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Exploring the possibility of a SBC to a 351W Roller transplant down the line. I'm clueless regarding Ford's AOD's. I know with most AT's in the industry, engineering revs occurred frequently, so there was always the years / models to avoid, or the best one to use. Any suggestions on what the hot ticket might be for a donor vehicle? Perhaps trucks had more robust parts? Dunno.
Very difficult to find a 351 roller with an aod if not impossible . The later the aod the better but if you are rebuilding they are not hard to upgrade with later or aode parts . 351 roller engines are rare mine came from a 1995 f250 and my aod came from a 1991crown vic . You also can convert a hydraulic 351 to roller cam .
Ernie...I got a transmission guy in Santee, he is in the Over The Hill Gang and he builds custom transmissions to meet your needs. He had a shop for 37 years and now stays busy in his home shop. I have had at least three AODs built by him and what I have found works best is to use the internals from an AODE (4R70W) in an AOD (non-electronic) housing. One-piece input shaft helps as well. If you can find an AOD housing with 5 ribs on the top (bracing between the gear housing and the bellhousing) then that is the strongest case you can get. The 3-rib case works fine as well just not as strong. There are constant pressure valve bodies on the market now that eliminate the need for the TV cable/pressure adjustments that are so critical in the AOD transmission. EBEAR may have difficulty finding 351W/AODs North of the border but here in SoCal they come up regularly on CL.
A little difficult but finding a roller cam 351 mated to an aod I'm not sure is possible in the same vehicle . As the majority if not all 351 roller cam engines are after the aode came into use .
You can generally count on ‘94 and newer 351W’s to be roller motors and they are found in trucks and vans of those model years. Maybe a Cobra Mustang, but I doubt you’ll see one of those at your local PicNPull. As the others have mentioned, none of those original applications paired the 351 with an AOD as that engine was normally installed with the heavy duty E4OD. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t put them together yourself. The biggest thing to watch out for with this combination is getting the proper flywheel. You MUST use a 164 tooth flywheel designed for an engine with 28 oz. of imbalance AND the proper offset for an AOD or C4 to make it work. This particular flywheel was available in some OE applications, but it wasn’t real common. The correct part is readily available brand new from the aftermarket and they’re pretty cheap at ~$25. It’s best to buy a new one and know you’ve got the right part. It’s very easy to bolt the wrong one in and either have serious engine vibrations or lunch the torque converter and front pump in the tranny. PM me if you get to that point and I can steer you to where to purchase the right one.
The AOD did evolve considerably during it’s 80-93 production run. The newer a unit you can get, the more updates it will have. Don’t mess with an 80-87 unit as they were known to have lubrication issues that were resolved in the later units. The V6 units should be avoided also as they had fewer clutches - although they can be added back in if you’re having it rebuilt. I would look for ‘92-‘93 F-150’s with a 5.0L for your best shot at a tough unit with the most stock updated goodies in it. As others have mentioned, AOD’s can be upgraded even further by using various parts and assemblies from their AOD-E and 4R70W descendants. The necessity of this is dependent on what power level you plan to be at and how you intend to drive it. These things can easily handle 700+ HP if properly built, but that is likely unnecessary for a 300HP Sunday cruiser. A stock unit in good condition can deal with that just fine with just a shift kit.
I agree with CharlieLED. The 4R70W is a good choice as I integrates gear position for PRNDL. neutral start switch. etc. into the position sensor on the left side of the trans. It has a 30% overdrive and although there is a spot for the speedo sensor on the tail shaft you don't need it as there is an electronic speed output from the transmission itself which is why you don't need a fiddly throttle position sensor/cable. Mine came out of a 2004 Ford F150. I got it from Monster Transmission. U.S. Shift makes a Baumann controller to adapt the electronics for most Ford engines.
I would not spend much time seeking a 5.8L roller engine unless I planned to run an ECM and trans controller. The only thing that a factory "roller" engine has that a non-roller does not is the lifter retainers and of course the cam. An Edelbrock roller cam kit will turn your flat tappet 351W into a roller in short order.
06-04-2018, 02:19 PM
