thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) So I've got a question, I have had many 30s – 50s Mopars, mainly Plymouth's, this is my second 1948 Dodge, it has a 3-speed manual/fluid Drive, not the high low, semi-automatic, and it has what appears to be an Overdrive cable, it's on the bottom of the dashboard, basically looks like a manual choke cable, but it goes into the top of the transmission bellhousing right at the back of the engine, I've heard a few of you guys talking about the "Freewheel Overdrive" and I was wondering if that's what this is, haven't had it over 20 miles an hour, and the cable feels like it's frozen solid, I cannot pull it out no matter how much pressure I put on it Edited May 12, 2022 by thebelvedereman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 Haven't seen that on mine. It has a 3 spd column shift with Fluid Drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 17 minutes ago, Bryan said: Haven't seen that on mine. It has a 3 spd column shift with Fluid Drive. Yep, so did my last one, this one also has 3 speed column shift manual fluid Drive, I haven't had the car long, and it was a pretty big project when I got it, I never even noticed the knob until today when I was painting the bottom of the dashboard, but the engine is out of a 1957 DeSoto, so I'm wondering if the transmission is too, like I said I'm mainly a Plymouth guy, and they never had the fluid drive, only the 3-speed manual until 1954, so this is throwing me off a little bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug&Deb Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 I had a 48 Dodge and I never saw that feature. I wonder if it’s to lock up the trans to allow for push starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busycoupe Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 I too have a 48 Dodge with a 3 speed and fluid drive and have never heard of that feature. Since you say the knob is mounted below the dash it makes me wonder if it was added later. Could it be a manual choke knob that was added then later not used, allowing the loose cable end to rest on the bell housing? Does the cable actually go into the bell housing and attach to something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 You need to post up some pictures of the transmission from both sides and not too close. We need to see where the cable attaches, and what if any iassemblies are attached and what wiring exists going to the transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 55 minutes ago, greg g said: You need to post up some pictures of the transmission from both sides and not too close. We need to see where the cable attaches, and what if any iassemblies are attached and what wiring exists going to the transmission. I will get a picture as soon as I can, but the cable goes directly into the top of the bellhousing where it curves up to meet the engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 1 hour ago, busycoupe said: I too have a 48 Dodge with a 3 speed and fluid drive and have never heard of that feature. Since you say the knob is mounted below the dash it makes me wonder if it was added later. Could it be a manual choke knob that was added then later not used, allowing the loose cable end to rest on the bell housing? Does the cable actually go into the bell housing and attach to something? I'll have to double-check that today, I just gave it a quick look, but the car has a factory manual choke mounted by the headlight, throttle/cruise control, and ignition switches, so I doubt that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busycoupe Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 4 minutes ago, thebelvedereman said: I'll have to double-check that today, I just gave it a quick look, but the car has a factory manual choke mounted by the headlight, throttle/cruise control, and ignition switches, so I doubt that As far as I know 48 Dodge did not have a factory installed manual choke. Their were fitted with Sisson automatic chokes. However, the sisson choke could be tempermental amd many owners later installed manual chokes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerJon Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 13 hours ago, thebelvedereman said: ......but the engine is out of a 1957 DeSoto, so I'm wondering if the transmission is too, like I said I'm mainly a Plymouth guy.... Is it correct to assume engine is some size of Hemi V8? Take a few pictures of the transmission, with a custom engine swap almost anything is in the the realm of possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 1 minute ago, FarmerJon said: Is it correct to assume engine is some size of Hemi V8? Take a few pictures of the transmission, with a custom engine swap almost anything is in the the realm of possibility. 1957 DeSoto 230 Flathead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 Maybe a overdrive trans someone put in was removed leaving just the cable stuffed up over the bell housing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 it is so easy to tell if the trans is an OD unit by looking for the mounted solenoids on the passenger side...Look for an R10 cast into the housing very low on the side of the case. Could be a cable for a many uses....from throttle lock, choke, bull horn, external aftermarket heater control valve....the list goes on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 48 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said: it is so easy to tell if the trans is an OD unit by looking for the mounted solenoids on the passenger side...Look for an R10 cast into the housing very low on the side of the case. Could be a cable for a many uses....from throttle lock, choke, bull horn, external aftermarket heater control valve....the list goes on. It already has an original throttle cable, an original temperature control, and an original choke cable, but you are definitely right it could be just about anything, I'm going to have to get a better look at it today, I just thought maybe it was something special that I didn't know about and somebody else might have known offhand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 without pictures....and just a cable point in X direction...this is all just a speculation.....you truly need to look, if you and see other things not quite what you used to seeing, post a pic.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Plymouthy Adams said: without pictures....and just a cable point in X direction...this is all just a speculation.....you truly need to look, if you and see other things not quite what you used to seeing, post a pic.... as soon as I get home from work I'm going to check it out, and I will update everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 8 hours ago, busycoupe said: I too have a 48 Dodge with a 3 speed and fluid drive and have never heard of that feature. Since you say the knob is mounted below the dash it makes me wonder if it was added later. Could it be a manual choke knob that was added then later not used, allowing the loose cable end to rest on the bell housing? Does the cable actually go into the bell housing and attach to something? For those of you who played along, busycoupe you were the grand prize winner, I feel pretty stupid right now, I should have investigated further before posting, it is just a pull cable sitting on top of the bellhousing, only God knows what it was originally for, it could have been an after-market heater or something else ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebelvedereman Posted May 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 On a side note I also noticed that my temperature gauge sending unit isn't hooked up to anything, and the bulb is missing off the end, so I've got that going for me LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TodFitch Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 10 minutes ago, thebelvedereman said: On a side note I also noticed that my temperature gauge sending unit isn't hooked up to anything, and the bulb is missing off the end, so I've got that going for me LOL https://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 Muffler pipe cutout. Emergency brake cable in case the other breaks. Who knows... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug&Deb Posted May 9, 2022 Report Share Posted May 9, 2022 Smoke screen like James Bond. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper Posted May 10, 2022 Report Share Posted May 10, 2022 Eject lever for noisy passenger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted May 10, 2022 Report Share Posted May 10, 2022 Too thin a cable for OD...Western Auto type choke cable...ha ha. Who ever put the engine in didn't do too complete or good of a job and also broke the temp guage? Geez... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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