[Healeys] Dave Dougan's overdrive Part 1

[Richard Gordon]

> Dave asked me to forward this to the list:
>
> As you may remember, sometime in late August, I reported that the  
> overdrive on my big Healey was making  a strange noise when it was  
> engaged.  I decided to  fix it myself and did, with some help.  I  
> replaced the two bearings in the front section and one spacer of the  
> correct thickness.  "The book" says some special tools are required  
> and I worried about that but, as I'll tell you,  they were minimal.   
> I got the BN7 on the road on Saturday.  It is good to drive it  
> again.  The OD shifts more positively than it did before and it is a  
> lot quieter.
>
>
> When I started this project I got some great advice from Dave Porter  
> at Porter Customs in Albuquerque.  He gave me the names of some  
> shops he trusted for OD work but the one in Denver didn't meet my  
> needs.   I don't know how he got involved but his information was  
> the impetus that made me decide to do it myself.  After careful  
> disassembly I discovered that the innards of the OD are not  
> particularly complicated for the novice.  Other assistance that was  
> used was Jim Peterson at T's Sunrise, a restoration shop with  
> experience in all British cars.  He was referred to me by a member  
> of the MG T Register.  Of course, I had to pay him for his service.
>
> Jack Newton also helped by lending me an extra transmission shaft to  
> align the splines in the OD.  This shaft was absolutely necessary as  
> the trans and the OD slipped right together after aligning this  
> way.  I had tried many many times to get the alignment correct  
> before using this shaft and I believe it to be impossible without  
> this tool.  Roger Moment suggested laying the transmission on its  
> side as opposed to standing the transmission up and putting the OD  
> onto it or, as the manual suggests, standing the OD up and dropping  
> the trans onto it.  Sideways was much easier and if you have ever  
> had the experience with the springs, which want to drop onto the  
> floor when the OD is upside down, you understand the issue.