4 Speed w/ Overdrive Any Good?

matthon said
In that link above is the bellhousing I have under "OD A-833 Behind A Big-Block."
So with a 4.35 diameter retainer bellhousing they modified both the bellhousing and the retainer, but it appears the better solution would be to modify just the retainer..

I swap out the main housing to the 307 bearing, 4.35 retainer. That way I can go back and forth between standard 4 speed and OD. The bolt holes are too wide as I remember so you cannot just turn down the retainer to the 4.35 diameter.

matthon said
Stupid Question- can you put the overdrive gear on third in a regular 833?
It sounds like the OD goes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, then back to 3rd. Is 3rd gear the same gear each time, or is there a 3rd gear and an overdrive gear?
I obviously don't know what I am talking about, lol.

The OD is like the standard 4 speed except 3rd gear is the Overdrive. That is why the shift linkage is different, the front lever is down with the others being up. That way you shift the normal shift pattern on the OD, but when you shift to 3rd on the OD you are really going into 4th and when you shift to 4th on the OD you are really going into 3rd or OD.

You cannot swap gears around. You must keep the guts, (cluster gear, mainshaft, and mainshaft gears) together. The 3rd gear, OD, has a smaller inner diameter as does the journal on the mainshaft.