I think they cheapest way to go would be the C6. They were used behind big blocks from the factory so there pretty stout from the get go. An AOD would need to be beefed up a little with the modifications you have done to the 351.

 

That's what I have in there now. The truck isn't driveable though. I was thinkin' i wanted a 4 speed.... maybe a 700r4 with adapter plate?

 

If you're wanting to run very many freeway miles go with a built AOD. Look at one of the many RPM/speed/gear calculators and you'll see why.

 

The later 700R4 is supposed to be able to handle a bit of power where the earlier versions require some updates for reliability.

 

Go with the AOD if you plan to drive it very much. I have a 351W/AOD combo in my '54 and I get around 18 MPG highway consistently. I have an 8.8 rear end out of an Explorer with 3.55 gears. No complaints at all so far. Still has plenty of grunt on the low end. Hope this helps, Steve

 

Hey Jrock,
We also have a 351W with a mild cam & we are running an AOD.
We are in a good place now but it's been a struggle to get the AOD to behave with our set up - 400HP & Explorer 3.73 rear gearing.
Do your homework up front - It's not as easy as just finding some salvage yard AOD & stuffing it in there.

Some thoughts:
Their are (3) different Overdrive Servos out there in AOD's - A, B, & C - the one you want is the "C" servo from the Thunderbirds. It's 2 inches wide & set up more for performance. You can also go with a "B" servo but I'd put in the kevlar belt. Avoid the smaller weak "A" car servos as they tended to come off under pressure like with the burn outs you want.

There are 3 different Governors on AOD's - If you are using lower highway friendly gears like our 3.73 you will want to install a Transgo Hi Rev Governor kit. It moves the shift points up to higher RPM's. Your truck will totally bog down & shift early under 1,000 RPM's if you don't have this.

After Market Shift Kits - Most guys will upgrade to the more performance oriented shift kits. We are using Baumann Engineering. There are a lot of options. (Recommend reading through Baumann's AOD section or the Silver Fox).

AOD's are very sensitive to Throttle Valve Pressure - they are driven by a cable. It has to be set exactly right between o & 3 Psi at idle. Your expensive AOD will blow up if set outside this range. We had several shops set our's - It takes a lot of adjusting to get it right. We used a Lokar set up. You may also need a stronger spring return to get your Lokar cable set up to work right.

Summary:
AOD's are a good choice but do your homework up front & upgrade the internals from the base model if you have horsepower or lower gearing.
AOD's are around $1500 to $2000 ea - We went through (2) failures
before getting it right - tread carefully. Hit the Mustang forums - they have been using AOD's forever - a lot of AOD knowledge over there.

Good luck over there.

Ben in Austin
351W/AOD

 

You have your servos mixed up. C is V-6 cars, B was most V-8's and A is the biggest factory servo. Sonnax makes an aftermarket A+ servo.

If you decide to go with the AOD get a silverfox valvebody from here
They get all the proper upgrades and you can get a constant pressure valvebody if your afraid of the throttle valve as it turns it into a standard kickdown. Most shift kits aren't very good for the AOD and usually cause problems if mixed. Much easier and simpler to get a complete valvebody already upgraded.

 

Hey Nathan,
Thanks for correcting my post - a little too early for me this morning.
The "A" servo is the one you want & I will second Nathan's recommendation for the solid throttle body from Silver Fox. He also has a good site for learning about AOD's.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Your other choice would be to get an E4OD. It'll bolt to the 351, take all teh "Grunt" it can deliver and you can get a controller from Baumann Electronic Controls to make it do whatever you want by programming it.


Cheers,

Rick

 

A E40D/4R100 is only really required if you want to tow in overdrive or have gears deeper than 4.56:1. They aren't cheap to get upgraded to latest specs and have very limited aftermarket support outside of factory applications.

 

I'm thinkin I'll be goin with a 700r4 with adapter plate. We'll see when the time comes!!

 

Any particular reason why you'd use the 700R4 over the AOD? The 700R4 needs the same amount of work internally as the AOD.

 

I've heard the AOD can be a pain in the A$$ to get set up and goin''. If I was to buy one from Summit already built, which one would I go with?

 

The AOD just needs the throttle cable set properly which is also true of the 700R4. If you don't you'll be changing clutches.

As far as which transmission to buy from Summit, I don't know. I built mine myself with all 4r70W internal parts. A note about the Summit transmissions listed on website is they all have lockup removed and require a specific aftermarket converter as a factory one will not work.