302 + AOD trans to 65 comet or 64 Fairlane

[doberdawg]

Here in my part of Calif it is weather to wrench, & I have 2 projects, both station wagons with factory V8 & automatics. I also have 2 donor cars, a 67 cougar with a 351W & 5 speed, & an unknown year 302 with AOD tranny, currently in a 57 Ranchero.

I am told but not sure of accuracy, that the AOD tranny requires cutting my trans hump on falcons/comets.

My 2 questions are: Is it necessary to cut hump in 65 Comet for AOD install, & same question for installing the AOD in a 64 Fairlane? I probably won't, but same question for installing AOD in my 63 Meteor S33?

[w2zero]

Meteor and Fairlane require no trans hump mods for the AOD. You will have to rework the frame extensions and crossmember for the transmission mount. Might have to tweak the Ebrake pivot under there too. The fat butt on the AOD makes it interesting.

[roy]

The AOD is a great swap into the Fairlaane or any auto not running an O/D trans for that matter
Sticking one into an early Fairlane, as mentioned above is not very hard, no cutting required, I did cut back the 2 top trans to motor bolt flanges, just so I could get a wrench on them as
I was tight to the firewall, lots of meat on the AOD bell, so again, no drama.
You can get the kickdown or TV cable set up from Lokar, & pay attention to setting it up or you can litteraly burn up an AOD in no time, if your TV cable ain;t set up right
Only issue I had was installing my Hooker long tubes (#6134's) made for an early Fairlane but, no one tried them with the fat AOD,
We had to cut off the dr.side collector, aim it off to the side somewhat & massage the pass.side to clear,
Great combo once its in tho, dropped my RPM at 60mph from 3200rpm to 1900rpm!
But, I soon got feed up with the AOD's wonky "shift when I want to" upshifts, & you can never run motor to WOT, at least in each gear as
a stock AOD will shft up at, anywhere from 4200 to 4600rpm or when iut feels like it, so you will get fed up with it pretty quickly
The solution, & its a great one, call Len at Lentech Autos, they specialize in making the Ford o/d trans working right
A simple switch to a Lentech valve body & the AOD changes into a wonderful trans.
With the flip of a switch, to manual, you can now rev her out in 1st., 2nd, 3rd to WOT or whatever speed you like, downshift through each gear too
or, switch to auto mode & the trans go through the gears normally
You have big horsepower & or want to make an AOD live, Lentech has all kinds of mods you can use from better oiling to hardened shafts.
The owner, Lens AOD equppied Maverick lives doing 9 second passes every weekend!
If it were me though,doing the switch to an O/D trans today, I'd be looking at the latest from Ford
the 4R70W, fords latest electronic controlled O/D trans & a killer trans, simply add a Baumann or similar controller
& have 2 mods- 1-street mode for daily chugging around town
2- race mode, simply set your shift points at any speed you want
With the controller you can adjust & change shift points, stall & more in minutes.
And lastly, you can do what I did when I got bored of the AOD.
Build a strong C-4 & add a Gear Vendor overdrive for 6 forward speeds, Yahoo!!
Look up gearvendor.com & you will see what I mean

[doberdawg]

W22zero, not sure what a fat BUTT is?? Roy, I like what you did, but my finances require EZ way out, & I have a strong running 302 & AOD so am looking into swapping. I "heard" that if you use the original shifter with the AOD the kick down is proper If I want to race, I either go flat head with my 52 or 53 Merc (52 is built for race) or my 57 Ford with a Cobra Jet. My 65 Comet wagon has a tired 289 & I thought the 302/AOD would be a sweet swap for a daily cruzer. The built C4 + Gear Vendor overdrive sounds fun-tastic though. Hmmmm The only other mod I plan is, of course, front disc brakes.

[roy]

Fat butt refers to the wider than C-4 AOD trans, hence the need to cut up my hooker long tube header collectors to clear the AOD's extra girth.
Gear Vendors- Yes!
Briefly, the gear vendors "extra" gears are between the stock C-4 gearing, for example,you shift a stock C-4 from 1st to 2nd you drop. like 800 plus rpm
with the GV units, close ratios, every shift you only drop., like 200-250rpm, if your at WOT, the motor is always in its "sweet spot" or optimum rev. range
To much fun!
looking for a later Ford OD, do look at the 09 or so 4R70W, in Mustang V-6;s
Some very good Ford AOD, 4R70W's info- what yrs.to look for, mods to make, etc at baumann trans. site
Luck

[doberdawg]

GV units? WOT OMH (Over my head). Thanxxxxxxxx

[w2zero]

GV = Gear Vendors, they make bolt on overdrive units. They require shortening the drive shaft.
WOT = Wide Open Throttle.

You can also shell out some $$ for a TransGo shift reprogramming kit that will save the transmission from the dreaded factory shift overlaps and go from a little firm to teeth-rattling shifts at any RPM you desire. Typically they run from 88 to just over a hundred bucks and include directions and video to clarify the modifications to the valve body and includes the new pieces to do the deed.

[Stella62]

I wonder if anyone has used a 4R70W with a Baumann controller as a 2wd trans in a street car. Maybe thats what the Lentech guys do? The Bronco guys are all doing that swap using computer controller to do all shifting and shift points. When I converted Stella to AOD back in the day it was pretty predictable but I have heard folks not liking the AOD shifts/issues. I had a hard downshift out of OD on quick decell, but that was only problem.

[w2zero]

Yes, there are folks using the electronic transmissions in the early model cars. The controller is the way to go. Just like Granada used to be the only way to put front discs on the early platforms.. the AOD was about the only inexpensive way to get overdrive. The electronic transmissions required the whole computer harness until Baummann came up with that box. Adapters and parts become available due to demand, likewise newer transmissions are cheap and available for upgrades. Good luck even finding a Granada now even though there is no real need and soon AOD's will be tough to find in useable shape.

Did you know that there is another adaptation going on for power steering? It is electric and requires some mods under the dash with nothing under the hood at all. It is the late model electronic steering units and as usual hot rodders have made an adapter box for the electronic controls. You cut your shaft and graft this in. If it somehow fails, you are back to manual steer. No hoses or pumps, drips or squealing at lock.

[doberdawg]

w2zero Can you provide a link to the under dash power steering? I am guessing (hoping) it works for most rear wheel drive 12 volt negative ground cars? I ask because I would love power steering in my 56 fairlane, my [converted to 12 v. negative ground 52 Merc, & if possible my still 6v. POSITIVE ground 53 merc - - not to mention my "modern" mid 60's cars. I assume by 'graft" you mean cut & remake the drive shaft??? thanxxxx

P.S. I have a 3 speed overdrive tranny from a 63 Meteor. Is there any "magic" that can be done affordably to work that OD into a T-10 4 speed or other tranny's???

[w2zero]

You can find the info on the power steering on fordmuscleforums.com. If you haven't joined that site, you should. Link to follow. You get the EPAS system complete less the brains from a late model GM. There are some specifics as to model in the link conversations. There is also a Falcon forum link within the thread. I think this should cover all your cars. Then you buy the brain box from a guy on ebay. Lots and lots of pictures in there too!

www.fordmuscleforums.com/all-ford-techboard/538585-100-power-steering-yes-you-can-use-column-electric-power-assist-system-epas.html

There is a teaser in there for electronic disc brakes too. This is all because of the development of serial data linking and little brains out in the systems in the new cars. WooHoo!

I figure 60 for the column, 100 for the controller and probably less than 40 for anything else, coffee, pastry, welding wire and gas, should be a lot less than rebuilding an original power steering setup. Plus no pump, belts, pulleys, drips etc to piss you off forever.