WWYD? WHAT.............would you do?

I'm down here in P.C. Fla this morning waiting on being able to see Cinderella's ugly step sister, (A.K.A. my new car) and I learn that it may have a transmission issue that'll delay the pick up another week.
No big deal,...I gotta come back down here several times over the next few week ends.
Having NOTHING to do w/ the current situation, I've been thinking about what trans I'll end up using in the project as I go forward, and I am not familiar enough w/ two of my three options, hence my request for input from you fine folks.

First my Generic disclaimer:
I will never drag race this car on a track, but I will occasionally side step a clutch(manual), or stand on the gas from a standing stop (auto). The engine HP will be targeted for 350-400 RWHP but it will be a 4 cyl T/C'd power curve (read.....peaky, and lacking in low end torque)
I intend to have a 3.73 rear end ratio, and I'm gonna drive it, so I'll need O/D on whatever I do.
That said,...here's what I got:

Scenario #1. I use the 5 speed 4 cyl T5 I currently have.
I don't know about the differences between T5s,...I don't know what makes a 4 cyl T5 different from it's 8 cyl bigger brother. Can I replace something "weak" in in to make it survive behind the above combo?
PROS: I have everything to transplant this transmission in already, and I'm wondering whether or not a 3.3L straight 6 and a 4 cyl share the same bellhousing, so I can make this part of the swap already. It has the O/D I need,..so it solves that need. If it can be swapped, it'll help that slow pig of a 3.3 and it'll get better milage as well.
CONS: This is a turbo'd engine, once it starts honkin,..I'm concerned a granny shift will allow the engine to fall out of boost, conversely, A speed shift may hurt it (the trans) I don't have pedals, cable or a quadrant.

Scenario #2. I buy all of the junk for an early model AOD.
PRO: This is how I solve my "once I get going, I don't want to lift" criteria.
I have the O/D I need.
CONS: are many though, I don't have one,they are expensive to build, and I don't know how inefficient the trans is, so I don't know how much power it is gonna rob from me.

Scenario #3 I use the C4 that'll come w/ the car.
PRO is that I have the trans, and it's in the car w/ the right D/S length working w/the engine I have to use until I get the 4 cyl ready to swap. I am completely comfortable w/ rebuilding this thing and I know what I need to do to make it power capable. It is as efficient as any Ford auto trans can be, so power loss is second only to the manual.
CON: no O/D. I'd have to use an external OD mounted behind the trans. (probably alot of money)

So there you have it,.....those of you that are familiar w/ the specifics, let me know what you think.

reldla1996 said:

The 4 cyl T5 is not going to live very long behind that much power. An 8 cyl T5 is fragile enough....

Click to expand...

O.K. I know this,....what is the diff between the 4 cyl and the 8 cyl T5, and can it be upgraded? Again, not drag racing w/ sticky tires.

ratio411 said:

The Ford I6 bellhousing designs are all over the place.

Only the 250 has a small block style bell out of all the "small block" inline 6 Fords (The "big block" inlines have the v8 bell too, but they are tall truck engines like the 300).

The inlines smaller than 250 have a variety of bellhousings depending on the year of the block.
Unfortunately, Ford did not see fit to make those bells user friendly by making them interchangeable with other engines, like the I4.
I like the small I6s, but if you don't have a 250, they are severely limited on tranny selection due to the unique and ever changing bellhousings.

As for the T5, this is just my personal opinion, but the weakness (at least for the v8 versions) comes from the tranny case itself, and is in most danger of breaking when under a high torque shock load. Therefore, if you have an engine that needs to spool up, and you are not dumping the clutch after it spools up, you should be fine.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Kinda what I was getting at,I won't be drag racing at a track...but if I'm raging along, the engine is making power, and I punch a 2-3 shift,....... .......Ba Boom Bah?

ratio411 said:

Instead of the TC 4, why not do something different and TC a 250?
(There is a certain bellhousing design for the 200 block that can be adapted to the v8 bell, if the 250 is too much... I just forget what year block you need.)

Use the 83 200 cylinder head for the best U.S. head design... (Australia has better heads available, but they co$t to get here.)

Click to expand...

Already have the Volvo 16v head for the 4 banger,...it will be the engine I use. I'm only wondering about the I6 bellhousing compatibility so as to be able to change it over in phases.

ratio411 said:

That's interesting!
I was just picturing a Turbo Coupe 2.3...

So apparently during the short time Ford owned Volvo, they reincarnated the 2.3 in a 16v version?
If so, that is something new on me, and definitely interesting.

Is the head a direct bolt on for a rwd 2.3?

Click to expand...

No,...not a direct bolt on by any means, but it has been done for 10 years now, and a B234F Volvo head is the ONLY head, ARCA included that will flow the air to make the power I'm talking about w/o spending a bazillion dollars on a billet one.

NIKwoaC said:

Mike, you should look into building an AOD for it, there are some guys doing awesome things with AODs these days. Have you checked out clickclickracing.com?

Click to expand...

No Nik, I haven't. I did just check out what O/D units cost,....so an AOD will be the trans of choice before I'll put an overdrive behind a C4.

88LX5.Oh said:

Did Ford ever put the AOD behind the 2.3? I thought they all got the A4LD.

Click to expand...

Yep,..from what I read,..the AOD went behind the engine in the 87-88 Turbo Coupes.
Boost got limited to like 9 lbs (vs twice that w/ the manuals) because Ford was concerned about "durability issues".

rdharper02 said:

I looked into doing a notch with an XR4TI donor at one point. It may not help, but I believe Stinger performance was the place I found a bellhousing adapter plate. It allowed any 302 style tranny to bolt to the 2.3. I found an old parts list that had it noted for around $350.00.

Actually just looked, canefield still makes them.
http://cididit.com/products.htm

Click to expand...

Yeah, I knew that,..but that part is not on their current parts list anymore. Again, I'll look into what is the difference between that unit and the SB version. I plan to use the small unit at first regardless.

rdharper02 said:

No worries, the Canefield piece was actually listed at $185.

Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the link RD. @ 185.00 I'd buy that adapter just for the sake of having it for future upgrades.

I gotta get that raggedy Tbird home this weekend, and asses what it's gonna take just to get it tolerable enough to drive first, before I go worrying about blowing up junk.