<VV> Overdrive transmissions

[Smitty]

Smitty Says;  as I read the posts on the need for overdrive for Corvairs I 
see lots of good proposals.  But then I wonder if any of them are cost 
effective.  Without the camper on the back I routinely drive at 65-70 mph 
and I can always hear the flat six droning behind me.  I could live with a 
little less of that but what would it be worth to reduce it?    Most of us 
that drive to conventions and regional shows only do it once a year.  I 
consider anywhere from 100 to 150K miles to be expected from an engine with 
timely oil changes and driven in a manner that keeps head and oil 
temperatures down where they belong.  I never let the engine revs go below 
2,000 when I have a load on it.  Of course stoplight driving is different 
but I don't consider that to be a load.  Lowering the revs at highway speed 
would only drag the engine down to where the danger of detonation lives.  To 
get back to cost effective I think you have to keep in mind that to almost 
all of us our Vairs are a toy.  I don't think any of us have to drive a Vair 
because it is all we can afford.  We can all afford a family car.  We who 
choose to run up outlandish miles on our Vairs , do it because we want to, 
not because we need to.  So considering the cost and problems to put an 
overdrive in a Corvair I hardly think it is worthwhile.