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How to easily identify r10 overdrive on a parts car.


Wood and Steel

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Hi all, 

 

I just recently learned of the r10 overdrive trans that Plymouth started offering in '52. I want to start keeping an eye out for one to upgrade my '51 Cranbrook, so I was wondering if there is an easy way to tell if a car has one without climbing under the car.

 

Thanks

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Extra handle under the dash, possibly an overdrive badge on the trunk, and extra stuff under the hood like a kickdown switch either on the carb or throttle linkage. 

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1 hour ago, Young Ed said:

Extra handle under the dash, possibly an overdrive badge on the trunk, and extra stuff under the hood like a kickdown switch either on the carb or throttle linkage. 

Where might one look for the handle, amd what might it look like? I found a donor car we without an engine, so there's no carb to check.

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the lever is as that of the 49 Plymouth hood release but should be engraved overdrive and it is just left of the steering column.....also a look under the vehicle and you can see wiring on the transmission....and round solenoid etc attached to the housing.....the case will have the R10 cast onto it also....

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3 minutes ago, Wood and Steel said:

Where might one look for the handle, amd what might it look like? I found a donor car we without an engine, so there's no carb to check.

Chrome T handle mounted next to the parking break handle. Might say overdrive on it but I've seen some that didn't

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On the trunk lid....lower right corner I think is where an overdrive logo using chromed letters is located.  Sometimes

if the chrome lettering is gone, the word overdrive may still be visible on the paint.   

 

DSC011521.jpg

Edited by BobT-47P15
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How we got our R10 overdrive  -- son in law did the work of unbolting it from the car while hanging from the owner's wrecker.

We paid them their price for the car, then said all we really wanted was the transmission and they could keep & resell the car 

or parts from it.  They agreed.....we got trans and related pieces and hit the road for home.     The cars where we found the 52 Plymouth 

had been purchased over the years around that area by a man who did work for people at their homes.....and apparently bought old

cars he found in their yards.  I think he had a couple hundred vehicles from the 40s to the 60s.....in the Pomona, MO area.  I was reviewing

pictures I had taken on a visit to see the cars when I noticed the overdrive script on the old Plymouth.  So we made a second trip to buy

the car and remove the transmission.  We were lucky that the car was complete and nobody else had noticed about the R10 overdrive. 

DSC011511.jpg

 

 

DSC011541.jpg      

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7 hours ago, BobT-47P15 said:

We were lucky that the car was complete and nobody else had noticed about the R10 overdrive. 

IMO - working under a car hanging from an old wrecker like that you're also lucky it didn't end in disaster with a crushed son-in-law. 

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I was lucky - found one in a junkyard in New Mexico from a 53 plymouth, had overdrive script on the trunk. Had the yard pull it. $250 out the door. They either didnt care or didnt know the value, or already knew it had problems. Problem was it had lunched 2nd gear. Pulled a standard 3spd from same yard for parts. Fortunately we were able to  mix and match and made one good overdrive trans. Its in my car now...

Edited by Dartgame
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37 minutes ago, Dartgame said:

I was lucky - found one in a junkyard in New Mexico from a 53 plymouth, had overdrive script on the trunk. Had the yard pull it. $250 out the door. They either didnt care or didnt know the value, or already knew it had problems. Problem was it had lunched 2nd gear. Pulled a standard 3spd from same yard for parts. Fortunately we were able to  mix and match and made one good overdrive trans. Its in my car now...

Dgame scored and quietly slipped out the side door...they can be pricey now. Dont get discouraged..

Look around Ebay Hemmings and CL

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Go to the blog section of this website.  There is an entry that serves as a spotters guide for borg warner overdrives. The easiest tell tale are the cyndrical housings for the solenoid and governor mechanisms on the exterior of the case.  Also if still in the car, the relay with builtin fuse holder on the firewall or inner fender.  There are also several websites dedicated to borg warner overdrive with illustrations and pictures that come up on a web search.  In the downloads section of this site is a bw r 10 operators guide and repair manual.  I believe there are also a couple optional wiring diagrams and a couple discussion threads for methods of mounting and wiring kickdowm switches.

 

You may also interested in the adaption and use of a laycock de-normanville od as used in many European cars such as Jaguar, Volvo, Triumph and Austin Healey.  This is basically the fore runner unit from which the gear vendors od  is patterned. There would need some fabrication of mounts and modification of drive shaft needed but they are a bit cheaper and maybe more available as they were continued into the 90s on euro cars.

Edited by greg g
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Remember, you will be looking at cars that are many years removed from the factory.   Anything is possible, od script but no od, no script but with od.   Lots of changes may have been made.  I’d recommend a mirror and light on a stick.  Or a selfie stick for your phone to peek under cars without jacking. 

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You've also got to check the other 1934-'55 mopars in the yards as well. They've been a popular transplant in non originally equipped cars for awhile. I removed one from a '48 Dodge and a '41 Plymouth that I found in salvage yards.

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On 5/28/2021 at 11:04 AM, Booger said:

Dgame scored and quietly slipped out the side door...they can be pricey now. Dont get discouraged..

Look around Ebay Hemmings and CL

I suppose I shouldn't tell you about all the ones I scored around here.....

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