- Joined
- May 31, 2020
- Messages
- 259
- Reaction score
- 138
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
- My Car
- 1972 Mach 1
351C 4V - C6
Blue with Blue interior
Well over the past few years, the Mach 1 seems to have gotten a new trans every year almost. The car is originally a C6 car, but a couple years ago I wanted to make some changes and make it a little better cruiser so I put in an AOD. The AOD was ok, but never seemed 100% despite having a Lentech VB and 3000 stall convertor. Well last year I took the car to get dyno tuned, and when the shop was adjusting things, they neglected to adjust the TV cable, so after getting the car home, I noticed the trans was acting up. After a very short period the trans was slipping and after talking with Lentech and some AOD people they figured the forward clutches are toast. Of course the shop is blaming everyone else and not taking any responsibility. So after fighting with them I decided Im just going to be done with the auto in the car and going to convert it to a manual. And I have to say I couldnt be happier. I went with a brand new Tremec T5Z and will try to share the journey with the pics I managed to get. But I have to say Modern Driveline had everything I needed, and I had pieced together a lot of other stuff to try and be as prepared as possible.
To prepare for things, I picked up another auto pedal support from West Coast Cougars, so I could prep it, get the clutch roller bearing kit installed and have everything ready. Little did I know the one I got through them was a little bit different, It worked, but had to make a few small modification.
![20240412_141314.jpg 20240412_141314.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84079-bd728de5d23f9102eccc87c197f88c3c.jpg)
The nice thing about the swap is most of the stuff is just Foxbody parts and everything bolts up nicely to the cleveland. I did have to clearance a couple small spots on the spacer plate, but everything went pretty smooth. I was very happy that we were able to remove the old AOD without removing the long tubes as that would have added a bunch of work. Went with a Ford racing billet flywheel and Mcleod clutch
![20240427_141319.jpg 20240427_141319.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84080-edb4645eaf2c3e19a34d2e9685267c6f.jpg)
One little sentimental thing I did was get my friends who were helping me to all put their initals in the form of inspection marks on the bell housing.
![20240427_114450.jpg 20240427_114450.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84082-eb292ee924fe2d63289d73bae36026e3.jpg)
Pulled out the column to get room to work under the dash, plus it let me clean things up a little bit.
![20240511_120041.jpg 20240511_120041.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84083-843489801f2c161a88ae1ca411c34447.jpg)
New pedal assembly in, wiring cleaned a bit. Looks right with 3 pedals finally.
![20240511_220949.jpg 20240511_220949.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84084-3a79388a8bdb265ea0331653d07a6bf7.jpg)
Trans in, found out I needed a different crossmember so this was with the C6/AOD one, so I ended up ordering the Modern Driveline one.
![20240428_183750.jpg 20240428_183750.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84085-050414f7edadb16485f38a5e922931cb.jpg)
The original starter ended up hitting the oil pan a little bit with the fox body bellhousing. So I ended up getting a new starter out of a 93 Mustang which was much smaller and lighter and works perfect. Just took a tiny bit of wiring for it but really simple and probably saved 10lbs.
![20240501_160029.jpg 20240501_160029.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84086-cd70694d674b0d3564aa7e9303717048.jpg)
Trans, driveshaft, and new crossmember in place. Everything looking/working good.
![20240524_150349.jpg 20240524_150349.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84087-9c5753a478dcd81f33d7050549bf2a2a.jpg)
Ended up heating and bending the shifter arm back a bit to get a little more clearance. Used the Fox body lower shift boot to seal things. Clutch feels great and is just the MDL clutch cable kit, which I like because I can easily have a spare cable.
![20240531_185728.jpg 20240531_185728.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84088-d914261a618c9c0099a870232e31beb3.jpg)
Lastly just a picture of the shift boot. My mom is a wizard with a sewing machine so she found some material and helped make one custom to fit the way I wanted it to. So really happy with how it turned out.
![20240627_175316.jpg 20240627_175316.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84089-751154e07945dbb510184caf1544a1fb.jpg)
Now that its all done I have to say I am extremely happy with the swap. The car feels SOOOO much better and its much more fun to drive. This is probably one of the favorite things I have done to the car. I would have loved to have gotten a TKX, but it just wasnt in the budget, but I love taking the car for drives now as I had been missing having a manual. And even my dad had wished this car was a manual when he bought it.
To prepare for things, I picked up another auto pedal support from West Coast Cougars, so I could prep it, get the clutch roller bearing kit installed and have everything ready. Little did I know the one I got through them was a little bit different, It worked, but had to make a few small modification.
![20240412_141314.jpg 20240412_141314.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84079-bd728de5d23f9102eccc87c197f88c3c.jpg)
The nice thing about the swap is most of the stuff is just Foxbody parts and everything bolts up nicely to the cleveland. I did have to clearance a couple small spots on the spacer plate, but everything went pretty smooth. I was very happy that we were able to remove the old AOD without removing the long tubes as that would have added a bunch of work. Went with a Ford racing billet flywheel and Mcleod clutch
![20240427_141319.jpg 20240427_141319.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84080-edb4645eaf2c3e19a34d2e9685267c6f.jpg)
One little sentimental thing I did was get my friends who were helping me to all put their initals in the form of inspection marks on the bell housing.
![20240427_114450.jpg 20240427_114450.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84082-eb292ee924fe2d63289d73bae36026e3.jpg)
Pulled out the column to get room to work under the dash, plus it let me clean things up a little bit.
![20240511_120041.jpg 20240511_120041.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84083-843489801f2c161a88ae1ca411c34447.jpg)
New pedal assembly in, wiring cleaned a bit. Looks right with 3 pedals finally.
![20240511_220949.jpg 20240511_220949.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84084-3a79388a8bdb265ea0331653d07a6bf7.jpg)
Trans in, found out I needed a different crossmember so this was with the C6/AOD one, so I ended up ordering the Modern Driveline one.
![20240428_183750.jpg 20240428_183750.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84085-050414f7edadb16485f38a5e922931cb.jpg)
The original starter ended up hitting the oil pan a little bit with the fox body bellhousing. So I ended up getting a new starter out of a 93 Mustang which was much smaller and lighter and works perfect. Just took a tiny bit of wiring for it but really simple and probably saved 10lbs.
![20240501_160029.jpg 20240501_160029.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84086-cd70694d674b0d3564aa7e9303717048.jpg)
Trans, driveshaft, and new crossmember in place. Everything looking/working good.
![20240524_150349.jpg 20240524_150349.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84087-9c5753a478dcd81f33d7050549bf2a2a.jpg)
Ended up heating and bending the shifter arm back a bit to get a little more clearance. Used the Fox body lower shift boot to seal things. Clutch feels great and is just the MDL clutch cable kit, which I like because I can easily have a spare cable.
![20240531_185728.jpg 20240531_185728.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84088-d914261a618c9c0099a870232e31beb3.jpg)
Lastly just a picture of the shift boot. My mom is a wizard with a sewing machine so she found some material and helped make one custom to fit the way I wanted it to. So really happy with how it turned out.
![20240627_175316.jpg 20240627_175316.jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/7173mustangs/data/attachments/84/84089-751154e07945dbb510184caf1544a1fb.jpg)
Now that its all done I have to say I am extremely happy with the swap. The car feels SOOOO much better and its much more fun to drive. This is probably one of the favorite things I have done to the car. I would have loved to have gotten a TKX, but it just wasnt in the budget, but I love taking the car for drives now as I had been missing having a manual. And even my dad had wished this car was a manual when he bought it.