Henry J

[Jim B PEI]

As was suggested to me many years ago for my 49 Kaiser Special, if you do get an overdrive do yourself a favour and keep the R/A with the straight shift ratio, which is something that would not have come from the factory without a special order I think. Instead of having peppier pickup from a stop as well as higher top speed with lower revs, which was the intent of having a numerically higher ratio standard with overdrives in the 40-50s, you end up with all the benefit at the upper end in much lower revs. Unless you are running on exact size bias tires, your shorter modern radial tires are increasing the revs a bit anyway, so this more than offsets that. Cooler running, more reasonable modern highway speeds, and likely better mileage and longer Continental life.

As many of you might know, when you have a car with overdrive and it ISN'T working, what was passable becomes unusable. My 57 Studebaker Champion w/OD (not working) has a useful highway speed of 45, maybe. When my V8 Wagonaire's overdrive wasn't working, it was hot and busy at 50-55, but now can cruise at 65 like a cucumber sandwich

[Jim B PEI]

ETHANOL:
Where to begin? At our last Atlantic Canada Club SDC, we had a representative from NAACC (Canadian equivalent to SEMA) give a talk about ethanol and some related issues. We are in a bit of a pickle here as one of our two regional refineries is located in a province (New Brunswick) where 10% ethanol has been mandated very shortly, and they supply other provinces (like PEI)  as well. So, regular will have 10%, premium will have 0% (for now) and mid-grade will be a mix ie 5%. They are NOT going to do a specail non-ethanol version just for us.By now everyone is aware that ethanol is poison to older cars unless many of the internals are changed, and usually the focus is on rubber and gaskets as such, but damage to VALVES and also pistons as well as taking out needles & seats, carburetors and gas tank liners shouldn't be overlooked. Well, 10% makes gasoline unusable for any car before 2001. So, besides all my antique cars, I will have to run my 88 Jeep Wagoneer on expen$ive premium ga$ as well. Obviously, I won't be using that "maybe 20mpg" vehicle more than about 1,000 km a year now, since premium here is now over $5 per US gallon size, or $1.33.2 Litre at the cheapest self-serve price. It costs me $5.00 just to go get gas and return home!

[darrin145]

Try this website - www.startron.com.  I use it in all 37 cars and it works! I have no affiliation with the makers, I'm just really happy with it! Another product to try is "mechanic in a bottle", it saved my snowblower this past winter!

Gary, aka darrin145.

[HJ-ETEX]

You guys!!! I have a 61 2WD Willys Station wagon with a 134 F-Head. Pretty rare according to the production numbers with good reason. It has a 5:38 rearend ratio. I drove it to the Nashville KF National and back. (Back was non-stop 22 hours because there weren't any motel rooms available on the route. Also ran out of gas on a lonely stretch of highway 15 miles from home, but I had carried 2 gallons for such an emergency.) If the OD had not worked, it would have taken much more hours because I would have been driving between 40 and 45 instead of 60mph. BTW, gas mileage was about 16 mpg. WOW! I should have had a V8.

[Jim B PEI]

Startron is available in Canada from Canadian Tire, it seems.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The final gear ratio for overdrive equipped HJ's with 4.55:1 rear axles should come out to around 3.25-3.55:1, or in the vicinity of a Kaiser with Hydra-Matic.  This is based on Borg-Warner service information that suggests a reduction of 25-30% or so (remember I am not a mechanic and do not claim to be; only that I have a lot of information in my collection of stuff).  Willys suggested a 5.34:1 ratio with Jeep Station Wagons equipped with the flathead 4 and o/d, which would be down in the 3.7 - 4.00:1 range. 

As I see it, the objective is to keep engine revs down to reduce wear and tear on the engine.  This also helps reduce (modestly) the amoung of gasoline burned per mile, producing slightly better MPG than straight shift.  How you drive a vehicle is an additional contributing factor.

As for Kaisers or Frazers (226 engine) with overdrive and a regular stick shift ratio, work out the numbers and see how far below (if any) a ratio of 3.31:1 you end up with.  This is a significant point as this was the lowest gearing you could get (1953 model year) mating a 226 up to Hydra-Matic (dual range type which would allow you to disengage the direct drive ratio for hilly driving and other load conditions).  Go down too far and you will have even more trouble doing hills than you may have presently.

[Jim B PEI]

Borg-Warner overdrives were 0.7 for Studebakers, and I think that they would have been the same standard style unit for Kaisers too, so a 30% reduction I would think. When I had a Suzuki Sidekick clone (Pontiac Sunrunner) the shift from 3 to 5 was the same ratio, and similarly 2nd to 4th ISTR ie, 3rd=3000 = 5th 2100.

B-W chose it for a reason. There is something about that ratio that seems to fit gasoline engines of the old school type, such as flatheads. Dropping from power peak to hi torque range. It was spot on for Studebakers to use 0.7

[Fid]

Some late 40s / early 50s Studebakers (I don't recall the exact models) used a variation of the same trans (BW T-96) that was used in the J and many parts interchange.  If you've ever had one apart and operated it by hand, you can see where the 30% reduction in engine speed comes from. There is a stationary gear (sun gear) and there are 3 small gears (planetary gears) coupled together inside a "cage" which rotates around the sun gear. When the 'cage' assembly turns, the planetary gears turn on the sun gear in synch with each other, and together they drive a ring gear. This results in that ring gear turning one rotation for every .7 rotations of the 'cage' gear set.  I took some video of one that I had apart years ago, to illustrate how this concept works. Maybe I should convert it to digital and post it on Youtube as it is really slick how it works.  It's also pretty obvious that  you don't have a lot of torque when you're in overdrive.

[Jim B PEI]

I usually drive "around town" with the overdrive locked out to have engine braking and save the overdrive unit on the V8 Wagonaire. Besides, it isn't good to lug a 259 that much.

[HJ-ETEX]

1) BW literature suggests their OD unit provides a 30% overdrive function so one calculation says a 4:55 ratio gets reduced to 3:00. Studebaker at some time claimed a 33% function but as far as I know, there is no difference in parts. You can use a Stude Champion T96 OD trans in a HJ by changing the nose piece - the flange the throw out bearing slides on.
2) My quick arithmetic says 30% on 5:38 gives 3:78. I believe my Willys SW came with 15 inch tires - in fact, Goodyear Self Sealing 15 inch tires. There isn't even a mount for a spare like on my 56 4WD station wagon.
3) OD has a benefit you may not have thought of for urban traffic. With a 4.55 ratio and not much of a load you can leave the transmission in 2nd gear for stop light to stop light traffic. 

[HJ-ETEX]

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.

[Jim B PEI]

HJ-ETEX has it about right. OD rarely resulted in higher top speed. In fact, if I remember all my car mags from the 50-60s, a lot of the British results showed a HIGHER top speed in straight 4th compared to overdrive 4th, as an example.

Also, if gas mileage was a primary concern (yes in Europe where it was always relatively expensive compared to North America) it would be structured differently, such as having the SAME rear end ratio for both straight gears and overdrive, so that there would be less benefit of the lower gears=better acceleration at the expense of mileage.

I have a general impression of the early 50s mags that overdrive was a desirable option for those who liked 'a touring car with calmness and class'  ie less noise and heat, at cruising speed. The US magazines were completely different from the British ones in their take on things. I especially like the British period reviews of Kaiser-Frazer products that have been reprinted and been available in book format.

[Jim B PEI]

1) BW literature suggests their OD unit provides a 30% overdrive function so one calculation says a 4:55 ratio gets reduced to 3:00. Studebaker at some time claimed a 33% function but as far as I know, there is no difference in parts. You can use a Stude Champion T96 OD trans in a HJ by changing the nose piece - the flange the throw out bearing slides on.
2) My quick arithmetic says 30% on 5:38 gives 3:78. I believe my Willys SW came with 15 inch tires - in fact, Goodyear Self Sealing 15 inch tires. There isn't even a mount for a spare like on my 56 4WD station wagon.
3) OD has a benefit you may not have thought of for urban traffic. With a 4.55 ratio and not much of a load you can leave the transmission in 2nd gear for stop light to stop light traffic. 

Offhand, and I cannot remember WHICH model, Studebaker DID have an overdrive with 33%. It was something out of the ordinary, so I'm thinking that it was the T85 (very heavy duty) equipped Golden and Packard Hawks, and perhaps some Presidents with the T85, compared to the T86 which was the normal transmission for V8s. The light duty was T96 used with six and low output V8 (232, 224 and some early 259 ISTR). Both the T96 and T86 have 30%.

Overdrive function has yet another benefit in stop and go, and moving but very slow traffic. If you are constantly under the governor speed which is usually in the range of 30 to 35 mph, with the freewheeling which was part of the BW setup, you can shift gears (and coast smoothly as well with the engine at idle if you wish) 1st to second and even third without using the clutch once you start off. I've actually had the opportunity to use that function several times in the Wagonaire, and it makes for a much less tired left leg after an hour or two I can tell you!

[HJ-ETEX]

Younger people not be familiar with OD, specifically the Borg Warner unit, may not know where it would be a disadvantage. You would would find it helpful if you drove medium to long distances on flat relatively straight highways. It is down right dangerous in hilly or mountainous regions because of the freewheeling function (no engine braking). And while you can engage it while moving (push in the OD cable), you have to come to a complete stop to disengage it (pull out the cable) or you will damage the transmission. You could be driving on a straight and apparently level stretch of highway and suddenly be surprised when the road drops down and becomes twisty and you have to decide whether to stop (if there is a shoulder) and lock out the OD or hope your brakes are up to the task. I am thinking of a particularly nasty drop off on I25 in Colorado which was no doubt scarier when the the road was old US85.
So OD would be of questionable value in the Northeast and predominately mountainous areas.
Strangely enough, the cost of the BW unit ran between $100 and $108 for all the cars I have seen price lists - not a lot of variation in price - even though they were added to a variety of transmissions and quite a lot of the trans were not BW units either.

[Fid]

Here's the invoice for the Henry J my dad owns. It lists overdrive at $96.01