Is an Overdrive avail for 1947 Sedan?

[Vintage Copper 47]

I was out on the freeway this weekend and was cruising along b/t 60-62 mph and my flathead six motor hummed just fine; but seemed to be in the mid to high range on the rpms.. just wondering if they made an overdrive for the 3 on a tree transmission.

[cas3]

lots of things are possible. all except for a columbia rear would require major drive line mods. none are cheap. if you are a fabricator, theres the mitchel overdrive, the t5 trans, the old borg warner stuff, etc. all are expencive,

[Kurt in NJ]

The "factory" option is the columbia

[Bursonaw]

The Columbia two speed rear axle was offered as an option. The installation is pretty much a straight bolt in process. It just takes some time as it is a complete disassembly of the rear end and reassembly with the overdrive components. If you can find original controls little or no modifications will be required. If you get aftermarket controls you will have to mount the control valve. I have installed two complete Columbia's, one in each of my cars. Not a weekend project or a cheep way to go, but well worth the effort.


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[slowforty]

I was discussing Overdrive and Two-speed rear ends the other day. Give that the average V-8 driver might drive 500 miles in a season. $500 to $2500 for an overdrive or Columbia
set-up, might be better spent on gas or other improvement for your car.

[TJ]

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Check your rear end ratio. Look on the bottom rib of the rear end housing for two numbers. Divide the small number into the big number and that will give you the ratio. You may have 4.11s with a 6 cylinder. If you have 4.11s all you would need to do is change rear end gears to 3.78. Those gears are readily available and much cheaper than a Columbia or Mitchell overdrive. You might even find a complete rear end for $200-300.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Vintage Copper 47

I was out on the freeway this weekend and was cruising along b/t 60-62 mph and my flathead six motor hummed just fine; but seemed to be in the mid to high range on the rpms.. just wondering if they made an overdrive for the 3 on a tree transmission.

I have to ask... "are the brakes authentic"?

[Vintage Copper 47]

I upgraded to Lincoln "bendix" style brakes.. way worth the money.. this car, though not a daily driver, is a roadworthy vehicle that will be driven to events in Los Angeles, Riverside, and Ventura Counties and other areas within a 150 mile range. So yeah I will average at least 2000 miles a year.. My transmission needs some work & new motor mounts, my trans guy should be able to swap out the gears..
I will check to see if I have the taller gears.

[Vintage Copper 47]

That option... getting 3;78 gears might be the way to go.. but getting a factory "Columbia" option would be fine.

[Ingram 33vicky]

My 46 wagon is running a 3:78 with a Columbia. Very nice running about 60 - 65 on freeway. Major Columbia parts are available, the original controls are expensive. The mount for the controls on a flathead 6 are rare as hens teeth. Controls can be fabricated if you are not stuck on being "period correct" I have been very lucky to have all the period correct controls and have not seen another set.
Paul

[mrtexas]

I recommend the Mitchell OD. Installs in an afternoon. You might have to modify your trunk floor. Call Mitchell and ask them. $2,500. My 36 and 41 woodies did not require floor mods.

[jake197000]

I have 2 cars with correct columbias love em Mitchell is good too I just like the authenticness of a Columbia.

[Vintage Copper 47]

Thanks for all the input guys.. I am still playing catch-up with my cash flow after the holidays.. and most of my off duty work will be drying up soon.. so as soon as I get some more money saved up.. I will look into it! Thanks again.

WALT

[Kube]

Originally Posted by jake197000

I have 2 cars with correct columbias love em Mitchell is good too I just like the authenticness of a Columbia.

"authenticness"?

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Vintage Copper 47

Thanks for all the input guys.. I am still playing catch-up with my cash flow after the holidays.. and most of my off duty work will be drying up soon.. so as soon as I get some more money saved up.. I will look into it! Thanks again.

WALT

Walt, When you are closer to pulling the proverbial trigger, let me know. I have complete and rebuilt Columbia's with all proper controls for your model and am quite certain I have the proper bracket for the 6 cylinder.

[Vintage Copper 47]

Thanks Kube.. will do so...

[Ol' Ron]

I think The Mitchall is the way to go. The Columbia is nice but not as reliable, parts are scarce. Unfortunately, both are expensive. 3.54 gears would be the cheapest, but you might want to consider raising the CR, if you do anything.

[Vintage Copper 47]

Originally Posted by TJ

Check your rear end ratio. Look on the bottom rib of the rear end housing for two numbers. Divide the small number into the big number and that will give you the ratio. You may have 4.11s with a 6 cylinder. If you have 4.11s all you would need to do is change rear end gears to 3.78. Those gears are readily available and much cheaper than a Columbia or Mitchell overdrive. You might even find a complete rear end for $200-300.

I crawled under today... the bottom rib of the diff housing has NO numbers.. if they were there, the have been "mashed" from driving over curbs or something.. basically it looks like there used to be something marked on the bottom rib.. but now.. indiscernible blob marks...

Any suggestions on where else these rear end ratio numbers may be?

WALT

[Jason in TX]

FYI - Thrid gear is always 1 to 1 in a stock ford transmission. Switching to Lincoln gears or taller transmission gears give you longer time spent in 1st and 2nd gear. 3rd gear is like a stock Ford car.

No other numbers stamped anywhere for rear end ratio. You could pull the speedo gear housing, put a mark on the gear with a paint pen and have someone rotate the rear wheel while you watch under the car and say stop when you see the dot again. If it goes around 3.11 times, you have a 4.11 rear. If it goes around 3.78 times, you have a 3.78 rear.

[Vintage Copper 47]

Ok... I guess that would work... I only want to know because I need to replace the speedo gear housing.. and the parts guy needs to know.. I could order one of each or pull the old one and compare?

[edhd58]

I put 3.54 gears in my 42, it now cruises 65 to 70 with not much effort and still lugs good in second gear a low low speeds. It has the G 226 six cylinder.

[blucar]

Re-gearing the rear end from 4.11 to 3.78 is not much of a solution for good everyday driving, an overdrive give a vehicle the ultimate option of having multiple ratio's when needed.
The Columbia two speed actually has six speeds forward, where-as overdrive transmissions do not. My '36 had a Columbia in it when I bought the car in '52, I converted it to a '42-48 unit with the later model controls in '55. I have never had an issue with my Columbia in 95k miles of operation. The gear ratio in my rear-end is 3.78.
I have driven the car in daily traffic on the So Cal freeways and the open highway between Ventura and Idaho, 980 miles of non-stop driving at 70 plus mph. I have also street raced the car when I was younger, again never an issue with the Columbia, however, I did waste several transmissions.

[Vintage Copper 47]

Originally Posted by edhd58

I put 3.54 gears in my 42, it now cruises 65 to 70 with not much effort and still lugs good in second gear a low low speeds. It has the G 226 six cylinder.

Using this chart from the "green"book, according to the turtle number on my speedo drive of 19, with my stock 6.00x16 tires, it says I have a 3.78 rear end.. after replacing the motor mounts, I have got the car up to 65 cruising with no problems.. so if I really want an overdrive, it can wait!

[Jefscoupe]

I realize this is a few months old but I have a couple Ford OD trans.
The car they came with was a 48, is that when the OD transmission came out?
Will a V8 trans fit a 6? 48 fit a 47?

[40cpe]

Ford didn't offer an overdrive in the '48 cars. If yours has one the car has been modified. A picture of the transmission would help identify it's type/vintage.

[Vintage Copper 47]

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Originally Posted by Jefscoupe

I realize this is a few months old but I have a couple Ford OD trans.
The car they came with was a 48, is that when the OD transmission came out?
Will a V8 trans fit a 6? 48 fit a 47?

I am not sure.. I do know the bell housing to the motors are different for six cylinder engines.. but i think the rears are the same, as they use the same transmission..

[Jefscoupe]

The transmissions I have came with the 48 I had. They weren't IN it.
I don't know what they came out of.
I can say one is an open driveshaft side-shift model. The other is buried under a bunch of flathead parts right now.

[1931 flamingo]

Millington,TN.................NAS Memphis.............65-66

Paul in CT

[rotorwrench]

Lincoln had the Borg Warner electric overdrive a good bit before the 49 models came out but you can really tell those old Lincoln boxes due to their long length and large aft mount set up since they were still a torque tube drive. You don't see too many of them out there for sale now days and they never made one for a 6-cylinder. A person would still have to do some mods to make one of those long rascals work with a V8.

Changing the rear axle ratio is the least expensive way to go. Those old 226 6-cylinders will pull near as good as a V8. They certainly have plenty of torque.

[blucar]

The big problem with re-gearing a differential, and/or installing oversize tires to increase ratio and lower RPMs is that the vehicle only has one ratio that might be fine for open road driving, however, in the city and/or mountains the vehicle will lack power requiring running the vehicle in second gear.
An over drive provides the best of two worlds, high gear ratio for open road use and low gearing when power is needed in the city or mountains.
I know several people that have fallen into this trap of not knowing that an OD vehicle has to have low differential gears in order to work properly...
A modern SUV/pickup will have 3.42 gearing with a conventional trans, an OD trans will have 3.73... The Ford F100's of the mid/late '50's had on the average 3.72 ratio with a standard trans, an OD trans had 3.89 which was the same ratio as a F100 4 x 4 .

[Vintage Copper 47]

Originally Posted by blucar

The big problem with re-gearing a differential, and/or installing oversize tires to increase ratio and lower RPMs is that the vehicle only has one ratio that might be fine for open road driving, however, in the city and/or mountains the vehicle will lack power requiring running the vehicle in second gear.
An over drive provides the best of two worlds, high gear ratio for open road use and low gearing when power is needed in the city or mountains.
I know several people that have fallen into this trap of not knowing that an OD vehicle has to have low differential gears in order to work properly...
A modern SUV/pickup will have 3.42 gearing with a conventional trans, an OD trans will have 3.73... The Ford F100's of the mid/late '50's had on the average 3.72 ratio with a standard trans, an OD trans had 3.89 which was the same ratio as a F100 4 x 4 .

So that being said Blucar, Having 3:78 gears may be perfect when I add an overdrive (columbia or mitchell)..?

[jake197000]

i have 3:78 gears and a columbia in my 46 coupe and just love it. drivin it to a couple central meets great on the highway.

[Automotive Stud]

Originally Posted by Vintage Copper 47

So that being said Blucar, Having 3:78 gears may be perfect when I add an overdrive (columbia or mitchell)..?

I have a mitchell in my '47 coupe. I did have to notch the floor under the back seat a tad. I'd still prefer it to sourcing parts for a columbia. I have the 30% and I love it, it's been in there about ten years now.