Overdrive Option

[345 DeSoto]

Was overdrive an option on the T85 3spd, or was it a standard item? Or was a T85 with overdrive a T86? I'm just trying to figure out what came in my Sky Hawk...

[rkapteyn]

Yes
The T85 came in both versions.
That trans was used by Packard and others such as Lincoln.
The short tail shaft version was used in 1956 President Classics , Taxicabs and1956-57 Golden Hawks.
In 1958 the Golden Hawks and Packard Hawks used a long tail shaft version because the 1958-66 cars all had one piece drive shafts to eliminate the center driveshaft bearing.
The T85 was also used on many Studebaker trucks , both versions but different gears.
I have some of these for sale for local pickup only including a N.O.S. long tail T85 for a 1958 Packard Hawk or Golden Hawk , still in the original Studebaker crate .and all associated parts such as clutch shafts etc.
The T86 was a lighter duty trans offered both in overdrive and standard versions.
Short and long tail versions were available.
Robert Kapteyn
studebaker @mac.com

[PackardV8]

The T85 is the least common of the transmissions used in Studes. Of these, the standard 3-speed T85 is quite rare. I've only seen one in fifty years. The overdrive is more common, but only used in the largest/highest performance Studes.

IIRC, the truck version nomenclature is the T89, denoting wide ratio straight cut gears.

Wouldn't his Sky Hawk have had the T86?

jack vines

[52-fan]

I would think that a Sky Hawk would have a T86, but after this many years the only way to know for sure would be actually look at it. The car could have been a special order.

[rkapteyn]

Quick look will tell
The T85/89 has a bolted on cover on the drivers side with the shift levers sticking out

[PackardV8]

The car could have been a special order.

Anything's possible, but very few of the "special order" legends I've run into around SDC and cars/trucks for sale have been confirmed by the Production Order.

An example, there was a '56J parts car with a straight 3-speed T85, which the owner was always claiming was "special-ordered for drag racing." Being interested and because I'd never seen a Packard T85 without overdrive, I bought the production order and of course, there was nothing of the like on it. The transmission turned out to be a Stude T89, on which the input shaft had been cut down with a hacksaw and grinder to fit the Packard V8.

jack vines

Bonus question - IIRC, the taxi T86s came with a floor shift. Bob stated the 1956 taxi had the T85. Was there a factory floor shift for the T85?

jv

[64V-K7]

The T-85 was a heavy duty transmission and used an R11 overdrive with 4 planet gears, the lighter duty T-86 used the R-10 unit with only had 3 planet gears.

[345 DeSoto]

So which did the Sky Hawk MOST likely come with...the T86?...

[StudeRich]

Posts 2, 3, and 4 all say that it SHOULD have a T-86. Post #2 by the exclusion of a Sky Hawk.

They are assuming that the unlikely chance that someone put in a H.D. T-85 never happened.

Also mentioned, is the fact that Both T-85 and T-86's (in certain Models) came in either Standard or Overdrive.

Standard Trans. always being STANDARD at no additional cost, like the 5 Wheels and 5 Blackwall Tires on just about every Studebaker Car except '55 Speedsters.

[6hk71400]

If the inspection cover is on top of the transmission in a square pattern and short tail transmission shaft, it is a correct year T86. In 58 the inspection plate was altered on the two top corners.

With the old T86, you could take the cover off, and place either a truck floor shift or one from a Jeep and have a neat conversion to a floor shift transmission that could go back to stock without much effort.

As mentioned in Post #5, inspection cover was on the side with the shift fork levers coming out of the side. Motors Manual 1947-56 shows the breakdown schematic on the Golden Hawk section, if memory serves me correct.

Probably you have a T-86. If it is a T-85 and straight cut and not bevel cut gears, it is a truck transmission (T-89), not a passenger car transmission. Ford used the T-85 but with a different imput shaft for the Ford so if you run across a Ford T-85, good luck finding a correct imput shaft for the Studebaker application.

Bob Miles
Tucson AZ
Home of Lazarus

As mentioned in post

[PackardV8]

Ford used the T-85 but with a different imput shaft for the Ford so if you run across a Ford T-85, good luck finding a correct imput shaft for the Studebaker application.

I've never had the very rare Ford car T85 apart, but Ford trucks used different gear ratios and different gear tooth angle, so there never was a correct input shaft for Studebaker application.

jack vines

[Alan]

Jack, Those parts I sold you with the 4 speed OD were the Ford T85. And do you ever check your PM's?

[studegary]

Standard Trans. always being STANDARD at no additional cost, like the 5 Wheels and 5 Blackwall Tires on just about every Studebaker Car except '55 Speedsters.

Standard transmission was NOT standard on all Studebaker cars, except 1955 Speedsters, of the 1950s. Examples (not all inclusive); 1957 & 1958 Golden Hawks and all 1958 Packards did not offer a standard transmission. Flightomatic was standard for these cars and overdrive was a no cost option.

[345 DeSoto]

My original question was about my 56 Sky Hawk...

[studegary]

My original question was about my 56 Sky Hawk...

I thought that had been answered and then, what often happens, the thread drifted off topic.

The 1956 Sky Hawk came with a standard transmission as standard equipment and with overdrive or Flightomatic as options.