ok gang my best buds 84 f-150 has an a.o.d. trany that has gone south.we picked up a rebuilt c6 a while back.will the a.o.d. torque converter work in the c6 ?or do we need to find a c6 t.c.for it

 

You need the C6 converter. AODs use Direct Drive, amongst other differences.

 

thanks for the info. i wonder if the linkedge will be a nightmare to change over ?

 

Shouldnt be that hard. Is the donor C6 from a truck? Ford got really wierd with lever arms in the 80s and how they are clocked and positioned.

 

are there any detailed how to's for this type of conversion? If and when my AOD goes I'd love to know what's involved in making the swap. Besides the tranny itself what other info is needed (drive shafts, torque converter, different transfer case, replacement of trans crossmember, etc.) How to do it all, etc.

 

I just put a C6 in place of a bad AOD in my 83. I will try remember all the changes I had to make. Touque converter, flex plate, drive shaft, coolant lines and fittings on radiator. The rear crossmember needed to be turned around for the C6. Thats all I can think of right now. My truck has a 3.55 rear end, and I am turning alot of RPM's on the freeway. Dont think Ford ever put a C6 in with a 3.55, They dont have a speedometer gear for it. I just put 31.1050.15's on today. Seems like it helped but havent been on the highway yet. I have probably forgot some things, but having a donor truck really helps. Also old linkage worked fine. Also changes shift indicator in dash.

 

Interesting. It seems like the conversion would be more work than it's really worth for me at least. I don't expect my truck to last forever so if and when the tranny goes it'd probably be much easier to stick with a rebuilt AOD. Since my truck is a shortbed trying to find a driveshaft of the right length would be a real PITA.

 

Actually, many of the trucks came out w/a C6 and 3.55 gears. My '82 4x2 is that way. Dad's '81 4x4 is. And both of our speedo's are pretty close. I'm currently running 205's and he's running 235's, so we surely have different speedo gears.

 

Any chance you know what color your speedometer gear is? My parts guy at ford could not find one.
By the way where is Skiatook?

 

I don't get why you would want to replace an automatic overdrive transmission with a non-overdrive transmission? Isn't that going backwards? You would think most people would want to go the other way.

 

The AOD was a bad choice for pickups, thats why Ford pulled it and never brought it back until the 4r70 (which addressed the bad things about the AOD).

Mainly the direct drive and valvebody calibrations. Both brought about by the fuel crisis at the time. Both are addressable in the aftermarket, and its something i specialize in, but for pickups, a C6 or a later 4r70w if you want lockup and OD is a better choice.

 

What do you mean, "Ford pulled it and never brought it back until the 4r70?" That is incorrect. The AOD was brought out in 1982 and used right up until 1993. That is when the computer-controlled 4R70W replaced it. Ford used the AOD for eleven years and never "pulled" it, and there are a lot of people in here still running around on their stock AODs.

As long as you remember to shift OUT of Overdrive when pulling a load or when the transmission starts to "hunt" between gears, an AOD is actually a pretty good transmission. Because of the work a lot of pickups are subjected to that cars never see, it is also a good idea to install an auxiliary transmission cooler, which came with the Towing Package. An auxiliary transmission cooler and lines shouldn't cost you more than $50 at the junkyard.

Shifting out of the Overdrive gear and into the Drive gear essentially makes an AOD a C6. But the AOD has a 0.67 overdrive gear that dramatically reduces engine RPM for better fuel economy. My truck is only turning 1500 RPMs at 55 MPH in Overdrive gear! A C6 is also a much heavier transmission and saps more power than the AOD. And gas prices are not going down.

I still don't get it.

 

EarlM,
I don't know what gear I have but here's a link that should help: Speedo Gears

As for Skiatook, it is ~15 miles north of Tulsa.

 

About as far from Tulsa as New Braunfels is from San Antonio.....
And I'm in Sapulpa, which is about the same distance from Tulsa, but a different direction....

As for a speedo gear, have the parts guy look for one for an 85/86 with the 5.8L HO 4V. Those usually had the C6, and frequently used a 3.50 geared 9". Pretty close match to the 3.55 found in 8.8" rears behind the AOD.

 

I Too would love to do an AOD swap in my daily driver!