Ok so I have been gifted a 3 speed OD out of a '55 Fairlane and have heard of running a 3 way toggle for the engaging of the overdrive. Has anybody successfully pulled this off and if so a bit of advice will be greatly appreciated. Trans does have the solenoid and I did ride in the car before it was removed a year ago and it seemed to run like a champ. Thank you all in advance.

Triple Sevens CC
Central California

If you wish to bypass the governor all you really need to do is energize the solenoid to get the overdrive to engage. So a switch and a relay will do it for you. If you search the subject on the HAMB you will find pages of different wiring suggestions . You will of course still need the lock out cable or at least wire the lock out lever in the engaged position.
With all of that said the way the factory system works the transmission will drop out of od below 28 mph. Without that feature should you forget to turn the overdrive off and attempt to back up with the od still engaged you will destroy the overdrive unit.

Why a 3 way toggle? A 2 way works fine. You can wire it direct to the solenoid off the ACC terminal of the IGN switch, but the better course would be to power the solenoid through a relay and control the relay with the switch. Takes a heavy load off the IGN switch. 

Okay, so I would have to flip the switch "off" to go into reverse? I'll go to hamb and check it out. Thanks guys.

Triple Sevens CC
Central California

Yup, you'll have to turn the solenoid to reverse. The clutch rollers in the tail shaft won't transmit reverse drive, they'll bind up and destroy the cage. You'll also need to shut it off when starting from a stop or low speed or the car will bog. The OD effectively makes the final drive ratio about 30% taller. You can rig a warning light into the circuit that's on when the solenoid's on. If you wire it up the way Henry did it you won't have to worry about any of that stuff.

If at all possible I'd run it like it came from Ford. If not possible then I'd only use it with the solenoid on when on the open road.

Durham Missouri

He should at least use the governor, that way he won't have to worry about turning the solenoid on and off all the time.

I always ran the O/D's with factory wiring, including the kick down switch. Then I would put a toggle sw in to disengage it. The relay and switch can be difficult or expensive to find, and the wiring is a pain. And at least the 'birds had a spring loaded throttle link, so you could push thru full throttle and hit the kick down. I don't know where you find those these days. But it's really nice to the have the kick down if you need it, and also the drop at at low speed. Not to mention leaving it engaged and backing up.

Maybe those parts are still in the donor vehicle?

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

I had a 56 pickup(GMC) took out the 4 speed hydro and put in an overdrive 3speed. Since I didn't have all the stock parts I used a PTO cable for the engaging lever and a toggle switch for the solenoid. Even tho it was not recommended I even used 1st over just to screw with guys. I'd go thru all 6 speeds splitting as I shifted. Got pretty good at it. 2nd over was great in mountains and I could it from free-wheeling if I wanted. Good luck.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

The relay, 6 and 12v, are being repopped. 5th Avenue Antique Auto Supply has 'em, as well as the solenoid. The kickdown switch is available from most old car parts suppliers. Another source is Van Pelt Sales. The cables are also available but it's easy enough to figure out the length and have one made up locally.