The former owner of my '58 installed a floor shifter....a CAR floor shifter...so the truck was a lean-over-to-shift kinda ride. So, this weekend, I installed one of those Mr Gasket 3-speed truck floor shifters and now it works great.

But while I was poking around, I discovered that the "overdrive" handle on the dash was disconnected, and the linkage on the trasmission side was disconnected and hanging off to the side.
Can anyone give me a lesson on how this used to work, and which shift position it was? I don't really care about hooking it back up, and the 3-speed shifter works great, but I want to make sure that I haven't set the linkage so 1, 2, or 3 position is actually the overdrive.

Does that make sense?

TC

 

The overdrive is independent of the shifter. The planetary overdrive unit is separate, in the tailshaft of the transmission. It's engaged automatically and electrically via a solenoid.

P.S. Just out of curiousity, what engine does it have in it?

 

Original 292 with 2-barrel.

As far as I can tell, the only modifications on this truck are the floor shifter, an oil pressure gauge, helper springs on the rear axle....and.....(shudder)....a faded FIREBIRD emblem on the hood.

 

The other thing that the overdrive handle does, when connected, is control 'free wheeling'. When the handle is pushed in (overdrive engaged), the gearbox mainshaft will be disengaged from the driveshaft when the driveshaft is turning faster than the transmission avoiding engine braking should you wish it. That will work whether or not the solenoid is still functional (at least that's the way the overdrive on my 54 works). You may want to consider reconnecting the overdrive, it really makes a drivability difference, especially if you ever take the truck on the highway with any regularity.
Cheers,
Bruce

 

58shortbed, do you have a picture of the bellhousing for the Y-block? I have an overdrive 3-sp I bought at a flea market and am told it appears to be a cast iron Y-block bellhousing. It has a flathead style clutch linkage connection. I'm not at all familiar with the Y-blocks, can you send me a pic or point me to one? Thanks!

-- Ross