My transmission cut out yesterday, which really isn't very disappointing; I wanted to put a 5 speed in anyway. I was wondering if a 5 speed could fit with my 302 engine (I'm not sure if it's of any relevance, but it's a '76 Maverick); if not, what engine would it fit on (preferably the most powerful)? I'd like to upgrade to fuel injection as well. I don't know much about cars (it took me a few hours to realize I have to take the dust cap off to replace my rotors, and even longer to replace my races; turns out, the rotors came with races already in them, and the whole time I was trying to put extra races in!), so I'd greatly appreciate as much detail as possible. Thanks in advance!
Welcome aboard Jack! :Handshake What part of Alabama are you in? I'm considering going with a 5 speed soon too...manual. I like my toploader but a 5 speed would certainly help the drivability of it.
Preferably automatic, as I'm absolutely terrible at manual; manual will do if there's no other 5-speed available. I live in Brownsboro, AL. It's between Huntsville and Scottsboro, neighboring Gurley and Maysville.
I've been told that an AoD transmission would work well. What do you guys think? And it's a bit off-topic, but everyone keeps asking me "Why not a hemi?" Is there any real reason for a hemi?
i would try to find a 5.0 mustang 87 to 93 thats got a bad body either from neglect or damage. spent around $1500. pull out the motor, trans, computer and wireing harness. then put it into the mav. there is alot of info on this site on how to do it. this will get you what you want
'Why not a hemi?" well a hemi is a dodge motor and it would involve changing everything from engine mounts and transmission crossmembers to possibly having to redo inner fenders transmission tunnels and firewalls. Anymore the Hemi is a name. It is a Hemispherically balanced combustion chamber that produces more power than the conventional combustion chamber. That is also common in DOHC cam motors and SOHC motors so most of the modular motors have the hemispherically designed combustion chamber but do not retain the name because it is trademarked by the chrystler corporation.
There has never been a 5spd auto made for the 5.0 or 302 that I am aware of. There are a few 5 spd manuals but they are either not worth putting behind a 302 or very expensive. The AOD will work behind a 302 - as many will testify - but you have to consider the cost of making sure it is strong enough for your HP output and that you are geared for it. The AOD has a 30% overdrive so if you have say a 2.8 rear end ratio (i know there isn't one - it just make the math easier) when you are in over drive your final drive ratio is only 2.0 (rounded off a bit). That means that your car will be in the off-idle fuel delivery range of your carb. Very rich mixture and high load on the O/D section. The AOD will shuttle shift between 3 and 4 and wear itself out prematurely. The ideal rear gears are 3.55 for best use of the transmission. That will net a final drive of about 2.7:1 Your cruising RPM will be around 2000 RPM.
Gear ratio is easy - divide the number of teeth on your ring gear by the number of teeth on the pinion. (or look at the tag that should be on the differential housing). That's all there is as long as you don't have an overdrive. With an overdrive you have to tak the ratio you get from the formula above and multiply it by the overdrive. EXAMPLE: Ring gear has 21 teeth Pinion has 7 teeth 21 / 7 = 3 ratio is 3:1 transmission has a 70% overdrive 3 x .70 (.70 = 70%) = 2.10:1 Final drive ratio (in overdrive) How do you calculate HP? The best way is an engine dyno The next best is a desktop dyno program (as long as you are honest in all the inputs) Then a chassis dyno and least accurate is an engineering formula that makes a lot of assumptions. HP = PxLxAxN/33000 HP = Cylinder pressure (Mean Average PSI) x Length of stroke (in feet) x Area of cylinder bore (square inches) x number of strokes per minute (1/2 RPM for V8)/33000 NOTE: Mean average cylinder pressure is normally 5 to 6 times your actual compression EXAMPLE: Cylinder pressure (mean average) = 1000 psi Stroke = .25 (3") Area = 12.56 (3.14159 x 1/2 bore x 1/2 bore) [3.14159 x 2 x 2] = [3.14158 x 4] Number of strokes per minute = 3000 (cam, intake, heads, headers tuned for 6000 maximum HP) 33000 = number of ft. lbs of torque per minute that equal 1 HP. HP = 1000 x .25 x 12.56 x 3000 / 33000 HP = 250 x 12.56 x 3000 / 33000 HP = 3140 x 3000 / 33000 HP = 9420000 / 33000 HP = 285.4 (Net HP) EXAMPLE 2: HP = 1500 x .25 x 12.56 x 3000 /33000 HP = 375 x 12.56 x 3000 / 33000 HP = 4710 x 3000/ 33000 HP = 14130000 / 33000 HP = 428.2 (Net HP) Raising the mean average cylinder pressure 50% raises the (approx) HP 50% There are losses that the formula does not take into account and some that are averaged but it is a universal formula (like E=MC2) that approximates actual net HP.
The SOHC Ford Mod motors have wedge shaped combustion chambers, same as the small block pushrod motors. The SOHC 427 Ford was a Hemi though.
