A little history first....I bought a '72 Mustang Fastback quite a few years ago minus an engine and transmission. I bought a T-5 out of a 5.0 Fox body and I then found a great running 351W in a F250. I bought the motor for about $350 or so. I sold all of the EFI stuff off of it and bought some Edelbrock cool guy parts....intake, carb, timing gears. We had the heads built up pretty good plus a nice cam. Bottom end was inspected but left stock. This has been a long time ago so I don't remember specs on the cam and the other work done. I have an envelope full of every receipt and paperwork on every part purchased. I just don't know where it is at the moment. (In hindsight, I wish I still had the EFI stuff I sold)


The motor never made it into the Mustang. I ended up selling the Mustang but keeping the engine.


That brings me current. I'm a Ford guy but I also love my old International Harvester Light-Line trucks. I have a total of 7 Scouts....a '64 Scout 80, two '71 800b's, three '72 Scout II's, and a '77 Scout Traveler.


I started to make a shopping/work list for a rebuild on a IH 345 for one of the SII's. I then got to thinking that I have this bad *** 351W that would be awesome in the Scout. The thing I haven't made a decision on that auto transmission and transfer case would be a good fit behind that motor. As the truck sits now it has Dana 44's front and rear (disc front) 3.73 gearing. It has a 4" spring under lift with 33" tires. This truck will not be a serious off road/crawler rig. It will be a cruise around town plus freeway driving kinda truck. It might do some very mild towing...nothing too stressful.


My question is, with the information provided, what would YOU do for a transmission? C4, C6, E4OD, FMX???


Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions you might be able to provide!

 

Btw...I did try to search before posting but there's so much to sort thru and not really finding a concrete answer to my situation. Also, the only thing I have not bought yet for the 351 is a distributor. I'll need to make a decision on that as well.

 

I'd put a AOD in it.. a built AOD that is.

 

I didn't know much about the AOD so I did a quick google search and I like what I see. I'll start looking around on craigslist and see what listed for sale in my area. Anything specific I need to look for in order for it to mate up to my 351W?

 

Two things.. you need a 28oz AOD specific flexplate and a Lokar TV cable, this combo(351/aod) was used in the mid '80s crown vics so that is what you need to order a flexplate for, and Lokar makes TV cables for carb application. This trans has it's weaknesses but they are well known and addressable, and it was the basis for the 4R70w trans which has proven to be quite durable and reliable even behind the much more powerful 5.4 motors found in the later truck. Any AOD you find in a junkyard will need a full rebuild with all the upgrades, performance shops typically use a lot of 4R70w parts inside them including the wide ratio gear sets, larger bands and clutches, and install a stronger input shaft. Checkout online sources for kits and fully rebuilt transmissions like this one.. Ford-AOD.com the ultimate AOD Transmission Perfromance Website
The AOD in my '90 survived for many years behind a healthy 351 with nothing but a current rebuild with all the upgrades and a shift kit, lazy shifts are death to an auto trans so every trans rebuild should include a shift kit IMO.

 

Awesome info Paul. Thanks!!! I gets me on the right track.


Did a search for the Lokar TV cable and came up with this: Lokar Hi-Tech Kickdown Kits KD-2AODHT - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

 

Yeah that is the item, it's mislabeled as a kickdown cable.. that is a C6 thing, with the AOD this cable modulates line pressure and it is manditory that it be present and setup correctly or the trans won't work at all.

 

Great info. I'm liking your recommendations and the info I've found online. So, do I try to find a trans with the transfer case married up or go the divorced TC route?

 

I say go find a 4wd trans/tcase combo.. these should not be at all difficult to find and the BW1356 will be just fine in your application. There are also manual and electric shift versions of that t-case.

 

Makes great sense to me!

 

if it matters at all. The older ford 4 speeds were also put into some scouts. (correct me someone if im wrong on number) the NP435 and borg-warners t-19 were put into some scouts back then. They were both low geared trannys. just an idea.and it should pop right on in.

 

The T-19 was used a lot, 3 out of my 7 Scouts have one. Never got under there to see if they were T-19 or T-19 wide. Doesn't much matter. They will all be sold or traded once they are tested and cleaned up.