Overdrive plans???

[bigiron]

Where to start??? I heard at one time there were plans for fabricating an old R10F Ford overdrive onto a 727. Have any of you old Mopar boys ever heard of that???

There were plans for this in some car craft mag or some thing... has anyone seen this or know where to start looking for this conversion???

This would have been some time ago... any help on this is welcome....

[cutting torch]

Why not graft a New Process overdrive onto a 727? We could call it the A518! Seriously, though, what's special about the ford O/D? I know nothing about it.

torch

[John Kunkel]

That conversion is the brainchild of Phil Baker of Seattle, the story first appeared in Hot Rod magazine in the seventies. Phil sold plans but no parts and there's lots of machine work involved.

The OD unit used is the R11, the R10 is its light duty brother. The R11 comes in several different tailshaft configurations including a couple of slip yoke types that are the most sought after.

I did quite a few of them when the OD units were still readily available but they not easy to find anymore in my neck of the woods.

Here's a link to my photo album of the conversion:

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...&a=30042131&f=

[23T]

Really nice work John

[cutting torch]

Sweet idea for it's time (looks good too, John), but the factory has done it for us since then. I don't see the point of doing that now, unless the ratio is much more desirable. Personally, I would like to see the aftermarket make some different ratios for the A500/518.

torch

[winkybeepr]

I'm guessing this may have been asked before but is there an easy answer on what's involved in converting a big block 727 housing to use the overdrive stuff off the 518?

[cutting torch]

I would say it's possible, but not practical. An easier route would be to get an adapter to put the A518 on a b-block. The bigger problem is getting it to fit in your car!

torch

[cutting torch]

Here's some pics to show how fat the A518 is, and mods to stuff it in an A-body.

torch

[ehostler]

Just install a Gear Vendors OD unit and be done with it.

[ehostler]

http://www.gearvendors.com/

[cutting torch]

E, I see the appeal of that (no floorpan or crossmember mods), but $$KACHING$$!!!! I have more free time than extra money, so it's A518 for me!

torch

[bigiron]

You hit it right on the head John... that's exactly what I was looking for...

Gear Venders has a product that is very nice but it's not what I'm looking for... I want to be a little more unique than that. I think it would be a nice added piece of intrest to put somthing like this on.

And I aggree with the "KACHINK" part of that solution.... I allready have the OD... I know it's the lighter duty part but it is still heavy enough to do the job I want done. And I know a very good machinest that might be persuaded to do some of the work for a reasonable price.

John, you wouldn't happen to have the demensions and info to complete the job laying around... would you???

Or if I begged and pleaded.. could I intrest you in perhaps building one more of these conversions???

[John Kunkel]

The plans would be available from Phil if he's still alive but the plans won't work with the R10 unit, everything is smaller. To adapt the R10 you'd have to basically re-engineer everything.

While the Warner OD unit doesn't offer any mechanical advantages over the other units available, it does offer a 30% OD at a reduced cost for those with the parts and the means to do the machine work/welding. In my case, $50 for the OD unit, a few bucks for gaskets, $20 or so for the raw metal and another $80 to have the spline cutter made (amortized over several jobs) makes a nice setup for a hundred bucks.