OD tranny
William Lewis (wrlewis(at)ucdavis.edu)
Tue, 16 Jun 1998 11:35:48 -0700 (PDT)
I don't when Volvo changed from the D type tranny to the J type, but an
1982 Volvo certainly is not a D type and won't bolt up to a Sunbeam. The
D type overdrive will bolt up to a Sunbeam overdrive transmission, but the
output shaft on the Volvo is flanged and requires changing the driveshaft
to an MGB unit. The flanged overdrive is the D type used on ALL other
cars EXCEPT Sunbeam. The flanged type is a better design as it doesn't
leak as much as it has a bearing in the tail instead of a bushing and
doesn't wear down as fast. The flanged type also doesn't suffer from the
clunking that the Sunbeam unit has as the flanged type doesn't have the
driveshaft working like a piston in the rear of the overdrive to cause
pressure to build up and shift the OD in and out of gear. This pressure
build up is why Rootes had to put a balance tube on the overdrive to
equalize the pressure between the rear of the unit and the front of the
unit. All said, the Rootes design must have cost them more to make a the
modifications and was actually a pretty dumb design. Guess they were
trying to out do Lucas.
Bill Lewis
Series II (With a Sunbeam OD tranny, Volvo D type OD, and MGB driveshaft
waiting to go into the car. Problem is I'm poor on time and money.)