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Overdrive or shafts wanted

Five Reviver

Silver Level Sponsor
I am having my Series V gearbox rebuilt after a couple of previous efforts have not been quite right.
I am told that the two shafts in the overdrive unit are twisted.
I once had a brand-new overdrive unit, which I let go with a dismantled Series I. More fool me!
Does anyone have overdrive shafts in good order, or an overdrive unit?

David Whittle
Adelaide
Australia
 

alpine_64

Donation Time
David,

Who is doing the build? Needham.of old car gearboxes in Melbourne can make them... But he wont sell parts.. He will only do complete rebuilds himself.

The shafts are hens teeth... You dont remove a good od shaft from a box.. You replace or rebuild the od unit... So shafts are almost imposible to find.
 

Five Reviver

Silver Level Sponsor
Thanks Michael
It's as I assumed.
Local guy Craig Walkom is doing the work and says he can get them made and expects them to be stronger than original.
I thought I'd shoot out a query, just in case.
I've been hillclimbing my poor car, so it's been under a bit of stress. Once it's back on the road I might have to moderate my driving style! Then again...
Would you mind sharing your phone number in a PM? I could look you up in Melbourne.
David
 

Mikeflbmer

Bronze Level Sponsor
OD Tranny

I believe my friend in Florida has an Overdrive tranny for sale Steve Jaffe .......cmsjaffe@ail.com
 

Ken Ellis

Donation Time
After you replace the shafts, you might look into having the splines touched up with a (horizontal) mill at a machine shop... as a kind of experiment/test for future 'beamers.
(If you were stateside, I'd ask for a shot at them...)

The twist happens on the end, where the splines engage, but they tend to prevent inserting the yoke past the point of twist. There is some fatigue/wear due to twisting, but if you extend and re-mill the splines from the free end towards the body of the trans, the yoke will at least slide up there again. Yes, it will be weaker. No, it won't be as good as before. But it should be serviceable for 'mature' street use for quite awhile.

This will only be prudent if the twist is very small, and visible to the casual observer only with a straightedge for reference. If it's offset by more than an eighth-spline, then it's probably done for. But if you had to look at it a couple of times to see what's going on, it could be 'saved', if not actually repaired.

If you have access to straight original parts, that's the best way to go. But 'trimming' the edges of the splines so things fit for assembly is inexpensive and worth a try. The fit/clearance of the part that's fully-engaged (at the very end, outboard of the twist) is the part that transmits the power via splines. The part not engaged does transmit torque too, but not via splines, but via the 'meat' of the shaft.

You'll probably want to go to an ag-repair shop for this, not a full-on CNC manufacturing place. My beat-up old Burke horizontal mill could do this quick and easy.
 

Knightowl61

Gold Level Sponsor
Back in the early '70's I found an od unit that had a twist at the splines and used it anyway. After driving a couple weeks I was in downtown Little Rock starting out on a green light and POP the shaft snapped in two. Never found a replacement shaft and traded the od unit (mid '80's) for a race engine. Still have the shaft (two pieces) laying around for the last 45 years.
 

Ken Ellis

Donation Time
Ouch. Perhaps the answer for recovering units damaged this way is to make an extra-long splined yoke that reaches up past the damaged area. More of a project, but a possible way to resurrect an otherwise-good trans. Eventually the world will run out of these, so having a fix seems worthwhile.
It seems it would be easier to make a new yoke than a new shaft.
 

Ken Ellis

Donation Time
For some reason I can't edit the above post. Anyway...

In that post I jumped to the conclusion that Knightowl's OD shaft broke at the twist. I realize it could have broken elsewhere, like on the smooth section farther in from the splines. That would make a difference in repairability.

That said, I have read of people welding the shafts, with various degrees of success.
 
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