Hi there, Greetings from NZ.
I'm putting an automatic trans into my '48 F1 and would like suggestions, motor is stock, and I want to make it column change, altho that part I'm not too concerned with atm.
I was thinking 200r4 or similar as I would like something overdriven, to reduce rpm @ highway speeds.
Feedback is welcome, Thanks Neon.

 

I have been there in the shop. A 239 flathead I milled a adaptor plate,
to accept an AOD 85 Lincoln I think (no electronics) then from local
junk yard we went for Ford pickup in the 1990s thats cable then the
colum was a mix of 1973-79 and 1993 parts and 1948-52. Customer
wanted to look original. Of course we have a machine shop. Alternative
then cheap way out is just use a column from what ever the tranny came
from, so you will have the detents machted to the tranny.

 

Thanks for that, I will do research on those components, and see if I can find a lincoln box. I'm not hauling big loads, so box doesn't have to be heavy-duty, just run-of-mill.

 

AOD introduced in 1980 Lincoln/Continental Mark VI / Ford LTD/Mercury Grand Marquis / Thunderbird/Cougar.

Lincoln used the same AOD as LTD (name changed to Crown Vic in 1982) & Mercury Grand Marquis.

The AOD was the worst A/T FoMoCo ever offered, worse even than the A4LD and that's saying something.

People drove in O/D in heavy traffic. The constant shifting up/down .. in/out of O/D fried the AOD's guts and it didn't take too long for this to occur.

Heat is the mortal enemy of the AOD, figure 3 grand for a complete overhaul. If you insist on using the turd, install the largest external trans cooler you can find and STAY OUT of O/D in heavy traffic!

 

Number Dummy speaks true words . Heat is instant death to those transmissions.

 

ok, thanks for that; what would your recommendation be instead?

 

Anything but an AOD, a turd foisted on mankind by FoMoCo. 1980/86: The warranty costs to fix the turd was more than the warranty costs for all the other A/T's combined!

C6 best A/T FoMoCo ever made.

Dav-L, the largest limo company here in LA converted all their 1980/85 Lincoln's to C6's.

Two partsguys at Crenshaw Motors Ford (Sam and guess who) had to figure out what "off the shelf" parts would work, since Town Cars were only available with AOD's.

Back then, Crenshaw had the largest stock of parts on the planet. Today, there's just a vacant lot where it was located. Closed in 2009, buildings were soon bulldozed.

 

greetings to nz! i was there on the south island in 2000 and i always tell people if i lived any where else in the world it would be nz. especially around christschurch. i saw large herds of white tail deer being raised for meat. they were beautiful, thousands of them in one place, it was amazing to someone that only sees them in the wild.

anyway, isn't a nearly stock flatty a little weak to be hooked to an automatic. some of them were rated at under 100 hp.

quentin (under the north star, not the southern cross!)

 

i have a c4 on mine and it works awesome i love it and kits are readily available from flat-o-matic and speedway motors we have some relatives in NZ

 

With all due respect, I believe Bill is confusing the issue slightly. There's a big difference between someone mis-using a transmission in an application it wasn't designed for, and someone putting one in an old Ford truck with half the weight and a third the hp driven with a lot more care. In a 3 ton limo under severe duty, I'll agree the C6 is far better suited. That's what it was designed for. But to make a nice driver out of a cruiser pickup, the AOD can work quite well.

Keep in mind that when o/d transmissions were introduced, there was a learning curve folks went through. All of them 'hunted' and would shift in and out of o/d if driven in town between 30-35. My Marauder does the same thing today. I have to push the o/d button to have it drive right in town. No one told folks that in the early 80's until it was too late. Today we know better. Put it in drive until you hit the highway.

Transmissions have been improved and many of the issues of the past are history. Heat is the enemy of any transmission. Definitely you want to make sure you have a good cooling system installed. But that goes for anything. You should see the cooler Ford put on my F-250 for the C6 towing package. But in the op's application, I wouldn't hesitate to use an AOD. If you have a choice, I would recommend finding a later version (88-93) with all the internal upgrades and improvements.

 

Flat-O-Matic makes a flathead to C4/AOD tranny adapter. Made in Oz if I'm not mistaken? Edit: it's Flatattack in Oz: http://www.flatattackracing.com/

 

Thanks for the info, that was another thought; Has a 100hp flat head got enough power to run an auto well, as Quentin stated, because I know it takes some power just to run them. My reason for an auto was because I feel a motor like this is more of a tourquer than a revver, and the added advantage of possible over driven gearing. (More than most manuals avail). I believe diff head choices are pretty limited. Otherwise it would possibly be another diff altogether, but thats really changing things up, and I was hoping to keep it as stock as I can. I have an old Nissan Skyline 5 speed lying around, which would give it approx. 10-15% better gearing, which would be better than nothing
BTW, I live in Christchurch, South Island (Quentin), glad you like it here!

 

Ford-O-Matic introduced in 1951 Ford/Merc Passenger Cars (Merc called their version Merc-O-Matic). Ford-O-Matic introduced in 1953 F100/350's.

All flatheads excepting 1952/53 215 OHV I-6.

 

Lots of C4's running around in cars of the era, behind flatheads, and reportedly a very good combiination. An AOD is tougher to fit into the cars' X-frames, so not as common. AODs have a tall OD gear, should work out OK with your stock rear axle (less so if it's 3.73, more so if it's 4.11)

 

Also the c4's are easy to work on with a little knowledge and a book. i rebuilt the one in my truck with out having a clue when i tore into it and it works great. for a long time i used a factory column to shift it also. i cant tell you how it goes down the high way with stock gears though.