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I getting old (84) and my driving skills are much reduced. Shifting skills are really diminished. Time has eroded the coordination between shifter, clutch, and accelerator pedal. I'm thinking about swapping the T5 for an AOD to keep the conversion as simple as possible.
When I go the car goes to my son who definitely can't/won't drive a stick.
What do I need, how hard to do the swap, what problems may arise, and what about costs? Yeah I know every state has its own cost structure. I'm in Northern Calif.
BTW: I hate to even think of this, but life sometimes controls us more than we would like.
The trans is a W/C T5 utilizing a z-bar clutch actuator. Engine is a 351W.
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To me the AOD isn't that great of a trans. I feel you could buy a used 4ro7w and it would out last the AOD. Sadly you need a stand alone controller for the 4ro7w. The AOD needs to have the cable setup correctly or you will burn up the trans.
If you're paying to have this all done then it will get very costly real quick. Good thing is you can sell the T5 for a decent amount. Maybe work out a deal with a fellow mustang person that wants a T5.
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You might find the following thread from VMF an interesting read. It is from 2019 but probably still useful.
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If you don't have any long road trips planned, a C4 would work well, keep costs low, and be fun to drive. If your rear gear isn't right for the C4, you could do the C4 and a new gear and still be money ahead over the OD options. The 4R70W is a much better trans than the AOD and that's what I'd install if I needed/wanted OD.
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Steve I would read this thread thoroughly. I recommend the 4R70W, which is the finished and upgraded version of the AOD. Get a controller and your pretty much done. If you have headers the collector will probably need to be widened to fit the wide AOD.
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I rebuilt the AOD from the 89 Lincoln donor car in 07 and drove it 40K miles in the 66. Yeah, the AOD is a strange duck but it worked well for a "driver", as opposed to a "racer". I used the stock 66 shifter by playing with the lower lever to get the "travel" to match the AOD and it worked well. I have HI-PO manifolds and had to custom build the H-pipe to get around the transmission. Also, you need to buy or fab a new trans mount that is a couple of inches to the rear of stock. Parking brake mods are also required and a custom drive shaft is also likely due to length and U-joint size.
In late '23 I rebuilt and installed an '03 4R70W with a Bauman controller. Used my modified 66 shifter with a 67 bezel and further modified gate stops. Wiring changes as the 4R requires way more wiring than the AOD. The 4R is a far superior unit with lower 1st and 2nd gearing (hence the W, for Wide Ratio), it is a true lock-up trans as opposed to the AOD which is, well, different and I won't go into why here. The biggest issue I have had with the 4R (approx. 10K miles) is getting the Bauman controller tuned to my liking. It's easy to change the tune with their softwear if you are semi computer literate...I like that and the ability to change it on the fly with someone else driving. I have the "Quick 2" controller which has less tuning ability but is just fine for a "Driver" but not a "racer". If you go with the 4R you need to stay with a 98 to 03 from a 3.8 V6 (I think). Ford dumped the output shaft speedo drive gear sometime in 03 so you may need to go to an electronic speedo . Mine is an 03 but it has the drive gear to I was able to keep my EFI Vss and mechanical speedo (thanks Barry for noticing that). You will also probably want use an AODE (in be tweener trans) pan and filter as most of the 4R pans have a lower "sump" for the filter and it eats about an inch and a half of road clearance....not good!
If you go either way you can shoot me a pm and I'll try to provide some pix that might help. Good luck.
BB1
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My recommendation for replacement !
Only occasional use of clutch.....
6sal6
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Bullet Bob wrote:
I rebuilt the AOD from the 89 Lincoln donor car in 07 and drove it 40K miles in the 66. Yeah, the AOD is a strange duck but it worked well for a "driver", as opposed to a "racer". I used the stock 66 shifter by playing with the lower lever to get the "travel" to match the AOD and it worked well. I have HI-PO manifolds and had to custom build the H-pipe to get around the transmission. Also, you need to buy or fab a new trans mount that is a couple of inches to the rear of stock. Parking brake mods are also required and a custom drive shaft is also likely due to length and U-joint size.
In late '23 I rebuilt and installed an '03 4R70W with a Bauman controller. Used my modified 66 shifter with a 67 bezel and further modified gate stops. Wiring changes as the 4R requires way more wiring than the AOD. The 4R is a far superior unit with lower 1st and 2nd gearing (hence the W, for Wide Ratio), it is a true lock-up trans as opposed to the AOD which is, well, different and I won't go into why here. The biggest issue I have had with the 4R (approx. 10K miles) is getting the Bauman controller tuned to my liking. It's easy to change the tune with their softwear if you are semi computer literate...I like that and the ability to change it on the fly with someone else driving. I have the "Quick 2" controller which has less tuning ability but is just fine for a "Driver" but not a "racer". If you go with the 4R you need to stay with a 98 to 03 from a 3.8 V6 (I think). Ford dumped the output shaft speedo drive gear sometime in 03 so you may need to go to an electronic speedo . Mine is an 03 but it has the drive gear to I was able to keep my EFI Vss and mechanical speedo (thanks Barry for noticing that). You will also probably want use an AODE (in be tweener trans) pan and filter as most of the 4R pans have a lower "sump" for the filter and it eats about an inch and a half of road clearance....not good!
If you go either way you can shoot me a pm and I'll try to provide some pix that might help. Good luck.
BB1
I agree with BB about the 4R70W. I got a trans from a 98 Ranger with at 4.2L (same as the one from the 3.8L Mustangs) I used some tooling and manual that he sent me and I rebuilt it. You will need wider headers ( the JBA Shorties work well with my 351W, but I had to cut off a 1/2" protrusion at the fwd end of the block on the driver's side to fit). You will need to do a bunch of wiring and you'll also need a TPS installed on your carb. I have the Quick 4 version of the Baumann controller. You will also need to come up with a transmission mount for that trans, (AOD one won't work) and also a shifter. I modified and used a shifter and shift cable from a 2000 Mustang. I got an aluminum driveshaft from a 98 Explorer 2wd and had it shortened. I also had to get an adapter u-joint (larger cups for the d/s and smaller cups for the yoke on the pinion shaft. You will need a larger input yoke for the output shaft on the trans. I used an AOD tailshaft housing that enabled me to use my stock 68 speedo drive cable. You'll also need the proper drive gear (18 or 21 tooth - can't remember!)
True, a C4 would be a much easier install. I had a C4 I rebuilt coupled with a 9" 3.25 rear end. I swapped it with the 4R70W because I got tired of 3000 rpm at 60 mph. Now I am around 2000 rpm at 60.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
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HGM electronics makes a standalone controller for transmissions too.
I know a feller who uses one for his 4L80E transmission swap in his 70’s truck.
The truck is a daily driver for summer.
Last edited by Nos681 (5/30/2025 4:30 AM)
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If I was 14 years older then what I am right now, I guess I would be looking at this in perhaps another direction. That would be to sell your pony and get another one that has all the equipment you want. Doing a quick search I found a 66 with a 347 stroker that looked like it had been in there for a while. b&m supercharger, real clean, looked like new tires, Wilwoods, 6 speed automatic. Asking 35K. now you could sell yours and just make up the rest of the money. Pretty sure your son would be just as happy or more with something with an auto. As long as it came from you is all that matters to him.
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Quicksilver wrote:
If I was 14 years older then what I am right now, I guess I would be looking at this in perhaps another direction. That would be to sell your pony and get another one that has all the equipment you want. Doing a quick search I found a 66 with a 347 stroker that looked like it had been in there for a while. b&m supercharger, real clean, looked like new tires, Wilwoods, 6 speed automatic. Asking 35K. now you could sell yours and just make up the rest of the money. Pretty sure your son would be just as happy or more with something with an auto. As long as it came from you is all that matters to him.
Thanks for your suggestions. Except I bought the car new in 1966, My son rode in its back seat in a German stroller top all the way from upstate NY to LA. It has over 500,000 miles on it, too. It has become a family heirloom. A different car would not be wanted.
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lowercasesteve wrote:
Quicksilver wrote:
If I was 14 years older then what I am right now, I guess I would be looking at this in perhaps another direction. That would be to sell your pony and get another one that has all the equipment you want. Doing a quick search I found a 66 with a 347 stroker that looked like it had been in there for a while. b&m supercharger, real clean, looked like new tires, Wilwoods, 6 speed automatic. Asking 35K. now you could sell yours and just make up the rest of the money. Pretty sure your son would be just as happy or more with something with an auto. As long as it came from you is all that matters to him.
Thanks for your suggestions. Except I bought the car new in 1966, My son rode in its back seat in a German stroller top all the way from upstate NY to LA. It has over 500,000 miles on it, too. It has become a family heirloom. A different car would not be wanted.
Thats a better story than Grandma's wedding ring. You have to keep that in the family.
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