My long awaited AOD swap is finally complete. After waiting the last couple weeks for my neighbor to fill his torch tank and get his welding regulator fixed we finally finished it up. It is awesome to be able to cruise at 2000 rpm with 3.89 rear gears. Also the car loves the new 3000 stall instead of the old 2500. I took some pics of the tranny from underneath and of the custom mount but my wifes camer dock is screwed up so I may post them later or if somebody wants to see what I did keep in touch by pm to remind me to send them to you or post them. The general parts AOD from 87-92 mustang is best Pioneer FRA-205 flywheel or equivalent out of late 70s early 80s ford car with 164 tooth flywheel 1993 Mustang high torque mini starter, factory piece form your local parts store Lokar TV cable kit Tranny cooler and about 20' of line, I used steel line and bent it The general idea Remove old tranny, flywheel, blockplate, and starter Install new block plate, flywheel, tranny, and starter The 93 starter will require a jumper wire from the starter cable to the solenoid on the starter, it is kind of a Chevy style If you have headers you might have to remove one or the other to get the tranny in, I had to remove the pass. side header and mine are Hedman Keep tranny supperted with jack and reinstall headers, they will probably touch the tranny and need to be heated with a torch and bent away from the tranny, had to move mine about inch and a half to make me happy. If you have a factory style floor shifter you can bend the shift linage to work, this may take a while, and alot of swearing. ALso if this is the kind of shifter you are going to use then you will have to remove the valve body from the tranny and loosen the shift rod nut on the inside so you can rotate the outer shift linkage 180 degrees (not the TV linkage). Fabricate a tranny mount, Have to use your imagination and keep exhaust clearance in mind. Mine was simple and used factory frame mount holes and trans. mount Install Lokar TV cable. On the top side instead of buying some fancy bracket like they recomend I drilled a hole on my factory throttle cable bracket about and inch under the throttle cable and ran the tv cable through there. Perfect angle since it mount to the bottom of the carb linkage. Run new lines to tranny cooler. Might be able to modify old lines if you cur and rebend but easier to run new ones. My driveshaft fit perfect Modify exhaust pipe to meet the new angle of your headers. We did more heating and bending. Add fluid, adjust TV cable, and change your oil while your at it and your done. Sounds easy huh? I did alot of swearing, alot of trips to the parts store, alot of busted knuckles. Good part is now you can sell your C4 abd get some money back
One thing, you used the 158 tooth flywheel? I had to use the 164 tooth flywheel with 28oz imbalance. A bit difficult to find.
You are correct. I had the numbers mixed up in my head. The bigger 164 tooth flexplate is what is needed for the AOD. Thanks. This flywheel is listed as a factory application in the Pioneer brand transmission parts catalog. 164 tooth with 28oz. balance for late 70s early 80s intermediate cars with C4 or AOD. About $50 at your local parts store.
4 months now and still no problems. I am loving the better gas mileage and driveability. Gotta enjoy it while I can before it gets too hot to drive a car without a/c in Phoenix. Right now the weather is perfect for cruising.
cool... now maybe you can drive it to so cal and meet up with us at knotts now... no excuses oh and pick up one of my grabber carbon fiber hoods while your at it
Still not going to drive it to So. Cal. I am not totally in love with the noise coming from my new ujoint. Plus I caouldn't take the exhaust noise for that long. Maybe after I get it shaken down more and the exhaust redone and routed out the back.
Just turn up the "killer stereo"..that what I do. I will be driving 1500+miles each way to attend the Ford show at Knotts...exhaust noise and all(3000+rpm). So if you change your mind...come on over...would love to see your car and say Hi
WTG, Ryan! BTW, I believe y'all are talking about a 157 tooth "flex plate", not a 158 tooth "flywheel". <-- noes it all
not sure what kind of mileage I am getting. I haven't found a correct speedo gear to use with 3.89 gears. But I know it is much better.
RYAN, any tips on adjusting the TV cable? I like the idea of using the existing bracket................Dave
hey ryan. can you post some pics of the mod? I'm looking to do the swap once I rebuild one. Did you build your's or buy it built? -looking for tips. Thanks Bud!
Ryan, You did an excellent job: Choosing the 3.89 gears, the late model AOD, steel cooler lines, and throttle cable connections. Did you use Mercon V fluid as is now recommended by Ford? Glad to here the Mustang AOD was short enough to use your old driveline - are the angles the same? The gear you need will be 31% larger (multiply the number of teeth by 1.31) to make the speedometer work corectly. (this is approx) GOOD JOB!
