. Even if you had 15 forwards gears like some 18-wheelers do, would you have the perfect gear ratio all the time? Since I do not know the hill your friend speaks of, I cannot pass judgment however shifting back to 2nd with a non-synchro-ed transmission is easy enough to do if you know how. Using 2nd gear in O/D makes pulling a hill seem effortless.

Ironically, I hear about folks talk where they have an overdrive and an engine with a Tour regrind cam and they speak about how they must shift. If you have a good original or a Stipe IB series cam, then the torque of that cam allows the engine to lug down where the RPMs are low enough that it is super easy to drop back to 2nd. I say if you have the $4300, then go for it. Rarely do you ever hear of folks who removed their Mitchell O/D or Synchro unit because they did not like it!!