Hello everyone, my name is Mike, and I'm pretty new to the old truck thing. My first car was a '65 Mustang with a 200/C4 (still my daily driver). I spent most of my last year learning everything I could about that car, and I know just about every bolt, weld, and torque value on that beauty! Well, my grandpa just gave me his '56 F-100 with a 272 Y-Block, ram horn exhaust, dual exhaust... We just got it out of paint. Have one last sand and buff, then the nice glossy finish to go body wise. No rust, no dents, no dings, perfect body! It's got a 3 on the tree with overdrive, ford 9" rear, and the gears are so tall that sometimes you have to give it a little to get it movin'. I'm thinking about lowering the rear gears, but that's a different story. Just thought I'd introduce myself, for starters. Also... does anyone know what the operation of the overdrive is on that transmission? I know it's supposed to go shift 1-2, 2-3, get over a certain MPH, let off the gas, and go into OD, but I can't seem to get it to work right. There's a lever under the steering wheel on the left that says overdrive. For it to be active, is it supposed to be pulled out or pushed in? It's been pushed in the whole time. Thanks for any information, and I can't wait to read some more, some of these posts are great. I will put up pictures later on, of my mustangs, and my truck. =)

 

Mike,

Welcome aboard. Sounds like a great truck. My guess the rear end ratio is 3:00 or less if you have to slip the clutch to get it moving. There's probably a tag on it somewhere with the ratio. A 3:00 is about as low as you should go with a stick and a 3:50 would be better.

 

Yeah, sometimes gotta give it a little toooo much gas to get it going. It's beautiful, Colonial White. =) I am in love with it, but my '65 is still my first love. I hope they can be friends! I wanna figure out OD so I can get my RPMs down on the freeway. I am pretty sure my grandpa said to leave the lever pushed in for the OD to be active, but I don't remember. =)

 

I can't say for sure about the OD on your truck. The only original OD vehicle I ever had was a 34 Plymouth. They called it "free wheeling". But on that car the handle had to be pulled out to activate the OD not pushed in. Someone with an original truck should be along soon to verify...

 

Lever in puts it in overdrive; lever out takes it out of overdrive. If you're not going over after letting off the gas any time after, roughly, 28MPH, I'd check the fuse on the firewall first. (Did Gramps say the OD was working?) The '56 likely has a Borg Warner overdrive unit and those will freewheel. Is it freewheeling at all?

BTW... Welcome to the best Ford site around.

 

Mike,
Welcome to FTE! Sounds like a great truck and can't wait to see the pics. I think Nuthin's on the right track. I've also read and seen that there is a solenoid involve somewhere that you might want to check out. If you don't have a service manual, pick one up. I'll look in mine tonight to see if there are any details on the OD setup.
Good Luck!

 

Welcome to FTE the best site around!!! Lets see some pics of this sweet ride ( both of them) the more pics the better

Welcome

 

Welcome to FTE! We had a pretty good discussion about two months ago on how to operate the old overdrives. Here's the link to it:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...the-1950s.html

Your truck sounds great. I've got a family heirloom truck too, but not quite as good shape as yours. Looking forward to the gallery/pictures.

I'm also a Mustang fan, with a 67 convertible (c-code) and a 66 coupe (also a c-code). The 66 coupe is an original owner/family heirloom just like the truck.

We don't throw away anything...

 

272 -

Welcome to FTE!!!

BTW, where in CA are you? There's a lot of us FTEers in SoCal.

 

You managed to stumble into one of the best sites on the internet. Welcome!!

What a great gift from Grampa!!! I'm sure the little pony won't mind sharing the stable with an effie. I cant wait to see the pics (we love pics)

bobby

 

I'm not too far from Riverside, down here in Irvine. As it is me and my grandpa are sharin' it if he needs to haul something or whatever. I love it. I will try to get a bunch of pictures up by tonight. The interior's nothing to brag about yet, but man do I not care. =) Thanks for the replys!

 

Welcome Newbie.

Two old Fords, gotta luv it.

Here is your OD Manual. It will be a Borg-Warner R-10/R-11 unit.

Click on the thumbnail, then save the big picture.

http://www.tocmp.com/manuals/trans/B...rive/index.htm

 

Welcome to FTE
I look forward to seeing the pics of your rides.

 

Welcome, sounds like you have two really great Fords.
I have a 56 Mercury M100 resto in pieces and two summer driven Mustang Fastbacks..65 & 67 and I really wish I was in Calif.

 

Someone has to live up there to take care of the Snowlephants