FMX to AOD swap. Complete report.

[luxstang]

Nothing car related is cheap here in Europe. The AOD swap was still the cheapest way to go. The weight of that gear vendors thing would have driven shipping costs through the roof and import is calculated on parts plus shipping.

We're pretty much screwed over here.

I just ordered a rim for a friend's Jeep from summit. Cost of the rim is 89$ shipping a little over 140$! Add import taxes and we're in the 300$+ range. For a rim that was 89 bucks to start with!!

See what I mean?

 

[mustang7173]

Mike,

Ouch! I thought that might have been the case.

mustang7173

 

[mus72]

Nothing car related is cheap here in Europe. The AOD swap was still the cheapest way to go. The weight of that gear vendors thing would have driven shipping costs through the roof and import is calculated on parts plus shipping.

We're pretty much screwed over here.

I just ordered a rim for a friend's Jeep from summit. Cost of the rim is 89$ shipping a little over 140$! Add import taxes and we're in the 300$+ range. For a rim that was 89 bucks to start with!!

See what I mean?

Mike I used to have numbers to bring parts in via container to Rotterdam maybe something like that might help you, if you want I can give you a contact for the UK a GV would cost about £100 .

 

[luxstang]

By the way, I checked my gas mileage and the AOD swap turned 15.6 mpg into 18 mpg.

 

[71fordramair]

my 71 6cyl aod swap went well. cant say i noticed a drain on power compared to c4 but you know how unrelated coincidents happen. I changed my master cyl. and didnt adjust the rod right and it felt like i was towing a trailer! brake drag bad. i installed a TCI constant psi valvebody for firmer shifts and to protect trans from melt down. tci says it fixes factory shift flaws. maybe you need higher shift points on all 3 shifts?

 

[JimNiki]

A big hello to all once again...

No, I haven't bought a corolla!

I just thought it'd be appropriate on this post to mention that the old Clydesdale is with the pro's getting an AOD upgrade as we speak!

After pulling the fmx out twice at home, I swore I'll never do it again.

Pick it up next week.

cheers to all for now.

 

[JimNiki]

Well next week turned into 2 months!

Anyway, it's at home now with an aod in it.

Took it for a nice drive last Sunday as the weather was nice ...cold but no clouds. (It is winter here in Melbourne).

It ran nicely, I love overdrive now. Like Mike's low revs with a 3.0 diff gear ratio, I'm on 2000 revs with a 3.25 @ 65mph.

I too am now itching for a 3.5 ratio ring/pinion. That's be a perfect sweet spot.

Anyway, when driving it home, I wasn't happy with it at all. No power, weird gear changes, etc.

I bought a pressure gauge, and calibrated it myself. Runs like a bought one.

I will find tune the lokar fine adjustment to try to get it to hold the gears a little longer though.

I feel I've got the same power, more or less, now that the pressures are adjusted correctly. (Not sure if that's a placebo though, but I'm happy with it)

The B&M shifter finally works in ratchet mode now. Now that I really need it now, one click and I'm in 2-3!

Anyway my biggest concern was whether the box will fit with my long tube headers and it just made it (with a little grinding here and there)

catch!

 

[mustang7173]

JimNiki,

Yes, AOD is now in. The 3.50 gears would be a good gear setup. I changed mine to the 3.55 gear due to other Ford's running the 4R75W transmissions. Keep us posted on which gear set you choose.

mustang7173

 

[luxstang]

If I lived in the U.S. I'd go for a 3.8:1. I have that now and it's a match made in heaven.

Only thing is we drive 130 kph (81mph) on the freeway. That's the speed limit but it's considered minimum speed by everyone. So most of the time we'd go around 150 kph (93mph).

That's when the 3.8:1 is a little steep.

Bottom line: for Europe go with a 3.5 and for the U.S. take a 3.8.

That's officially my advice from experience.

 

[JimNiki]

Mike, I am thinking 3.8 since the max limit in Au is 110 kmh (approx 68 mph)

So basically, quick maths ....mumble, mumble, carry the 2, = 17% higher revs. So instead of 2000, I'll be doing 2340 revs.

Is this too much for long cruises, guys, with your experience? Versus 2150 revs going to 3.5 from 3.25 gears.

 

[CZ-75]

IIRC, a 3.8 with the overdrive is just about the same as the FMX with a 2.75. You should be right at the sweet spot!

I'm running a 3.93 rear end with my wide ratio AOD, and at 70MPH, I'm at about 2,700 RPMS.

 

[Wolverine]

Mike, I am thinking 3.8 since the max limit in Au is 110 kmh (approx 68 mph)

So basically, quick maths ....mumble, mumble, carry the 2, = 17% higher revs. So instead of 2000, I'll be doing 2340 revs.

Is this too much for long cruises, guys, with your experience? Versus 2150 revs going to 3.5 from 3.25 gears.

I used to run 2500 on the freeway, 15k a year. I never had an issue with it, but I ran stock exhaust.

 

[JimNiki]

What my real question to you and others is:

Is the few extra revs we waste cruising on the highways worth it for better acceleration! I think so?

 

[luxstang]

That's the question you need to answer for yourself and it mostly depends on your driving conditions. As mine sees lots and lots of freeway use I wish I had gone with a 3.55:1 instead of a 3.8:1.

The increase in acceleration from the original 3.0:1 to the 3.8:1 is way smaller than I had expected. Still the car feels much more balanced now, lighter and livelier and that is a big plus.

 

[JimNiki]

if you still did mainly highway driving Mike, but the max was 65mph, would you go the 3.8? Or still the 3.5 in hindsight.

 

[luxstang]

65 mph? 3.8 definitely.

You'll never rev higher than say 2500-2700.

I did not do any actual math for those numbers but it's just what I remember from mine approximately.

 

[Don65Stang]

if you still did mainly highway driving Mike, but the max was 65mph, would you go the 3.8? Or still the 3.5 in hindsight.

I also agree with using the 3.8 with your speed limits. I think you'll be quite happy with the results.

 

[Mister 4x4]

As mine sees lots and lots of freeway use I wish I had gone with a 3.55:1 instead of a 3.8:1. The increase in acceleration from the original 3.0:1 to the 3.8:1 is way smaller than I had expected. Still the car feels much more balanced now, lighter and livelier and that is a big plus.

How bad was the acceleration rate between the FMX and AOD with the 3.00 gears? I ask because there shouldn't have been a noticeable difference, since the FMX and AOD are purported to have the same internal gear ratios (with the exception of the AOD having the OD).

My thoughts on this are that the 5.0 Mustangs with AODs came with either 2.75 or 3.00 rear gears as well... and they didn't exactly suck performance-wise in their day (now, "in reality compared to present-day," that's a different story). This is also why I tend to disagree with the mindset of using higher stall converters than what came stock with the AOD for 'normal' driving - Ford knew what it was doing when it matched up those components, after all.

I'm also interested to hear more of what Doc has to say about his experience in souping up his engine, because I actually went along a similar line as he did, so I'm essentially sitting on a blend of his engine build mated up with your AOD experience (prior to changing your rear gears). Based on the 150+hp gain CompCams says I should expect, and the 3.00 gears, I'm hoping to see some decent gas mileage along with the horsepower/torque increase overcoming the tall gears for a burn-out and some "Smoked Rice" every now and then.

Again, this is all just me speculating, since I haven't actually driven mine any further than from the trailer to the garage and back, so I honestly have no idea if I have a monster or a turd at this point. :chin:

 

[Don65Stang]

The FMX and AOD are the same gear ratios except that the AOD has an overdrive.

Trans 1st 2nd 3rd OD

AOD 2.40 1.47 1.00 0.67

FMX 2.40 1.47 1.00 -

 

[luxstang]

Yeah but still with the same gear ratios the AOD feels little lamer than the FMX. I guess it produces more parasitic drag but the main difference is the AODs silly habit of almost ignoring second gear. It goes into third very early and thus the car feels slower.

This situation improved after some fine tuning of the TV cable but it's still present and noticeable. There are aftermarket valve bodies that specifically address that issue.

But if you try to tune your shift points as high as you can you can make up for it to some extend.

Anyway, with high shift points and 3.8 reads my car now feels pretty good and well balanced. Not anywhere near a race car but I like it a lot.