Henry J

[Jim B PEI]

One method of 'locking out' overdrive when moving has been mentioned at various times by both Kaiser and Studebaker folk, about what to do in a suddenly hilly scenario. I give no guarantee that you will not wreck your transmission, and I have never done it myself, but for what it is worth.....

In overdrive (assume in third gear) shove the gas pedal down hard and hold it down tight to engage the kickdown mechanism and hold it in direct, and while it is in 3rd direct instead of overdrive, pull the lever all the way out of lock the transmission in direct and keep overdrive from re-engaging when you let up on the gas pedal.

[Fid]

I've seen that method demonstrated once. It worked.  I have never had the guts to try it myself.

[Fid]

As I reread the entires here, it occurs to me that the original purpose of Overdrive has not been stated. You may think the purpose was to reduce gas consumption, but it wasn't. It doesn't necessarily make the top speed on the car higher either. It does reduce wear on the engine, but that was a side benefit. Actually, the purpose of OD was to reduce the noise from the engine and drive train. Less rpms at high speed made less noise.

Apparently KF promoted the other benefits of OD when they offered it.  This piece of HJ literature mentions the fuel economy and reduced engine wear and tear but makes no mention of reduced engine noise.

I know they mention the reduced engine noise in one source but I don't remember where I saw it. Also, on the J, the '52-'54 four cylinder cars and the 6 cylinder without overdrive used the ball and trunion type U-joints, to reduce vibration, whereas the six with OD used the standard cross and yoke type so they did realize the benefits of reduced engine noise in that they could use the cheaper U-joints on the 6 cyls that were OD equipped.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Because overdrive reduced engine load compared to straight manual, it took fewer revs to hit the same speed as in regular 3-speed mode.  That would normally mean the engine would not be as loud compared to straight stick.