A friend has his fathers 1967 F100 with with a 352 Cleveland and 3 speed manual on the column with overdrive in second and third via a switch/control on the dash. His father bought the truck new. Was this a rare option with the 352 and 3 speed manual with overdrive?

 

Borg Warner T-85N 3 speed O/D optional for all 1965/71 F100's with I-6's & V8's.

There is no switch on the dash. To the left of the steering column, under the dash mounted to a bracket, is the O/D cable that has to be pulled out to activate O/D, but only when the truck is not moving! Otherwise...

Behind the accelerator pedal is the O/D kickdown switch, mounted on the firewall behind the air cleaner is the O/D relay. The O/D unit itself bolts to the back of the trans, has a solenoid and governor mounted on it.

I bought a new 1965 F100 352 with T-85N O/D. This was not a rare option, but considering the survival rate of these trucks, it's somewhat rare to find one today with O/D.

Replacement parts can be a real b!tch to find as the T-85 was also installed in 1939/56 Packard, 1942/51 Lincoln, 1955/56 Nash/Hudson, 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk & 1/2 ton pickups and other make vehicles.

Every one of these vehcles is collectable (especially the Packard's), so new replacement parts are mostly long gone, expensive if found.
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No such thing as a 352 Cleveland. 352 is an FE engine, Ford never referred to FE engines as Clevelands.

The only Cleveland so designated is the 351C, installed in 1970/74 Ford/Merc Passenger Cars only.

 

I've only seen a few bumpsides with OD. I had the tranny from a 68 but plans to use it fell through. Lots of people have eliminated all the throttle kickdown and just put a switch to control the over drive. Then you can basically operate it like a 2 speed. You can even bypass the low speed lockout so you have OD in low gear making a six speed but it's kinda pointless.
Ford used the R-11 overdrive in the pickups and it is the stoutest unit Borg Warner made. I'm not sure if all the cars with T85 trannys had the R-11, seems like most used the R-10 but I could be wrong.

 

Depending on the year, applications, R9, R11's were used in cars. But very few Ford cars came with T-85's. Most used Warner T-86 O/D's as did other automakers.

What preceded and was used thru 1948 on Ford/Merc cars? Columbia 2 speed rear end. First installed in the 1935 Auburn, Columbia was owned by E. L. Cord, who also owned (at one time) Lycoming, Auburn, Cord & Duesenberg.

Regardless of how the O/D is activated, the scarcity of parts is the major problem. The O/D relay used in 1965/71 F100's is non existant.

The 6V relay used on myriad vehicles, has been reproduced by Studebakers West of Redwood City CA / AFAIK, no one repro's any of the 12V relays.