AOD for a 65 Help! I need a 4th gear!

[sixty5pony]

I've looked at some recent posts but haven't seen one on this particular swap. I have a 65 with a C4. I recently put 4.10s in the rear end. I know it's a little aggressive but i mainly drive it around town and I recently put in an edlebrock top end kit and I wanted to really feel it off the line. Problem is, I need a fourth gear to bring the rpms down when cruising over 60mph.

Anyone out there put replace their c4 with an aod on a 65? Any modifications necessary and is it fairly easy to do? Any idea on cost? Not sure why, but summit and jegs show these trannys starting from 1966-up.

thanks for the help.

 

[10secgoal]

Search "aod". It's been discussed abajillion times. It's at the top right when your in the forums like this.

 

[Tubo(2-bo)]

AOD production ended in 1993, the 4R70W is a continuation of the AOD family and has all the AOD's weaknesses cured. The money saved in not rebuilding an AOD will cover the $550 necessary cost of a Baummanator TCS & harness. The electric AODE/4R70W's need a stand alone computer to control them.
Use an 4R70W from a 98-03 Mustang V-6(same bell housing pattern as a windsor) Then swap a AOD tailshaft housing on, and use a T-5 slip yoke. Easy no big deal. The main difference between a 4R70W and an AOD/AODE is the tail shaft housing & slip yokes used. The 4R70W slip yoke has a larger tube diameter and a big ole ballancer ring on it, can prove problematic installed in a classic. The T-5 yoke is the strongest of the types that fit.
I modified a 93 Mustang cable shifter the whole package works great.

http://www.blueriver.net/~finite/project_od.htm
http://tccoa.com/articles/tranny/index.html#
http://www.becontrols.com/tech/tech.htm

If /when you decide to do this swap contact me, I have done up a suppliment to "Operation Overdrive" that can simplify the installation.

 

[Rusty67]

I say stick with the aod and have a trans shop put manual valve bodies in it or even do it yourself. The AODE/4R70W in my daily driver shifts slower then molasses in January.

 

[runawayabc123]

The AODE/4R70W in my daily driver shifts slower then molasses in January.

If you are using a computer unit, how cold is it? (Jan being a pretty cold month in some places.) Computers will actually run slower in colder temps. A good example is leave your cell phone in the car in really cold weather and then navigate through the menus. It will move sluggishly. Of course some are more prone to this and show signs worse than others.

 

[Rusty67]

Its an expression, I live in LA, its never that cold. These transmissions just shift slow as hell. A stock C4 shifts literally 3 to 4 times faster then my daily drivers AODE. Possibly even more so.

 

[BarnStang]

Rusty67, I assume your daily driver is a stock vehicle? You're running whatever the factory program is in that car. If you put that TCS unit on an AODE in a classic, arn't you able to modify how it shifts with the software it comes with? I read over the project write up and i liked the simplicity of haveing just two buttons to control the trans. Overdrive on and off, and Norm and HiPo. He describes the "HiPo" function a a user programable stratagy. I thought it started getting really involved when i saw you have to add a TPS to the Holly. But it looks easy enough, and all the parts are outlined. Certainly not the weekend project.

 

[sixty5pony]

Well from my original question, it doesn't sound like there's an easy bolt on solution. With that said, does anybody know a shop in the L.A. area that can swap out my 3spd auto for a 4spd auto? Any ideas on cost?

 

[Rusty67]

Well from my original question, it doesn't sound like there's an easy bolt on solution. With that said, does anybody know a shop in the L.A. area that can swap out my 3spd auto for a 4spd auto? Any ideas on cost?

Thats why I said use a regular AOD instead of an AODE. The AOD trannys are bolt in. All you need is a trans mount, trans crossmember, TV linkage, shifter linkage and a modified drive shaft.

You can buy the TV linkage from lokar, you can build your own shift linkage or pay for it from PA transmissions, any drive shaft shop can hook you up with a proper drive shaft once the trans is in the car. The mount is a commonly available part and the crossmember can be had from Ron Morris or other aftermarket type places for classic Mustangs.

Once it is all installed, fill with fluid and tow to a trans shop to have the final TV adjustment done and then you are off and driving.

It isn't a 1 day project but 80% of this can be done in 1 day and then the car sits until you put the drive shaft in and have the TV linkage properly adjusted. If you don't adjust the TV properly you will burn the trans out in 5-20 miles.

 

[Rusty67]

Rusty67, I assume your daily driver is a stock vehicle? You're running whatever the factory program is in that car. If you put that TCS unit on an AODE in a classic, arn't you able to modify how it shifts with the software it comes with? I read over the project write up and i liked the simplicity of haveing just two buttons to control the trans. Overdrive on and off, and Norm and HiPo. He describes the "HiPo" function a a user programable stratagy. I thought it started getting really involved when i saw you have to add a TPS to the Holly. But it looks easy enough, and all the parts are outlined. Certainly not the weekend project.

Thats the worst part. The trans is not stock. My dad had a shift kit put into the thing and I'll say it definately shifts harder when I'm punching it, the AODE is just a slow shifting piece of garbage unless you modify it for faster shifting and even then I doubt it will shift as fast as a stock C4. The C4 in my 67 used to actually shift about where and when I wanted it to. As for my daily driver, I can't want to convert it to a 5 speed.

 

[Edbert]

Well from my original question, it doesn't sound like there's an easy bolt on solution.

Yes it is easy. You only need a few things. The bellhousing bolts right up.

The AOD (duh)
An aftermarket crossmember
An aftermarket linkage kit
An aftermarket TV cable kit (for carb...duh again)
Shorter driveshaft (have yours trimmed or upgrade to a new lightweight one)


The AOD is known for being a weak unit, mainly due to the two peice shaft and some hollow pieces as well. All the better parts are available off the shelf, but if you get a B&M or TCI they have the upgrades that can take 400-450fwhp and not cost much at all (say at or under $1,500). Those two are the low-end of the pool of course, you can spend a lot more.

EDIT: You probably don't need a new nmount, the C4 one fits the aftermarket crossmember.

 

[runawayabc123]

I see a couple lists of "things to do"... what about a transmission cooler? I thought AODs needed a cooler too?

 

[Rusty67]

If you have an auto trans now there should be a cooler hooked to it as well. If that is the case then you can reuse the existing cooler in your setup as is or you can put in a seperate aftermarket hydrostatically controlled cooler.

 

[chromedog]

while it is true the aod input shaft is the weak link in a pretty good trans, some are better than others... check around transmission shops, and look for one that has sort of a groove (it is actually a recess to hold a hog ring) at the end of the splines which are at both ends. this is the best of the factory shafts. on the subject of slow shifts, my aod had a superior shift kit installed in it before i swapped the valve body, and sprung for a baumann kit, and even with the 3:00 gear in the rear, it would bark second with no problem whatsoever. bottom line is, dont sell the aod short, there are guys on other bulletin boards running the aod in low 10 second fox bodied 'stangs...

 

[Edbert]

I see a couple lists of "things to do"... what about a transmission cooler? I thought AODs needed a cooler too?

ALL automatic trans need a cooler, but since you'll be replacing the C4 you can reuse the cooler you have.

When I swapped my C4 for an AOD I bought a radiator that did not have the trans cooler integrated inside of it and purchased an external cooler. That is not necessary though.