And the mustang lives up to FORD'S name

[Rodoggx]

Hello Everyone,
Its me with the 1990 5.0 lx. Well, today the AOD crapped out on me. It won't shift above 35 mph.... so I'm thinkin 3rd gear and overdrive is gone on me. Well, I won't have any cash for a bit so I don't think I'll be fixing my aod anytime soon. My question is this.... How much would a T-5 swap be and how involved is it? Can a weekend mechanic like myself handle the job in a few weekends? or will i have to take it to the shop?..... btw I refuse to take it to the shop mwahahahaha.... I'm poor. THANKS

[WADS56]

My 93 was a AOD till it blew. I had a tremec, clutch, flywheel, and the pedals in my shop so I can't say what the cost would be. I do know the worst part was the pedal swap. Nothing like laying on your back all twisted into a pretzel to put me in a good mood.
The best part of the entire thing was when I tossed the POS AOD into the dumpster. It was the best thing I ever did.

[Rodoggx]

Or do you guys think it would be easier/better to get a rebuild kit from someone like level 10 automatic transmissions and just bullet-proof the original AOD. It seems like it would be easier than swapping in a 5 speed. But it also means i gotta take the tranny out, open it up, and fix it. any thoughts?

[Chevyguy]

From what I have read, the AOD can be rebuilt to be even stronger than any T-5 you may find. The insides of Auto's is all voodo to me anyways so that is one of the very few things I would not try.

Considering the cost of finding a good T-5 and all the other parts, you could get a Lentec or etc AOD already built up, though those torque converters are pretty expensive If you use a cheapo used T-5 that could bust apart in a few weeks as well

Check with some of the AOD guys for advice before tearing it apart.

[Agent_4573]

you should be able to find a rollling wreck you can steal everything you need out of. I've seen em on ebay for under a grand and that came with the motor. So if you could grab one of them and then resell the engine it wouldn't be to bad.

[Mach 1]

your source for low cost high performance AOD's is www.gerperformance.com

dont use thier converter though, get a stallion

[Rodoggx]

hey guys,

update:

I'm just a poor ol college student who is tryin to work hard to get a tranny. I've decided to do a T5 swap and my dad agrees.... or isn't pushing for the AOD. He has agreed, for my birthday, to help fund the T5 swap.... hopefully he pays for atleast 50%..... prob not but a guy can hope can't he??? Oh well, I'm dead set on this T5 swap and would appreciate any insight into what I'm undertaking. Once again thanks guys!

[jim_howard_pdx]

I love manuals. You will need a flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, the cable, pedal, the transmission, the cross member, and the yoke and driveshaft if I am not mistaken.

Hey guys does he need the driveshaft from a manual car. Seems to me the yokes are different lengths on the AOD and the T-5.

Before you give up on the AOD, these are really easy to rebuild, and you can do all the work yourself. It took me just two days to rebuild my C-4 and that was taking time to have everything cleaned and repainted.

I dissassembled everything following the B&M rebuild kit instructions. Very clear and easy to follow. No surprises. I took down all my parts to a tranny shop for inspection, and purchased from them anything not included in the kit.

You can upgrade to a performance power shaft and torque converter and still save money on swaping to a T5 that will also wear out eventually.

I like full manual valvebodies myself, and I like trans brakes. You can purchase just the AOD control valve from LENTCO in Canada. Their kit will make 3rd gear remain unlocked for much better quarter miles.

A well put together AOD will give you almost 1 million shifts before needing to be rebuilt. It will work with up to 750 HP, and it will be much more consistent when you race.

The best thing is that you will break fewer parts.

Now that I have said all that, I am a stick man, so go get a T-5 or Tremec and pound those gears.......

Lotsa luck.

[Mach 1]

Driveshafts are the same.

[jim_howard_pdx]

Just make sure there is at least 1.5 inches of travel in and out of the transmission output shaft.

To measure this you disconnect the driveshaft from the rear end, push in on the transmission yoke until it bottoms, Make a mark 1.55 inches out on the yoke. Then install it on the rear end.

If you cannot see your mark, you are too long and when you bottom out your suspension travel the drive shaft will pound your output shaft and internals which grenades the transmission.

If the line is way far away from the transmission seal, then when you unload your suspension the yoke might pull out of the transmission output shaft. If that happens I would not want to be in the car at the time.......Hope you get the drift.......

This is not rocket science, just make sure the tranny yoke goes in 1.5 inches or take it to a drive shaft shop and have them review your options.

Good luck with your project, and I am sorry you have to go through all this while school is in session. My 66 mustangs C4 stopped shifting into second during my first year at UCLA. This is really a long time ago. It would start out in first, then rev really really high, and slush shift to third.

Ends up the second gear band had broken, and the parts fell into the control valve, shifter area. So next morning, I could not get the car out of park. I called a tranny shop. They told me to drop the pan, pull out the band adjustment pieces that were blocking my shifter, and reinstall the pan and fluid. I drove it this way 1-3 shifts for a week while I got together a 67 valve body so I could do lockout in 1 and 2, and the B&M rebuild kit. I rebuilt it for racing with high pressure, fast shifts. This reduces heat, a good thing, and was fine for part throttle driving. When I shifted during power the tires would bark, and I would grab some rubber which is always fun when you are 19.

Any how. I was really surprised how easy it is to remove and repair the Ford Autos. You remove the starter, disconnect your exhaust tubes, remove the converter observation shield, remove the 6-8 bolts holding the engine to the bell housing, disconnect the shifter, drop the drive shaft, remove the bolts on the converter to the pressure plate, and remove the tranny mount screws. Use a floor stand to wrestle the thing around a bit and it is out. There are dowl pins that align the engine and the transmission, just be careful not to crack the tranny case. I like to push the transmission back , clear those and then slowly drop the floor jack.

Disassembly takes maybe an hour???? Take your time, snap some polaroid pictures of the control valve to shifter connections, and the position of certain pieces like your pump assembly and such. If you have a digital camera you can go wild. Video is even better cause you can talk through what you are seeing.

Follow the kit's instructions to a tee. They make alot of improvements along the way. Build it to race level, not the street level. This gives you better pressure, cuts the soft shifts, and will improve the longevity of the steels and clutches and the bands.

I am pretty sure your one way clutch is gone, and that the 3-4 band is broken. This is really common. A good kit should use a stronger band, sometimes wider too.

If you upgrade to the truck AOD internals, you will have the wide gear ratio set with the wide overdrive band, space for extra 3-4 clutches and more.....

Often, instead of rebuilding a mustang AOD I will recommend that people just source a 93-95 truck AOD and put that unit in their car. These are tougher, and better built AOD's and when it is time to rebuild, you already have a bunch of the motorsport racing components right there inside the case.

Or you can slap in the T-5 and bang some gears. I really like the manuals. Nothing like them on an autocross course, canyon racing, or for just sheer driving "feel".

A good AOD is great for drag racing when you rebuild it to delete converter lockup in third gear, run a looser converter, and add a transbrake. You can run 9 and 10 second quarters cheap and easy. You save alot of wear and tear on UJoints, rear gears, axle shafts and the like, because that torque converter applies the torque smoothly and easily.

Just some food for thought.

[jim_howard_pdx]

At our you pick it auto recyclers here in Oregon, they charge 300 for an engine with transmission. Look for a 351W with an AOD, or T-5. Then it is all together and you have everything to do the conversion you are planning. Plus if you decide to shoe horn the 351 W into your engine bay, you will have some extra grin time coming.

Just do a cam change, and inspect the main and rod bearings. If worn, replace. If the journals show wear, sell the engine to recoup the cost of the transmission. The 351 windsor will make an extra 100 hp over the 5.0 if you use a dye grinder to cut out the exhaust bulge and smooth the port floor and sides of casting flaws and gubbers. I like to enlarge the intake ports to the felpro 1250 gasket on stock ford heads. I also enlarge the exhaust ports to the felpro graphite gasket. This will get you about 335 hp from the 351, but with almost 80 more ft lbs of torque from 2,500 to 5,500 rpm.

Choose a cam that fits your driving. Don't go hog wild on a cam, cause 351 cast pistons are JUNK. They will not take much more than 350 hp before they detonate your engine. I know cause I detonated one. The piston skirt went away, the pin boss collapsed, the piston cracked in half and seized in the block, the rod pulled free hit the camshaft and bent it, then the rod cap broke and the rod exited my oil pan taking out my part of my power steering components. All this in about 1.5 seconds time. By the time I heard the parts go, I just had time to look out the back window and watch that rod bounce along the highway.

FOUND ON ROAD DEAD

But it did get me started to a fully balanced and blueprinted 351 that is a total blast on the road. I can beat a new Corvette to 100 by over 20 car lengths. This is DOMINANCE. I can even take a Z06, but not by 20. Much too close. That 6 speed and 3.55 gears in the Z06 has a big advantage over a C-4 with 3.25 rear gears.

[Eric4Nitrous]

AOD's just plain out suck. Enough said. And never ever will they handle 700hp.

[Rodoggx]

Man you guys know ALOT!

Another update:

The mother factor.... she pressured me into keeping an automatic because she doesn't know how to drive a standard. Normally, I'd say tough luck, however, she made a point in saying if she ever NEEDED to drive the stang with a T5 swap.. she couldn't and neither would my girlfriend. ( On a side note: I just recently got my girlfriend to start liking the "ugly boxy car".) So, I'll be staying automatic .... but I plan on getting either a lentech or GER AOD with maybe 2000 RPH ??? stall converter. Mind you, EVERYTHING is stock.... still has the air silencer too. my budget will probably end up somewhere around $1000, so the stall might have to wait. But anyways thanks for all the help guys. If you have any thoughts on AOD combos post a reply.
Thanks

[chatcher]

i say teach them broads how to drive a stick

[Rodoggx]

does anyone sell a t5 conversion kit? or would i have to find a donar car?

[jim_howard_pdx]

I agree, tell the ladies to learn or walk

YES you should find a donor. If you take it all off one car, you know you are getting everything you need to do the job.

[MEDIK418]

THere's a Mustang salvage place in Phoenix that sells the whole schmear to swap them out. It's all used stuff but it's probably going to be that way anywho. I can't remember the name but they specialize in Mustangs and Corvettes. I'm gone looking for the site, be back in a few.

[MEDIK418]

www.allmustang.com, THere's also a place in Winder, Ga. but they're kinda high. Actually there's a buttload of places on the net that sell what you want, good luck.

[Rodoggx]

Just an update: I was lookin thru my local trading post and saw a 351w and C4 tranny out of a 77 lincoln. Oil pan to carb and still running ($200 obo) .... but when I called the guy, he told me he just sold it. oh well, the search continues....but a efi 351 sure would have been fun.

[briand]

man it is what you want that counts, personally i wouldn't let my mom or my wife drive my car. i did this swap on my car and bought some used pieces and some brand new. parts that i wanted new were: transmission, clutch assembly, flywheel, shifter, clutch cable, and bullet proof bellhousing. things that were bought used were the pedal assembly, shifter boot and weatherstripping and so on. the reason i bought new stuff is that i didn't want to have to tear everything back down again in a few months, not saying it is impossible to find a good junkyard t5 i just didn't feel like gambling. but the swap isn't bad, there are alot of guys on here besides myself who has done the swap and wouldn't mind giving you tips. take it easy