Got the 56 out of winter storage this afternoon & took a very leisurely cruise down to the local car wash.

Washed her up & was pulling out of the lot when BANG.........coast coast coast - lucky for me the next turn in was only a hundred feet or so.

Something internal let go hard on the transmission. No forward, no reverse & lots of grumbly grindy sounds when trying to shift into park.

Wife came unglued - told me to sell it (yeah right).

I picked up this truck last summer with a newly rebuilt C4 - I've put about 2000 miles on it since then & its been parked all winter.

I don't have the money for a major malfunction.

 

so now that I'm up S&!t creek without a $ - why not dream about what can be put into this thing.

What overdrive (non computer) transmissions will bolt onto a 351C?

 

GIGGER on this site is really good with tranny's. he should be able to help you. good luck.

 

With a 351c you could do anything you want really. You can get a AOD if you wanted overdrive or just slap in another c4. The beauty of the 351c is that it's a small block bellhousing with the desire to be a bigger motor.
Keeping things on the cheap would be a rebuild on your current trans. If you wanted fancier you could do the AOD or even the 4r70w (that requires a seperate computer though). It's all about the pocketbook.

 

Are you absolutely sure it is internal and not just dropped a driveshaft or U joint? Been under it to look?

 

I've been under - first thing I looked at was the shaft & linkage. No oil leaks - so it didn't completely explode - but its internal without a doubt.

Truck is still sitting in the parking lot of the store I was able to coast into. I'd like to decide what to do before having to tow it. But deciding what to do & paying for it are two different things.

 

Only 2K miles, it should still be warrantied by the builder, shop or neighborhood grease monkey. That's just not right. If I had built it, I'd stand behind it and fix it. Unless of course I saw you doing burnouts in front of my shop every Saturday night, of course.
If you were closer to California, I'd give you the C4 I have in my 53 right now. It's good enough to motorvate with, and I'm not going to use it.

 

I wish I knew who did the work - it wasn't local. I did a quick craigslist & there are a number of AOD's in the $100 to $300 range - most with an engine thrown in to boot.

I can afford that - if they will bolt up without modification. I'm afraid I'll have to rebuild any transmission I buy. My BIGGEST concern is that it bolt on. I don't have the budget to start modifying things

 

The AOD is a great idea but it won't only cost 100-300 bux. I am not sure on the spline count but it might be different than the c4, for the slip yoke. Most definately have to change the driveshaft length. Plus there is the trouble of the tv cable being done properly.

If you want long trips in the truck then it would be worth it. But if your just puttin around town just stick with what's in there for simplicity.

That's my learned lessons since I have had my truck. Of coarse mines blown into a million pieces and hasn't been driven in over a year.

 

Yeah - I think you are right - I can pick up a good C4 & swap it in over the weekend. CRAP - the FIRST ride of the season!!

 

Does it drive in 2nd? I have to wonder if the sprag clutch just let loose.

 

The AOD was the worst turd foisted on mankind by FoMoCo, worse even than the A4LD and that's saying something. Figure about 3000 bucks to overhaul it.

People placed the shift lever into O then drove in heavy stop-and-go 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, so if you must, install the largest external trans cooler you can find and stay out of O/D in heavy stop-and-go traffic!

 

Does not drive in 2nd. & when I shift back in to park it grinds slowly to a stop.

I'm as screwed as a 10 yr old with Michael Jackson.

 

That sounds like a t.c. failure, but what can you do.

I tend to agree with ND on the AOD. Pretty sure you can get an adapter for a 700R4...

 

Auto transmissions really aren't too bad once you understand how they work. Get a teardown/rebuild manual and tear it down. You maybe surprised what you can do. I like a challenge myself. What have you got to lose? Ford transmissions are a lot easier than GM.