AOD tranny question, regarding rebuild.

Ford purposely built the aod to shift with less force into OD. The OD band in these trannys is relatively thin and weak. The softer shift saves the parts from breakage and the valvebody actually prevents a full throttle upshift into OD for this same reason. No kit is going to make this shift hard like the 1-2 and 2-3 shift. Don't forget these trannys were available in Lincolns, Mercs and the like and Ford didn't want granny's Lincoln spilling her coffee in her lap on the shifts.

A transgo kit will make it slam into OD.......and your OD band might last a few months that way

Rebuilding an AOD is easy. You need a $75 kit and be an olympic wieghtlifter to haul the 220 lb thing out. Thats the hardest part: moving it around. Once you drag it into the shop, it's easy as pie. Just take the front cover off and unstack things. Digital cam helps. A few snaprings hold it all together. Really. I never seen an AOD in my life, got one from a junkyard, rebuilt it first try including performance parts and swapped it in place of my t-5. First try. Like I said, lifting the beast is the hardest part.

I have an exploded diagram if you need.