AOD Conversion

[turtle5353]

Nice job Eric!! I was thinking about doing this swap on my 71. But I have heard that these aod's are only good up to about 450hp even with quality aftermarket internals. What all did you do to your AOD?? What have you heard about their reliability under higher HP? I will be in the 550-600HP range with my new 408 Stroker. I would hate to put the aod in and grenade it. Could definately use the extra gear with my 373's on the highways. Just wondering what you have heard about them?? Thanks Kevin

 

[Mister 4x4]

Nice job Eric!! I was thinking about doing this swap on my 71. But I have heard that these aod's are only good up to about 450hp even with quality aftermarket internals. What all did you do to your AOD?? What have you heard about their reliability under higher HP? I will be in the 550-600HP range with my new 408 Stroker. I would hate to put the aod in and grenade it. Could definately use the extra gear with my 373's on the highways. Just wondering what you have heard about them?? Thanks Kevin

Thanks Kevin!

The only thing I did to my AOD was clean it up after the previous owner pulled it from his '89 5.0 GT (he swapped in a TKO) - then emptied, installed, and changed the filter. He drove it into the Auto Hobby Shop, swapped trannies, and [literally] gave me the AOD. I haven't even filled it back up yet (I was working on the cooling lines and just forgot to).

What I've read says they're good to 400+, so I haven't really done too much research into fortifying or anything... but I think I will be now (before I fill it back up... just in case I need to pull it apart or anything).

 

[71fordramair]

did the aod 250 swap, the 87 cougar donor shifter didnt fit. i used stock one and bent the shift rod to work. 5.0 cougar tv cable and bracket worked too. i felt good about installing tci constant psi valvebody to avoid a meltdown not having tv cable adjusted right. nice firm shifts. i too trimmed stock crossmember. best upgrade so far.

 

[wwhite72]

awsome work, please keep posting details. one point i might mention is that when i did a lot of hunting for my exhaust system i found that ford used an H pipe rather than the X pipe even though other manufacturers were already using x pipes in their competition systems. Ford found that for the cleveland the H actually provided more scavanging and increased flow than a siamesed or X design. I only mention it because the clearance under the shaft looks tight and if you had to change anything it mght not affect performance. and sincere thanks for the pics!

 

[turtle5353]

Eric, What exhaust system are you running? Brand? How was the fit overall?

 

[Mister 4x4]

Eric, What exhaust system are you running? Brand? How was the fit overall?

Sorry I missed this. It's a Pypes 2.5" stainless system from Summit Racing. It went right in - no muss, no fuss - perfect. The only snag was having to bend the collector adapters to fit the angle of the Hooker Competition header collectors. I think it's a total of 14 degrees.

Hope that helps.


Today I managed to combine the AOD's reverse lights/neutral safety switch harness with the same from the Mustang. I decided to make it a permanent deal and splice/solder/'shrink the connections. Turned out pretty good, and it's all plugged back in - just like it belongs there. It's a little too long, but nothing a few zip ties and some strategic tucking won't solve.

Preparing to splice:



Soldered and 'shrunk - the unused wire is to light up the selector on the shifter, since the stock wiring harness has everything controlled by the shifter - the AOD's reverse light switch and neutral safety switch are inside of the transmission. I'll just tap one of the console's 'dash lights' for the shifter selector:

Here's the new 'hybrid' AOD/Mach 1 reverse light/neutral safety switch harness:

I will put up a wiring diagram and color chart soon, to save hassle and time for others.

 

[trainey]

Keep it up! ha ha I may be ready to start once you get yours done, and I'll have all of your procedures to do it..Thanks Man!

 

[71StangGT]

Fantastic thread. I've got a used 4r70w I'm thinking of putting in the 71, probably with a Baumann controller. Plenty of work to do before I get to that, though.

 

[TheJ]

Very cool, it is coming together nicely.

 

[CZ-75]

I'm still waiting for my wife ratio AOD to be completed by Silver fox Performance Transmissions... should be a couple of weeks yet

 

[Mister 4x4]

Sweet! Can't wait til you get yours going. I'll be mounting and hooking up the shifter and making a TV cable bracket this weekend... and hopefully, take it for a spin around the parking lot of the shop. That won't be weird or anything. :-/

I poked around a bit when I saw the comments about the TCI valve body and found these:

http://www.txchange.com/aodadj.htm

http://www.stangfix.com/testforum2/index.php?topic=5455.0

Apparently, there seems to be some controversy about the TCI/Silver Fox valve bodies vs. just setting up the TV cable properly. Mine has the 'Block' cable, and is still set by the factory from when it was in my pal's '89 5.0 - so I think I'm OK there. I just need to make a bracket for it to actually work properly.

 

[clevelandcoupe]

Guys,

I have an AOD behind a 351 Cleveland in my Model A and used the Lokar aod cable set up. This cable is very easy to install and has infinite adjust-ability. Just another way to do it !!!

Thanks, Jay

 

[CZ-75]

Yeah, I have heard bad things about TCI, but the only bad thing I have read about Silver fox is regarding communication. I hear good things about his products. And I will confirm he doesn't over communicate... but he will answer emails... just dont bother asking 2 questions in one email. You will only get an answer to one of them.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Guys,

I have an AOD behind a 351 Cleveland in my Model A and used the Lokar aod cable set up. This cable is very easy to install and has infinite adjust-ability. Just another way to do it !!!

Thanks, Jay

I'll bet it's nice. I'd thought about the Lokar cables as well... until I realized my pal had given me everything except the speedometer cable and the TV cable manifold bracket (which were both still in-use on his car). I also balked when I saw the price tag for a simple cable and bracket - I can't justify spending the $200+ on a cable & bracket, when I already have a perfectly good one that actually came with the transmission (for free, even).

 

[Tubo]

Excilent tech article/thread!!

However may I suggest a major change to those emulating the AOD swap?? That being Don't use an AOD!!! With No Disrespect to turtle 5353, who's tech info is almost directly pertainable to the AODE/4R70W's too.

AOD's have always been a weak tranny and were last built in 1993. Since then, the electrically operated(they do need a stand alone controler), much improved AODE/4R70W versions of the AOD family have taken their place. AODE/4R70W's though much strengthened internally(can easily handle 450+HP), share the same case and exterior dimensions as the AOD with two exceptions.

The AODE/4R70W bell housing is 1 inch deeper (so the trans is 1 inch longer) and the Outside Diameter of the drive yoke is larger(1.5 inch vs 1.590) So that the tailshaft housings are different in yoke diameter opening.

C-4, C-6, FMX, AOD, and T-5 all use the same 28 splined yokes, except the T-5 version is splined all the way to the throat opening, and so is much stronger. When using AODE/4R70W s simple 6 bolt swap to the AOD short tailshaft housing, and you can use the T-5 yoke.

Just about two years ago I outlined a 4R70w swap into my 73 Vert. Plz think of this thread as addenda to turtle5353's fine tech.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-up-grading-to-a-aode-4r70w

My EFI 331 65 2+2 also uses a 4R70W.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Thanks for the note. I would've considered an AODE, except that I lucked out and was 'gifted' my AOD. Hmmm... what to do... go find a $2500 AODE, or use this FREE AOD that just fell into my lap. Yeah... there's not a lot of gray-area there.

I must've gotten a T-5 yoke then, because mine's splined all the way to the end (my pal also kept his yoke for his TKO).

 

[CZ-75]

An AOD will be strong enough for my application. And much simpler than going to an Electronic control.

 

[trainey]

An AOD will be strong enough for my application. And much simpler than going to an Electronic control.

+1

 

[Totalled]

C6 is a 31 spline yoke...

 

[Tubo]

An AOD will be strong enough for my application. And much simpler than going to an Electronic control.

As I'm not very well known on this forum, I'll try not to get into a "heated discussion" with anyone, untill I've been around long enough to earn some cred.

That being said, on the AOD vs AODE/4R70W topic, please check out;

http://tccoa.com/articles/tranny/index.html#

http://www.becontrols.com/techguide_2.htm

http://www.rosehillperformanceparts.com/Index.htm

http://www.ford-aod.com/#Performance%20Parts

Besides CZ-75, IF, I've deduced properly your AOD prolly has 4R70W internals, gears clutch discs and wider bands. So it ain't hardly yer average AOD. And it still doesn't have a solid one piece output shaft or a fully lock up torque converter.

Also, the less "simple" electronic controler has a ton of advantages over the AOD's PITA TV valve. Hehheh, I learded the difference the hard way, I had one!! The photo of the two tranny's above is of the AOD that came out and 4R70W that went in instead.

Then again, that's why god had sooo many Mustangs made, So's we can each do our own, as we please.

Best

Tubo

BTW I'm also a CZ guy, w/CZ-82, P01, and SP01

C6 is a 31 spline yoke...

Yup, I stand corrected.

....Hmmm... what to do... go find a $2500 AODE' date=' or use this FREE AOD..... ...[/quote']
Well heck I don't blame Ya, free iz guid!!

How ever the AODE/4R70W's ain't necessairly $2500. My first one(65 2+2) was NOS @$750, and the second(73 Vert) was nicely rebuilt and $625. O'course the shift kit was extra.