Featured Projects Fordomatic to AOD Swap

Good point!
Not all same transmissions are the same.
I once had a Lincoln AOD that had a flange instead of a slip yoke.
And a friend is fighting with a C4 from a mustang II. Nothing on Mustang II 302 seems to match any other ford engine.

 

Got the shaft today

 

Rearend painted, just need to make brake lines and it’s ready to install.

 

Rearend is bolted in!
And the driveshaft fits!
And amazingly the flex hose reaches the hard line so I don’t even need to extend the brake line

 

Is it just the camera angle or are those really long mufflers?

 

That's the first sign of getting older. You start looking for what mufflers are actually quiet.

 

The mufflers are extremely long, 30”.
The car had single exhaust when I got it, with the crossover in front of the engine.
When I swapped in the 292 I found a guy online selling complete exhaust kits for 50’s cars. These huge mufflers came in the kit. The kit fit with very little modification and was surprisingly affordable.
The car sounds good but quiet which is what I wanted.

If I want to violate the town noise bylaw I have this other car:

 

Very true, but way back in the ‘70s some of the fastest street racers in our area had big or multiple mufflers on their cars to disguise their capabilities. Quiet is good sometimes, even in a hot rod.

 

This is frustrating,
The car is so close to testing, I only need to fill the trans and I can start it up and see if it works. Then I can also set the TV cable and line pressure.
unfortunately that requires opening the door and it’s -15°C and windy and the door is frozen shut with snow piled against it ☹️

I’m also waiting for a new adjustment arm for the brakes then I can button that up.

in the meantime I installed a driveshaft loop that I had on the shelf just incase and I’m going to adjust the door latches so they close nicer and try not to stress about what will happen the first time I put it in gear.

 

Seldom is the weather our friend. If you are patient, it will be more rewarding. Think about it in terms of chasing the hot chick.

 

I had the same luck with the hot chicks as I did the weather. Which in Seattle meant I was cold, wet, and alone.

Keep after it, this is the best thing I’ve seen on a Yblock AOD swap, and lord knows people have asked enough questions on other sites. You’ve covered it all, and nicely done.

 

Thanks! I’m hoping this thread will be helpful to anyone else doing this swap.

I actually have nothing to work on at the moment so I’m just playing around with other minor fixes on the car.
We’ve got some above freezing weather forecast for next week so fingers are crossed.

 

Where did you find that GPS speedometer?

 

I found it in amazon while looking for something totally unrelated
https://amzn.to/41jKyVo
the price has gone up about $30 since I bought it.

 

I'm going to save this thread for our '57Fordsforever forum. Excellent! Thank you.
Speedhut has GPS speedometers. and you can design your own. I've had one in my '57 for 8 years now with no issues.
Not sure about the Ranger rear you used, but a 9" would have added the option of minor adjustments for driveshaft length via taller differential yokes. I have a 1" taller yoke on mine which made a 4" aluminum driveshaft from a Lincoln Mark VIII the perfect lenth. I'm using a 4R70W tranny....it's a few generations from your AOD, but still similar.
I mention this stuff because readers with other than '54s are being helped a ton by your thread.

 

That’s great, I’m glad I can help anyone doing a transmission swap.

a 9” would have been great but they are very expensive these days, especially up here in Canada. Even the 8.8 rearend a have taken off in value.

The Ranger rearend was in a ‘54 Hillman a friend bought to build a gasser, it was mounted backwards with allthread for Ubolts just to make the car a roller.
I traded him a bottle of whiskey for the rearend,
And it’s the perfect width for the wagon.

 

Some Rangers had 8" rears, I had a 76 Pinto wagon with an 8" rear as well. Yes, they were 4 lug.

 

I just fired up the wagon and the transmission works!
No leaks, it goes in to gear and shifts at least from 1-2.
Hard to tell if it’s going in to 3rd because it’s off the ground with no wheels and brakes but this is some serious success!

 

My starter problems persist ☹️
It was above freezing today so I tried to set the TV pressure but had trouble getting the engine started. The starter again was not engaging the flexplate.
I rolled the engine 180 with a breaker bar on the crank and then the starter engaged .
Now I’m concerned about the flexplate.

 

I've been told that engines tend to stop in a few crank positions. Visually inspect the ring gear. If it's missing a tooth or two from the prior engagement issue, remove the ring gear and rotate a bit reinstall and have another go. Unless you have ready access to a new ring gear.

 

Great suggestion, however in this case the flexplate bolts are offset so it will only go on one way

 

I did some measuring with calipers, a dial indicator and feeler gauges.
The flexplate is out of round by about 0.050”.
Looks like this transmission is coming back out.

 

A V8 tends to stop in one of 4 positions. I found this out in the 70's working at a Lincoln/Mercury dealer. Ford had some flex plates with soft teeth. When you would replace one, you could see the 4 areas where the starter gear had engaged and worn the theeth.

 

Just talked to the guy who makes the adapters.
He suggested trying a different flexplate first as the tolerance is so tight that a small issue with the flexplate would cause the starter to not engage.

The flexplate included in the kit is for a 300-6 Ford, neutral balance so like a 1990 ford van.

if that doesn’t work he says he can machine a new adapter plate with greater tolerance.

 

Trying a different flex plate isn’t just a ten minute job. And what would be different about another flex plate? Is the issue that the starter drive doesn’t reach far enough into the flex plate teeth? If so, can the starter be machined so that it reaches farther in? Or, can the adapter be machine in vehicle so that it puts the starter in deeper? The notion of pulling the transmission in and out just to try things seems like a real PIA to me! I would want to be sure next time.

 

I don’t disagree.
It’s partly on me because I should have tested the starter more before installing the transmission.

It isn’t a problem of starter depth.
the starter is too close to the flex plate horizontally, or the flexplate is too big. This flexplate is shaped like an egg and only engages the starter when in a particular position. If the starter drive could move slightly to the passenger side it would engage.

There are 3 flexplates available that could work. Two are 14.25” diameter and one is 14.23”.
That .020 would make the difference between engaging and not engaging.

I’ve got a 14.23 flexplate on the way. I’m going to test it excessively before putting the transmission back in this time. starter needs to move a tiny bit to the right

 

Gotcha. That’s a healthy adapter plate! Make sure you have plenty of depth engagement into that flex plate, but not too much. .020 isn’t going to last long. Good luck. Sucks you had to pull it back out. You were on a roll!

 

did you need to clearance the AOD Bell for the starter> I did. That's may not be your issue, but worth a look.

 

Yes, I had to clearance the bellhousing. That just so the starter drive doesn’t hit the cone that the ford starter would sit in.

 

Transmission is back out. That took about an hour.

I confirmed with a dial indicator that the flexplate is intact .050 out of round accounting for the starter problem.

a new flexplate is on the way and weather is forecast to be above freezing later this week!