After market OD?

[Elmo65]

Do any of ya’ll have one? Is it worth the effort and cost? Not in race cars. Just drivers for every day commutes.

 

[abodyjoe]

which kind of od?

is it worth it is kinda a hard question to answer.

what gear is in your car now? take a ton of gas topayfor an od unit. but lower more comfortable rpm on the highway can be much more comfortable too..

 

[Elmo65]

Gear venders vs 5 or 6 speed manual. Or an automatic with overdrive.

 

[Elmo65]

I have an A903 and no intention of changing it at the moment. I just would like a little feed back from people who have gone that route. And those who decided not to.

 

[moparmat2000]

Put a 42RH or 46RH in it and dont look back.

 

[Icetech]

Manual is more fun no matter what... but i would do a 46rh in a heartbeat if i weren't lazy and cheap

 

[Davecuda]

I have a gear vendors unit and I really like it. It’s behind a slightly built 273 with a 904 and 8 1/4 with 373 gears. It definitely makes long drives more pleasant. At 65 mph runs about 1800 rpms.

 

[Elmo65]

Put a 42RH or 46RH in it and dont look back.

Can somebody explain to me what those are? Yeah, I’m ignorant.

 

[Icetech]

Can somebody explain to me what those are? Yeah, I’m ignorant.

They are factory OD trans.. the RH is a hydraulic OD.. the RE is electronicly controlled.. they basically bolt right in a small block car but the tunnel will need to be "Massaged"

 

[Elmo65]

Sort of like gear vendors, right?
Or is it an entire transmission?

 

[Icetech]

Sort of like gear vendors, right?
Or is it an entire transmission?

yes.. but WAY less money.. a buddy of mine just got one out of a junkyard for $200....

 

[Icetech]

figure if you use a stock converter.. between the trans/mods and needing a new driveshaft you could have OD for less than 1k...

If my car didn't use pushbutton i would want one

 

[Elmo65]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[Elmo65]

I like a clutch. It makes me feel like I’m driving an old car.

 

[Icetech]

I like a clutch. It makes me feel like I’m driving an old car.

yeah.. i wish i had converted my car to a 6spd.. or 5.. but not gonna happen now

 

[Elmo65]

We all have our crosses to bear.

 

[Icetech]

We all have our crosses to bear.

Sadly mine is a massive *****.... It's made my life hell.. but i do the best i can

 

[Elmo65]

 

[AJ/FormS]

I built an engine with a broad-flat torque curve and a small cam. And I put an A833overdrive behind it. It was a pretty good combo, if a little lazy in the performance department.
So, I got me a GearVendors, and wired it to split gears. Plus, now I had a double overdrive. When gear-splitting, the ratios are very tight, and the engine stays on the cam, and performs like a bigger engine.
The Ratios are;
3.09/2.41- 1.67/1.30- 1.00/.78 -.57, seven useable gears.
The splits are
.78-.69-.78-.77-.78- .73
as compared to
There are two A903 ratios;
A) 2.95-1.83-1.00, splits of .62-.55
B) 3.22-1.84-1.00, splits of .57-.55

If you had a regular A833, the ratios would be;
2.66-1.92-1.40-1.00-.78 od. Don't bother splitting these gears, unless you just go First and then straight into first-od, but it's hardly worth it.
You might thing that the GVod 's .78ratio is lame but, But when I used the regular A833, I shifted into od after third, making a tight split there, and then into 40d is a nice .71ratio.. No matter how you shift it, for cruising, it turns 3.55s into 2.77s, and rpm at 65 drops from about 2870 to 2240.
Which is about as low as I care to go, because any slower and my fuel economy doesn't change much, with the cam I currently have, because, the slower she revs, it gets to be darn near impossible to give her the ignition timing she craves, to be efficient. But I solved that by installing a stand-alone, dash-mounted, dial-back timing module. It has a range of 15 degrees, which I can add some to all of that, at any time, as the engine wants it.

Now, I gotta tell ya, If your aim is fuel economy, it will take many years with an overdrive, just to break even, before you ever start saving money.
A better option might be dialing in your Cruise-Timing. My experience is all with 318s to 360s, which, I have never yet had even one that had the correct Cruise Timing. All of mine, (over 55 years worth) cruising between 2250 (with 2.76s) and 2650 (with 3.23s), wanted timing of from 54 degrees to sometimes 60. Most had less than say 36 degrees. That's a serious timing deficit, especially with, as they say, it has a bit of a cam, and/or, weak cylinder pressure.

Whatever direction you go, Best of luck.