Featured Projects Fordomatic to AOD Swap

I’m going to make hard lines from nicop line I have on hand.
Planning to use a large external cooler I have also.

 

I pulled the steering wheel off to look at the detent plate.
It doesn’t really have one, there are notches cut in a plate that is part of the collumn, not not a removable plate like I’m used to.
The notches are worn out and it won’t hold park.
I’ll have to stare at it for about two beers worth of time then sleep on it and make something tomorrow.

 

Can't wait To see what you come up with. I have an AOD in my 55 and I can only get P and R to align. The detents in the AOD are to close together.

 

Im going to make it work at the column like factory, then I’ll adjust the range with the lokar shift arm at the transmission.
This transmission has 3 forward position even though it has 4 gears.
The collumn has two forward positions so I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to put it in low or just drive and overdrive.

 

I don't think you will any issues, especially with the aftermarket bellcrank. My set up with the modified factory floor shift works perfectly in all gears. I did my own mods to the shift lever length, which, of course, was different than your column shift. I had planned to also modify the shift indicator but have never gotten around to it because it seems unnecessary to me, now. I know where the shift points are just out of familiarity and I'm the only driver anyway.

 

Pretty sure you will run out of trans detents before you will column positions. I have a cable accelerator pedal that goes through the floorboard and is in the way of the Lokar shifter. My shift arm is homemade to get around the pedal protrusion. So like y'sguy, I just got usr to where they are and am the only one driving it

 

My wife cant drive a car without functioning gear position display.
She just cant remember basic prnd21 pattern, which always makes me think why she can remember what i did or say 20 years ago.

 

Here’s the new detent plate,
I think it will end up with P R N OD D
That should be enough and not having low will discourage me from entering the burnout contest.

My wife drove the wagon with the fordomatic and knew that drive was after neutral, but she’s a particularly good driver and grew up driving beater cars.
When we met she had a bonneville that only the drivers door opened and you had to hold the stock up or down to use the turnsignals. She also knew exactly where under the hood to tap on with a snow brush to get the heater to work
If she can handle that she can handle my woody.

 

Very productive night last night!
Last night was the night of many small but important things.

Shift linkage is hooked up and can shift in to all gears. I need the file the detent plate I made just a little bit so it will go in to park smoother. I need to borrow a needle file from my dad for this, which will require a glass of scotch and a chat about the good old days and an admonishment to make sure I return his tools.

TV cable is hooked up and working. I’ll need a friend for a second set of hands so one of us can work the carburetor linkage and the other can adjust the transmission end. This will require a sixpack and a chat about how to make racecars faster.

Dipstick tube is modified and installed so it doesn’t touch the firewall.

speedometer cable is installed. A stock cable for a ‘65 mustang was a perfect fit. I’m sure the speedometer gear I used is not the right one, LMR website has a calculator to identify the correct gear, then I’ll have to order one. When I order the new gear I’ll also be ordering a set of headers for my mustang. I’ll then trade the stock exhaust to my friend’s kid who’s working on his first car. Have to figure out how much lawn mowing exhaust manifolds are worth.

 

Good work on the detent plate. I hope for your sake of all the work you CAN manage to find low. It makes the swap that much more useful. I have a quick shift kit and a rear gear combination that allows me to travel in and around town and pop into OD whenever I get on the expressway or traffic gets faster. But having low is something I would recommend seeking out a solution for. It may just require fine-tuning the bellcrank and detent as you proceed with the project. I use it on road trips in the MTN areas on the twisty downhills and it really makes the car more fun and versatile.

It's looking good.

 

Did the Lokar shift linkage allow you to align the column indicator to the correct gear?

 

In WV stock exhaust manifolds go for $25 apiece. Figure that into lawn mowing by the area you have and now you have it. Then you can explain to the young individual about how important it is to stay in school. Explain how important algebra and calculus are. If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance baffle them with your bull $hit.

 

Test fit the new rearend, looks like it’s going to work perfectly.
This is a 7.5 from a ford ranger.
Same bolt pattern, 3/4” wider.
It has 342 gears which are not exactly optimal but easy to change if I’m not happy with it.

 

The rearend is in its place and spring perches tacked on. I want to remove it only one more time before final install. I’ve been waiting on a driveshaft all week to check fit so no more progress at the back of the car.

today I installed a new radiator. Due to an unfortunate series of events the fan ate the original radiator and the car has had an undersized mustang radiator for the past few years.
I finally replaced it with a proper radiator and added a large cooler for the transmission.

time now to make cooler lines.

I also added this cool gps speedometer. It’s mounted where I used to have a tach. It has a built in tach and reads the speed by gps so I don’t have to try to estimate using the factory speedometer plus a correction factor.
I bought one in kilometres because I’m in Canada and do most of my driving here.

 

This is a great project. Looking forward to more updates

 

Thanks I’m really enjoying the project!

 

Here’s a video I made of changing the transmission linkage. That was the most intimidating part of this project so far.

 

Agreed. Except I did while it was still in my car

 

Driveshaft has been a major headache because I didn’t want to have a custom one made.

I had heard somewhere that a crown Victoria driveshaft would fit.
I purchased several on Amazon that said they were for a CV or similar and none would work.
Part of the problem is that the website only lists total length from end of slip yoke to flange which is a useless measurement.
The other problem is that the website doesn’t specify the year. Fords had two sizes of slip yokes and two sizes of pinion flanges depending on year and whether the rearend was car or truck.

Some driveshafts have been too long, some too short some with the wrong slip yoke and some with the wrong flange. Thank goodness for Amazons return policy.

I have a few driveshafts for parts in my collection and a small pattern flange but they are either buried in snow or in the shed with the door is frozen shut from freezing rain on Monday. Hopefully it warms up and I can collect enough parts and have a tube shortened.

 

Look at Ford trucks and other makes. Yokes can be interchanged with "Special" U Joints. I say special but they are off the shelf with some having for instance a 3" X 3 1/2" or other measurements. Doing that could adapt your current yoke from a Ford AOD to a shivrola driveshaft and a dodge rear yoke. Mix and match just keep a record of what worked in case of needed replacement down the road.

 

When I have needed drive shaft work, I took the pieces I had on hand to a driveshaft shop.
They put it all together based on measurements I provided. I picked it up and installed it. Done.
Your too long shaft might be a good candidate for the tube and one end. If you have correct other end you are well on your way to a professional shortening job.

 

Thanks for the advice, I’m sure I have all the ends and just need a tube. The only holdup is freezing rain keeping me out of the shed.
This is why I don’t throw things out.

also, it’s a significant savings to have a driveshaft shortened instead of having a new one made.
Last one I did I took an existing driveshaft in and they shortened it for $100,
A friend brought in the ends and yokes and they charged $400!

 

If you only need to shorten a few inches, you could try doing it yourself. I have done that and it's not hard. Just pay attention to the orientation and alignment. Use a cutoff wheel and carefully cut the weld at the yoke, the yoke slips in approx 1 inch into the tube. Just cut through the depth of the tube. Then once removed, cut off the few inches from the tube and reassemble. Leave a small gap inserting the yoke and fill it with weld. The balance should not be affected only taking a few inches off. Or take it to a driveshaft shop and they can do it for not much money, including balance check.

 

I always grab extra long driveshafts when I can. A tube can be shortened locally for a nominal sum of money, and I have had success using conversion joints (ie two different sized universal joints on opposing ends of the same joint) when I need to use a different yoke or something. A new tube is far more costly.

 

If there wasn’t so much snow on the ground I would go yard crawling at the u-pull looking for long, straight driveshafts, but everything is buried and I get to build cub cars with my boy tomorrow (pinewood derby for you folks south of the border).

One issue with a lot of modern driveshafts is that they pinch the tube at the ends so a 4” tube that necks down to 3 one each end. The result is that the tube can’t be shortened.

 

Rather than shorten driveshafts I used to do what Aldean suggests, I'd dig through the huge pile of driveshafts at the junkyard looking for the needed length with Ford small Ujoint ends.
All three times I was successful, but this was the '90s so there may be less luck nowadays.