Mak's AOD to T-5 conversion. Progress/?'s

4. I don't see why you can't install the cable when you put the transmission in. It takes longer to jack the car up than install the cable. You just slide the quadrant end through the firewall, then go in the car, grab it, and connect to the quadrant. You do this before attaching the other end to the clutch fork.

4.5. You have to pull the rubber piece off the white plastic piece on the cable, shim the prongs off, then slide the quadrant on where the rubber piece was before you pulled it off.

5.0 Nostalgia said:

4. I don't see why you can't install the cable when you put the transmission in. It takes longer to jack the car up than install the cable. You just slide the quadrant end through the firewall, then go in the car, grab it, and connect to the quadrant. You do this before attaching the other end to the clutch fork.

4.5. You have to pull the rubber piece off the white plastic piece on the cable, shim the prongs off, then slide the quadrant on where the rubber piece was before you pulled it off.

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+1

the switch you are referring to sounds like the neutral safety switch.

Don't forget that at some point you're going to have to address the reverse light switch, otherwise you're going to have your reverse lights on all of the time (or never on at all).

The speedo cable is a bastard to deal with on Foxes, no matter how you're doing it. The fact that you've got the dash halfway torn apart should, if anything, make things EASIER because you don't have all of that extra crap in the way. The easiest way I've found to reconnect the speedo cable is to still have the gauge cluster loose so you can move it around a little bit to help the cable mate up to it. Also, because you're trying to fit a square peg into a square hole with the cable, itself, going into the back of the gauge cluster, sometimes things don't always line up on their own. I've always had to leave the tranny end of the cable loose so I can turn the cable just a smidge (helps to have a partner do this for you) while you're simultaneously trying to poke that sucker into the back of the gauge cluster.

FWIW, every time I've buggered with the speedo cable on a Fox, the thing always looks like (from the underside looking up) the cable is jammed in there diagonally as it comes out of the back of the cluster, as it has to make a sort of zig-zag to clear the dash/steering column frame on its way to the firewall hole. Crappy design, would've been better if they'd have been able to put the hole a few inches over so the cable sheath didn't have to make such a sharp bend (which might explain half the reason, beyond the plastic VSS gear, why speedos on these cars always wind up bouncing and making weird nosies).

The reverse light switch is down by the tranny. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can just splice into the wiring for the reverse lights from where the AOD plugged in, unless it uses the same kind of plug (in which case you can just poke it right in there).

It's hard for me to elaborate much more on that because whoever did the AOD-to-T5 swap on the notch that I had did such a damned good job that I never knew it was originally an AOD until I checked the door option codes (and a hole was never drilled in the firewall for the hold-down screw of the clutch cable grommet). Everything under there looked 100% stock, with no spliced connections to be found. I don't know if Frankenstang's '80 Capri was originally an auto or if it was always a manual, as some things similarly weren't quite 100% kosher when I went to deal with the clutch cable on it, but we did find out that if the wiring of the reverse light switch is damaged or disconnected (hers had burned through from laying against the exhaust), it will cause the reverse lights to stay on full-time when the ignition's on.

The reverse switch is a pretty simple two-wire deal, really. One wire in, one wire out, as I remember it ... or it may just be a single-pole deal. (Sorry, my memory is utter poop. ) If there's still a plug with wiring there on the reverse switch sticking out of the side of the T-5, you should be able to just splice right into that, crimp-connect and/or solder and then wrap your connections, and be good to go; if it's just the switch, itself, sticking out of there, you'll have to visit your local auto parts or Radio Shack store for some generic connectors (either spade or "bullet" connectors, whatever applies to your tranny's switch terminal(s)).

Just play with it a bit and you'll figure it out pretty easily. It's not like you're going to fry anything if you get those two wires confused - it'll just make the lights come on, so then you know to just reverse the two wires (or make sure you've got a good connection).

EDIT: Indeed, the neutral/clutch safety switch is optional for the T-5 swap. I'd wire it in there just to be on the safe side. While you're at it, you can go a step further and wire in an anti-theft kill switch in-line with your clutch safety switch. The way it works is that when the clutch pedal is pushed in, the switch completes the circuit and allows the starter to crank; if the pedal is up, the switch breaks the circuit and prevents cranking. If you wire a switch in-line with that and hide it someplace like under the dash or seat, in the ashtray, or elsewhere, you can add a bit of theftproofing for just a couple of bucks. It doesn't have to be a fancy or high-amp switch, either, because there's not much current going through - it's just a signal wire, much like the amp on/off wire on a stereo system.

Makdaddymac said:

thanks darkwriter, i think im going to pass on the nuetral safety. i have the 5speed habit of pressing the clutch in to start my all my DD, and it will never go anywhere, plus no one will ever drive my 5.0 unless they really know how to drive manual!!!!!!
i just needed to make sure the car was going to start once its all together
i cant wait to get everything toghther and drive the aod with the manual pedals, that alone means im close to the fealing of slapping gears......i feal sorry for my used t-5 and clutch!!!!! lol.......i might be doing this swap twice if you know what i mean

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If you dont wanna splice wires id find the right harness for the reverse lights. Also i would put the neutral safety switch in. The speedometer cable isnt hard to re route . It literally moves 2 inches over. Aod cars have the cabe run through where the clutch cable goes. The spot for the speedometer cable is next to it. I read you have the reverse light connector. That means there should be no splicing at all. Also if you dont have all the wiring for the tranny hooked up the car will not start. There is one wire that runs to the transmission and loops back around. That one wire can cause your whole car not to start. Any other questions feel free to ask Ive done the swap before.

Post in tech and get a more clear picture of that,

Makdaddymac said:

1)the speedo cable is rerouted, it wasnt that hard, but my concern is it will rub on the clutch cable or steering shaft? what should be done about this, i cant rebolt it to the fram cause then it wont reach!

2)i got talked into installing the neutral safety!!!!! safety first!!!!! so this is just plug and go, but where is this connection at i can't find it in my harness, no piece fits in there. or is it two connections??? what color,s etc etc!!!!!!!

3) and what the hell is the point of this thing with the spring conencted to the rod, i thought the long black platic piece with the spring white knob worked the brake lights! so wtf is this thing.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l133/riceslayer302/mustang project/brakelightswitch.jpg

4)
this is what i have^ im guesing it is a t-5 reverse light coonector, how do i install it to make everything be a complete aod to t-5 swap!

these are the last questions of the swap, which means the next time i work on my car after the pedals are done, i will be slapping gears!

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1) other than it being tight, i had no problems with contact on anything, so i can really help you on that one, other than to say contact with the clutch cable will not hurt it.

2) the connector should be in the big mass of wires up around the firewall. it will already have a plug in it, but it should just be floating around (the plug thats in it just jumps the two wires so that the car thinks the clutch is depressed at all times)

3) the whole assemble in the middle is the brake light switch/master cylinder linkage. the switch on the right is for the cruise control. it turns cc off when the brake is pressed.

4) yes, reverse light harness. plug gray end into harness that was going to the aod, other end goes onto the pair of bass terminals on the driver side of the trans, looks like this http://www.partsamerica.com/Product...IE&MfrPartNumber=NS71281&PartType=401&PTSet=A

Makdaddymac said:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GOT EVERYTHING BACK Toghether the correct way, i only ended up with two extra screws!!!!! lol................eveything works, kind of funny having to press a flimsy cluch pedal to start my auto, and i swear everytime i let off the pedal im about to strip the gear or something... never drove an auto with a clutch pedal..lmao....im frigin happy..........

i only have to get a pilot bearing and throw out bearing......
well, maybe a t-5 crossmember and exhasut hanger, cause i get 50/50 on this, some say they are the same, others say you need to mod them, and others say they are so different they are needed to swap!!! i don't know, maybe ford did things different throughput the years to spare inventory. i need someone to verify this, cause its getting close to the t-5 slap in and i want all my parts toghther.

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well at lest you got the hard part done now.

on the crossmember, auto and t5 are the same stampings, the only difference is where the crossmember it welded onto the two bolte tubes. there should be 3 tack welds on each side, grind the welds off, beat the crossmember free, and move it back till it lines up with the bolt holes in the trans.

now the exhaust hangers ARE different, but depending on what exhaust you have you can get away without having one. the heavier (or more pieces) the exhaust is the more you'll want the hangers. i was able to leave mine out and just tightened everything up good and snug once i had it where i wanted it.

Again, the thing with the exhaust hanger is how far forward it is in relation to the speedo cable coming out of the T-5. The AOD hanger bracket will contact the cable and make it kind of a PITA to deal with, but you CAN use it without modifying it; however, if you'd just like to make it a bit easier, you could simply hack off half of the hanger on the driver's side (towards the front of the hanger) to allow clearance for the speedo cable and VSS, and still have a perfectly functional hanger. You don't need 4" of nearly solid steel to hold up BOTH sides of the X- or H-pipe ... and, in fact, you could probably just as easily lop off the driver's side hanger altogether and still be just fine.

Whats the deal with the pin 30 and are you guys using 5 speed computers for the conversion?

no need to go to a 5spd computer,computer doesnt control a MANUAL transmission so whats the point.i actually heard the auto comp is better anyway.


where did you get that harness for the reverse lights from?

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