T5 to AOD(E) Swap - Am I crazy or just lazy?

[Frank.Rizzo]

OK, I must be getting lazy in my old age. When I bought my Mustang, I really wanted a Tremec 5-Speed and wouldn't even look at automatics. Driving my company car all day, I actually missed shifting through the gears of my weekend Mustang. Last year, I even had my T-5 rebuilt using "z-spec" parts at a cost of over $1100 and thought it was a great investment.

Earlier this year, I changed jobs and no longer have a company car. Driving my Mustang in Southern California traffic has become tedious, so I am thinking of swapping my recently rebuilt T5 for an AOD(E). Am I nuts? Should I just get a commuter car?

Has anyone ever gone (backwards) from a T5 to an AODE? Is it that difficult or expensive to do? Can anyone recommend someone in Southern California that could do it? Maybe give me credit on the T5? Your thoughts and experience would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[fastgtfairlane]

i havent done a t-5 to aode swap but i put a t-5 in my aode car. i have all of the leftover parts to do the swap if you are interested. i would be interested in possibly trading your rebuilt t-5 for the aode parts. send me a pm if your interested.

 

[Pokageek]

Get a beater. Mustangs were meant to drive not commute in my o.

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

Get a beater. Mustangs were meant to drive not commute in my o.

I agree somewhat, get a beater. Mustangs were meant to drive, dont let it drive you. I personally though love my stang as a DD. Luckily almost a year of a lot of trips and stuff and so far so good. But I will be rebuilding it soon just to have a new engine and even more peace of mine, just like I did with my T5.

 

[qballenko]

Well if you are serious about swapping into a auto id look into the 4r70w. I know someone did a thread a couple of months back about the switch and said it was pretty much a direct swap, all you had to do was put it into the aode bellhousing. The 4r70w is a better tranny all around imo. Just another idea to throw into the hat.

 

[HISSIN50]

If you are going from a T4/T5 car to an AODE/4R, it can be a little tedius. If you go with the wide gearset, it seems to me you will need a tune.

A couple of guys on here have done the swap.

If you go to unload the swap parts, let me know.

Good luck.

 

[reddy351]

Well if you are serious about swapping into a auto id look into the 4r70w. I know someone did a thread a couple of months back about the switch and said it was pretty much a direct swap, all you had to do was put it into the aode bellhousing. The 4r70w is a better tranny all around imo. Just another idea to throw into the hat.

If you source the 4r70w from a 2000+ 3.8 Mustang, you don't even have to swap the bellhousing. The 3.8l's torque convertor is even compatible with the 5.0.

 

[Pokageek]

I agree somewhat, get a beater. Mustangs were meant to drive, dont let it drive you. I personally though love my stang as a DD. Luckily almost a year of a lot of trips and stuff and so far so good. But I will be rebuilding it soon just to have a new engine and even more peace of mine, just like I did with my T5.

Couldn't have said it better. I think it is a great daily driver .. i meant personally I wouldn't change the stang to deal with and drive in traffic. Those can be hard miles on a car and I aviod that totally. BUT I am in a position to do that.. you may not be. But if you cant get a beater and have to put nasty miles like that on it...I would definitely go 4r70w for ease and make sure your car puts out some nice low end...

 

[SeventyMach1]

Save the time and coin. Get a Rabbit. A Buick Opel. A Pinto!!! Anything ... just keep the T-5!

 

[Ozz]

My friend who helped w/my Fox's 4R70W swap (it began as an AOD) put a 4R into his 96 Cobra and says he'd never go back. We each have a full manual valve body and a high stall. It's a lot more fun than you'd expect.

 

[94-302-vert]

Get gears... I used to dread the 5 minutes of traffic I would hit... (one light, ~1/2 mile of traffic on a 40 mile commute)... and once I got the gears it allowed me to start easier, creep along in first without flying, etc...

Get gears then see wehre you are... if you go auto you are gonna want gears anyway...

 

[BlackVert]

i went that direction (t5->4r70w). i will never look back, after i get these issues worked out. if you are staying with a 302 na, you probably don't need the 4r70w, but of course that is up to you. i went with the 4r70w because it can handle the kind of torque my engine puts out.

and i think mustangs make great daily drivers. if i have mine sitting in my driveway, i plan to choose to drive it over a beater every time, unless there is snow on the streets

 

[final5-0]

You know what?

These auto or stick trans threads all boil down to what you want :Word:

My outlook on my Stang is I would not want to use it as a dd.

My Stang is not about transportation
Its about special fun

It was fun when it was stock
That fun be came more and more special with each mod
as I worked toward the goal of what I wanted the outcome for it to be.

For me ... an auto trans would just take all the joy away
from the driving experience I get when I cruise around town
in my Stang.

I'm just saying I know what I R E A L L Y want and its a stick trans.

Frank ... Only you can decide but it looks like at one time, you felt
the same as me about your trans choice.

I do understand how things can change ... but ... we are talking
about your Stang here.

If your situation in life would allow you to find a dd .........
you could then keep your Stang as you have always desired

On the other hand ... if you can't do a dd ... you could switch over.
but
Please ... don't kid yourself here Frank
Its gonna be different
Very Different

I've never met a R E A L hard core stick man that went to an
auto for a Street Car that did not miss the stick trans

Good Luck with your decision Frank

Grady

 

[kinglouie929]

well haha you all talk about having a crappy beater for a daily and your mustangs for the weekend.. or do what i did.. get a V6 Mustang with an Auto and use that as your DD and keep your GT for your weekends and destroying little ricers. cant go wrong with having two mustangs. **** im 22 years old and i pay little less then 100 a month on insurance for both of my cars. both limited liability but haha its all i can afford while trying to make my way though college.

 

[Frank.Rizzo]

Thanks!

Hey, thanks you guys. I have a lot to think about now. The 4r70w swap sounds interesting, especially if I can just pull one out of a 3.8 V6 and make it an almost direct swap.

However, I also see everyone's points about the joys of driving a stick and I'm sure I would miss that after a few months.

 

[94-302-vert]

However, I also see everyone's points about the joys of driving a stick and I'm sure I would miss that after a few months.

And if you drive it saily you sill miss it even more... I drive mine daily (weather permitting and that only means no snow/ice and/or nothing to move after work). As such i have averaged 12+k/yr for the last 3 years... With last year having driven 18k miles...

I like to drive my car and the gears are a LARGE part of the enjoyment...

 

[Pokageek]

Hey yo uare not kidding about the gears guys! Whe nI went from 3.08 to 3.90? It was AWESOME in traffic lol. I'd just keep it in first and hardly EVER shifted when it was bad!!! With 3.08's?? it was a BUCKING nightmare and push in push out clutch..push in push out push in push out push in push out push in push out push in push out and push in push out clutch..push in push out push in push out push in push out push in push out push in push out clutch AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

 

[Stanger007]

To get you back on topic - here are a couple of items to look at...

The first is a bit about automatics - specificially converting an AODE to 4R70W - the second is AODE to T5 swap (read it backwards )...
http://www.mustang-tech.org/wiki/94-95_Mustangs_Drivetrain_Automatic_Transmissions
http://www.mustang-tech.org/wiki/94-95_Mustangs_Drivetrain_AODEToT5Swap

I love my 4R70W - I can't see every buying a "beater" car - the Mustang is too much fun. I drive about 15 miles to work and back every day - mostly in traffic.

The 4R makes the commute enjoyable and does quite well at the track. And if you want to make it more aggressive, the higher shiftpoints/line pressures are just a knob turn away on the twEECer.

Lovin' my 4R, stall and 4.10s,
Wes

 

[gcomfx.com]

Auto FTW! You build a good one, with a big stall, they are tons of fun.

 

[juiced_94gt]

I did a t-5 to AODE swap (thats how i got my t-5 swap for free) on my friends car, we traded tranny's...mine went smooth but when we did his to a AODE the trans tunnel is different and the shifter sat about 4 inches too high, i had to do some semi-major fab work to make it happen it can be done but not as easy as the aode to t-5 swap.