1951 Ford overdrive

[Frank Miller]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

Grounding the wire will check the wire but not the points in the governor switch. Unscrew the governor and pull it out so you can check the points on the bench. If they open and close and have continuity when closed then the governor switch is OK. The flyweights should be secure and move easily. The gear should be metal. The governor shaft is held in the gear by a spring ring. Gear lash may be visible from the speedo gear side. If it has the wrong gear then there would be a problem. These governors were used on a lot of different cars and some had different gears depending on the transmission they were set up for.

If the wiring is ok up to 3 inches of the switch I think we can determine it is the switch. I was tring to give hime some alternatives to virtually removing the transmission. To remove the governor you nedd to unbolt the cross member and all associated linkage as well the speedo cable. You may need to lower engine to get at the 4 bolts that hold ot to the bellhousing. You can the rotate the transmission so you can get at the governor.
Also i saw you ordered a special wrench, I've removed mine with a pipe wrench or even water pump pliers. You can spin the governor with a drill motor while held in a vise and watch the action of the centrifugal part of the switch. I had to clean up the poins on mine once. Even harder on a convertible with the X frame.