standard vs. overdrive transmission

[Kory Fox]

I'm having Mr. Mcbride build me new wiring harnesses and he needs to know wether or not my transmission has overdrive. My dad says he thought it did but he also thought it had turn signals and after investigating further I found that it clearly didn't. The books I have only show dark exploded views of the transmission and I'm not sure. Also everything is removed from the interior and firewall so the stuff Mr. Mcbride told me to look for there aren't there to begin with. Can anyone point me to or post pictures of both types so I can figure this out?

Thanks,
Kory

[Fid]

If I remember correctly, your car is a 1948 Kaiser Special? If so, it would not have had overdrive originally as overdrive was only available on 1948 Kaiser Customs. If it did have overdrive, you would likely know. There would be a control cable under the dash. The original type cable (and if someone had added OD to the car there's no gaurantee they used original KF parts) has "OD" on it.

[Kory Fox]

Yes my car is a 48 Special. The dash is completely apart so I couldn't tell if the knob and cable existed or not since the body shop lost so many parts on me. I'm pretty sure it didn't have overdrive. My grandfather also had a 48 Frazer at one time and I suspect that my dad was remembering that car having overdrive and turn signals.

Kory

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Frazers in 1948 had turn signals as standard equipment and the majority of them had overdrive.  1948 Kaiser Specials had neither unless added aftermarket.  You can tell by looking at the transmission.  The 3 speed manual has a shorter case than manual with overdrive. There are pictures in the shop manual and the parts book.

[Fid]

couldn't tell if the knob and cable existed or not since the body shop lost so many parts on me.

To elaborate on this, it would be difficult to remove an overdrive cable. The knob does not come off seperately and the cable goes all the way from the dash down to the transmission so removal is quite a job. Of course, that doesn't mean they didn't do it! If you look at the transmission, an OD trans will be much longer as Jack points out and there will be a large solenoid on one side toward the back, with two wires on it. Also a lock out switch with wires on it and opposite the solenoid there will be a governor switch with a wire to it. In short, no pun intended, if there are no wires going to your transmission, it is not an overdrive type. An overdrive trans will have a number of wires going to it.

[Orphanauto]

Even if it doesn't have overdrive, since he is making a wiring harness, I would have the extra wires for the overdrive. I would suspect the harness would have had them anyway, but not sure. If you have the harness made with the wires, and later decide to add overdrive, it would be great to have the wires. The fuel milage you get with overdrive may save you enough to have it added. Of course that will depend on how much you use the car, as many people that own cars of these age only drive them on a nice summer saturday ect. If you drive the car alot, the overdrive will save on fuel, which with todays prices, may be alot of savings, Hence my advice, get the wiring harness made for it. If you don't have overdrive, the 2 (?) small wires, will not be in the way. Hope this helps you. Best of luck

[Fid]

The OD harness is completely separate. It's listed that way in the 1947/48 parts book so you probably don't need it.

[pnw_oldmags]

Mr McBride will have a difficult time making the OD Harness without your special connector that plugs into the OD Relay on the firewall.  And if you don't need to buy/find one of those connectors --- you do not want to. $$$$

[Fid]

The 47 - 50 KF cars don't use that plug. They used a different relay which had the individual wires fastened with bolts and star-washers. No connector needed.

[pnw_oldmags]

Now that is good news!!!

[HJ-ETEX]

Jim - if your 51-55 OD plug is bad, you replace it with a standard 3 prong headlight beam socket with a standard female spade connection for the 4th tab at the back. It isn't white, but it looks reasonably factory.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Let's settle this quick.  What is the TR number on the body tag?  It should be "2" which means 3-speed manual with no overdrive.  If you are still not sure, check out the pictures in the factory Service Manual.  It shows what the regular and overdrive types look like.  There is a SIGNIFICANT difference in appearance between the two types.

[Kory Fox]

Unfortunetly, as I discussed in an older thread, the body tag no longer exists because my body shop went out of business and I lost a bunch of stuff. They apparently removed it for painting and it never got put back on. I lost my exterior sun visor and a lot of other stuff too. Was lucky to get the car back I guess. But I have all ready figured out that the car did not have overdrive. I should be getting my harness back any day. He was supposed to ship it early last week but it hasn't showed up yet.

Kory