AOD mods

[Foxfan88]

Hey, i am going to rebuild my motor soon, while i am doing that i am going to bolt up my rebuilt 3.90 rearend.


In the future i DO plan a t5 swap. Might take a while but i want to do it.

Now i dont want spend much on the AOD since i plan to convert later on....

On my rebuild i plan to add just a small cam, trickflow stage one. Just for a little bit of fun, i mean the cam shouldnt make power where a stock 5.0 cant go, so i dont think adding this cam would hurt me that much. Plus the car is street driven, its not trailered to the track and stuff. Its a street car and will only see the track maybe once every 2 months or something like that.

My questions is adding just a shift kit a good idea, they are pretty cheap and will help me. I dont want to throw 3-500$ into a nice converter which could be used for the 5spd swap.

Plus i think a converter wouldnt be worth the money now, since the cam isnt a drag cam or anything. I dont need to stall up and go all the time, its a street driven car.

What is the best shift kit to buy???
Doesnt a shift kit hold gears longer in just regular driving???

Does a shift kit allow the AOD to shift at higher rpms??? The stock AOD shifts out of first at 4500, will the shift kit let it go to say 5k or more???

 

[dstanggt50]

When I had my 87 auto, I used a transgo shift kit, worked well, but I swapped out my converter at the same time. It might hold pressure longer to let you shift higher, but as stated, I put both on at the same time. There was however a huge difference after both were installed. I used to just hold the gear needed by using the not recommended 1-d-1 shuffle. or we used to mess with a cable ( dont remember exactly what it was called) to adjust shift points under normal driving, but my friend did more of that than me. It attatched to my t/b and ran the the tranny.

 

[davs5.0]

While I agree a converter is a bit expensive if you plan on doing a T5 swap, you'd be suprised what the right converter will do for a stock or near stock car. With the right gears, you can easily pick up a second or more with sticky tires on a stock h/c/i car.

The shift kit will help, Transgo or Baumann are probably the best out right now. You can tailor the shifts a bit (don't own one but thats what I read). Don't use the TV cable (what dstang did) to try and adjust the shifts. Improperly adjusted and you are looking at one burned up trans and we're talking miles not months here.

 

[crazypete]

Yeah the shift kit without the conveter will be nice but it wont be a night and day difference. Worst case, get a used conveter from the classifieds....I'm sure someone is parting out an automatic somewhere.

You shoulda complained about your converter like a month ago. I just tossed a 2500 stall since nobody was buying it and I got tired of looking at it.

When you mentioned not needing to "stall up"...thats not what the converter does. It lets you leave "the line" at slightly higher rpm. That stock converter is going to engage at 1200 or so and even the new cam and shift kit wont be able to alleviate the performance hit of that. Those stock converters are THE reason that automatics got bad names. The reason a stick car is faster is cause you spin up and dump. A 3k stall would be enough to replicate that.

Get a tci streetfighter. Theyre cheap $250 or so. Mine's held up just fine for a year now. They stall around 3k. 3K is what you want.

Just some food for thought.

Have a blast

Pete

 

[rsw007]

i say go ahead and do the swap or build anice aod while its down. not worth the money to do anything other than a shift kit to the tranny if your going to swap it.

 

[jaymac]

Dammit, RSW, every time I see you post, I wonder, "WHAT DAMN "BOLT-ON'S" AND OTHER SETUP DOES HE RUN TO GET 12.8x W/ A "STOCK MOTOR"?" !?!?!?!??!?!
What's you altitude/ambient temps for that run? What's you car weigh?
WAHT"S YOUR DAMN SECRET!?!?!?

 

[Swarzkopf]

You may want to keep your automatic if you get into it. Driving a five speed around back roads and bends is great fun, but I like my automatic for the track.

A TransGo shift kit, those 3.90s, and a better converter will make that AOD into a whole new creature.

 

[rsw007]

Dammit, RSW, every time I see you post, I wonder, "WHAT DAMN "BOLT-ON'S" AND OTHER SETUP DOES HE RUN TO GET 12.8x W/ A "STOCK MOTOR"?" !?!?!?!??!?!
What's you altitude/ambient temps for that run? What's you car weigh?
WAHT"S YOUR DAMN SECRET!?!?!?

that run was at 46degress and low humidity. car and driver weight of 3100lbs

 

[SilverFoxbody]

I say you put a shift kit in and a converter and you will like it so much you won't convert...get a Manual VB and you will fall in love.

 

[jaymac]

that run was at 46degress and low humidity. car and driver weight of 3100lbs

what are your few "bolt-on's" if you don't mind me asking.

BTW, don't mean to hi-jack your thread.
To answer your question, if you're planning on the swap, don't other putting ANY $ into the AOD. However, I think w/ and AOD done RIGHT, you won't need/want to switch!!
Just my .02.
Think about what is most important to your every-day happiness w/ the car, then build from there!