Triumph Repair: Locked up overdrive and gearbox in reverse gear., triumph tr 6, clutch lever

Question
I have just bought a Triumph TR 6, 71model Wilhelmsen a type A overdrive, and most probably reversered it with the overdrive engaged.  The gear lever is now not possible to move to neutreal, and when the enige is running, it do not move the car.  It seems as the clutch do not work at all.  When the clutch is engaged, a lot of strange sounds appears, but no sounds when the clutch lever is relased.  I have investigated the internet, but not found any information as to how to solve the problem, only that it is not the most clever ting to do.

Thanks for any advice.

Answer
Hi Ole,

When the overdrive is engaged due to a problem and reverse is attempted to be used it can destroy the overdrive and I have seen several do that but I have never seen it damage the transmission.

The reason that damage is done to the overdrive when reverse is used. There is one way bearing called a "sprag" bearing in the overdrive and when forced backwards it expands and splits the case of the overdrive open and damages several other items in the overdrive. This also destroys any forward drive too so there may not be any transmission damage. The only way to determine if there is any transmission damage too is to remove the tunnel and remove the transmission and overdrive unit and take the over drive apart. With the overdrive off of the transmission you can then check the transmission for any damage.

Howard