Thanks for the reply, I bought a used OD transmission and it had an odd looking kickdown switch on it. Doing some research I found out that it actually mounts on the firewall and when the throttle is depressed the linkage comes back towards the firewall and depresses the switch, which is nothing like the factory 59 T-Bird switch that is under the throttle pedal. My first car was a 57 Fairlane with a 3 speed OD, I'm looking forward to getting the OD up and running on my 59. I have found some photos of the location of the relay on the 55-57's but nothing on the later years yet.
I have a 57 Tbird. it came with a 3-spd non-OD transmission. I bought a
parts car for another project (57 Ranch Wagon). the
parts car had an overdrive transmission. The OD in the
parts car was not original as far as I could tell. The input was a fine spline rather than the coarse 10 spline. The OD on the back of the T85 was also different than I would have expected, ie. shorter and stockier. I got the relay and the engagement cable from the donor
parts car. The kick-down switch was toast. When I wired up the solenoid and governor to the relay I left the kick down switch off. I just dead ended the wiring for the switch. This wiring is shown in the Borg Warner T-85 overdrive manual. If you
search around on the internet you can find this manual at no cost. You may likely need a new driveshaft or have yours modified, all of the ODs are not the same length.
The Y-block is not a high rpm engine but it does have plenty of low end torque. I think the fact that the Fordomatic transmission unless specifically put into low gear , starts in second gear. I have not felt the need for the kick-down. What the kick-down switch does is supply a momentary ground to allow the transmission to disengage overdrive. Usually this for passing. The kick-down switch is traditionally under the gas pedal on the kick-up of the floorboard actuated when full throttle is applied for passing or accelerating in high gear. I assume you probably know this as you said you previously had an OD car.
When I was young, a friend's parents had a '59 Thunderbird with 3 speed w/ overdrive. Occasionally I see an OD bird for sale. If I was in the market for a square bird I would want a '59 with overdrive. I don't remember where the relay was located. I would presume it would be in a similar location to the '57 fords. You may find a picture of a '59 fullsize or less likely a 'Bird. I would try
E-bay for cars for sale. I would also
search '59 Ford images and '59 T-Bird images. If there is any luck You will find the location. By the way do you have the 352 or the 430? Either one probably will not demand the use of a kick-down switch. Also do you have AC. I would think that the location for the relay would be placed so as not to interfere with the AC suitcase that is factory mounted behind the engine on a sort of shelf directly in front of the center of the firewall. Good luck and happy motoring.
