Installing an AOD in a 66

[gbx78]

Ahhh welcome to Team Aod and silverfox VB!! Now you just need a megasquirt efi !! And you can be officially part of this cult.

Hybrid is the expert of the internals but from my experience i can comment on the following:

- BM plate cooler.. good choice. I did some research on these before landing on the 70268. However after speaking with dan at silverfox, bill at ron davis..the consensus was do NOT run it through the radiator cooler for my combination.

- BM deep sump. I went down this path. Great piece of gear and has the extra hole for aode should you one day migrate.

- temp gauge. I run a pressure gauge from my TV port but there is a main pressure port above the gear selector on the LHS. I have run my temp gauge from that port as suggested by Dan at silverfox. You can use that for temp. Keep in mind this port can see pressures of 200+ psi but have been advised is the best place (other than the outlet port to the cooler) for accurate temp and not the pan. .. on a really hot day and giving it a hard time..the most ive seen is 180degf . But geberally runs in the 140-160 mark only after giving it a hard time. Dan suggested thats perfect..and to only worry when the temps get to 230f in which case pull over! !!..again thats temps from the main pressure line.

Considering you have now landed on AOD.. i have only 2 words for you Silverfox VB!!!! As hybrid mentioned they went up in price compared to when hybtid bought his but it was one of the best investments ive made to my car.

Hybrid helped me install it...and he can tell you the smile on my face on first drive. .was quite memorable. Its almost a crime not to do it.!! The tv pressure becomes obsolete (with my VB anyway) and only used for shift points (or i can leave it disconnected all together and go manual)..

I love that thing. Though I recommend after riding with hybrid and his suggestions that a stage 2 vb is as high as id go for a street car. I think stage 3 would be extremely hard shifting and loses that comfort. It changes pretty hard now and we all love chirpies..especially on a SC'd motor.

Good luck!!!

[Edz66Vert]

Ahhh welcome to Team Aod and silverfox VB!! Now you just need a megasquirt efi !! And you can be officially part of this cult.

Hybrid is the expert of the internals but from my experience i can comment on the following:

- BM plate cooler.. good choice. I did some research on these before landing on the 70268. However after speaking with dan at silverfox, bill at ron davis..the consensus was do NOT run it through the radiator cooler for my combination.

- BM deep sump. I went down this path. Great piece of gear and has the extra hole for aode should you one day migrate.

- temp gauge. I run a pressure gauge from my TV port but there is a main pressure port above the gear selector on the LHS. I have run my temp gauge from that port as suggested by Dan at silverfox. You can use that for temp. Keep in mind this port can see pressures of 200+ psi but have been advised is the best place (other than the outlet port to the cooler) for accurate temp and not the pan. .. on a really hot day and giving it a hard time..the most ive seen is 180degf . But geberally runs in the 140-160 mark only after giving it a hard time. Dan suggested thats perfect..and to only worry when the temps get to 230f in which case pull over! !!..again thats temps from the main pressure line.

Considering you have now landed on AOD.. i have only 2 words for you Silverfox VB!!!! As hybrid mentioned they went up in price compared to when hybtid bought his but it was one of the best investments ive made to my car.

Hybrid helped me install it...and he can tell you the smile on my face on first drive. .was quite memorable. Its almost a crime not to do it.!! The tv pressure becomes obsolete (with my VB anyway) and only used for shift points (or i can leave it disconnected all together and go manual)..

I love that thing. Though I recommend after riding with hybrid and his suggestions that a stage 2 vb is as high as id go for a street car. I think stage 3 would be extremely hard shifting and loses that comfort. It changes pretty hard now and we all love chirpies..especially on a SC'd motor.

Good luck!!!

thanks GBX78!

I'm looking at the B&M 70274 because it's 29000 BTU, the 70268 is only 13000 which is a bit small for my application when we see 42 degrees here in summer. The biggest the local trans shop could do was a 22k BTU unit. I'll fit a temp gauge but not sure I want to plug into the high pressure port in case it leaks, I might just tap into the pan.

Silverfox VB definitely. I'll chat to Dan directly about it and input shaft and other recommendations etc. The box is a fresh build with shift kit but I'd prefer to make it strong before installing it so I'll chat to him about my options. Still new at understanding automatics, does Dan's Vb do the same sort of thing as the Lentech VB that changes the shift to a 1,2,3/4 because it looks very good?

How hard are the changes with the stage 2 VB - I like firm but I don't want uncomfortable as it is still mostly a cruise car?

If I go with the Silverfox VB does that mean I remove my stage 2 shift kit or do I just ignore that?

I'm probably too slack to go with a megasquirt, I would just buy the Holley self tune efi for $2300 if I could justify spending $1800 over a carby. ;-}

I was looking at the shifter connecting rods on ebay, but at $240 for a bit of metal with 2 rod ends I'll knock up my own!

[hybrid]

The Silverfox VB will replace the entire valve body - a shift kit just replaces parts of the valve body to change it's behaviour, so yes the VB will remove the shift kit.
It doesn't matter though, because the new valve body does what a shift kit would do plus more anyway. If you're planning to get a VB, see if you can get the same box without the shift kit, otherwise you will be wasting money.

If you come to Sydney you're welcome to check out mine and feel how it changes.
If I leave mine in drive, the shifts are very firm, but not "I want to break your stuff". If I change manually, it's bordering on "I want to break your stuff", but not quite.

As for Silverfox vs Lentech.
Lentech are widely known as AOD gurus and pioneered many of the good upgrades.
Yes the Silverfox VB changes to a normal shift pattern.

Choosing Lentech or Silverfox is up to you. They're both good. I can tell you that Dan is great to talk to and deal with. Have not dealt with Lentech.

Yes you can make up your own shift linkage. We did it with my dads install on his XD falcon. Just make sure you properly engage Park and 1st, and the others should be OK.
You might have to mess with the length of the arm at the gearbox end to get the right amount of travel.

Temp gauge on a street car is overkill IMO unless you have a crazy converter in it and you're flogging it all the time.

[Edz66Vert]

I'll probably weld in some chassis rails to the Vert when I change the carpet to stiffen it up for the stroker so I don't twist it. My last 2 builds before I bought the Mustang Convertible were putting a V6 Commodore with 4 wheel discs into an FJ Holden, and then a twin turbo Lexus 1UZ V8 (plus 4 wheel discs and chassis kit) into an EH Holden. This was then changed to an LS1 when the rego rules changed and I couldn't register it. I built both cars from scratch and painted them as well.

[hybrid]

Cool, nice setups.

[lukep6470]

Oh so squeezy!!

[Edz66Vert]

The Silverfox VB will replace the entire valve body - a shift kit just replaces parts of the valve body to change it's behaviour, so yes the VB will remove the shift kit.
It doesn't matter though, because the new valve body does what a shift kit would do plus more anyway. If you're planning to get a VB, see if you can get the same box without the shift kit, otherwise you will be wasting money.

If you come to Sydney you're welcome to check out mine and feel how it changes.
If I leave mine in drive, the shifts are very firm, but not "I want to break your stuff". If I change manually, it's bordering on "I want to break your stuff", but not quite.

As for Silverfox vs Lentech.
Lentech are widely known as AOD gurus and pioneered many of the good upgrades.
Yes the Silverfox VB changes to a normal shift pattern.

Choosing Lentech or Silverfox is up to you. They're both good. I can tell you that Dan is great to talk to and deal with. Have not dealt with Lentech.

Yes you can make up your own shift linkage. We did it with my dads install on his XD falcon. Just make sure you properly engage Park and 1st, and the others should be OK.
You might have to mess with the length of the arm at the gearbox end to get the right amount of travel.

Temp gauge on a street car is overkill IMO unless you have a crazy converter in it and you're flogging it all the time.

That's all good info.

I'll contact Dan for prices, the Lentech shaft is no good because they list it as 31 spline C6 only. I'm emailing Dan about what he thinks I should do to the box before I install it. The box is a private purchase - new but no warranty as it was built 3 years ago to go in a hotrod but never used. Already has a shift kit so that's neither here nor there. I'd like to at least fit the VB upgrade and one piece toughened shaft - will that fit in my torque converter as a direct replacement for the standard 2 piece I have now? And whose do I buy? TCI don't list a spline count so I've asked them for details.

I'll probably not fit the temp gauge then as that's one less thing to clutter the car up with and just assume that the big at B&M cooler does it's job.

[Edz66Vert]

Only got to drive the twin turbo up the drive, then sold the running gear when I couldn't register it, they are one smooth over-engineered motor those 1Uz's.
This was the first startup, surprised when I hit the key and it idled! 1UZTT startup

[hybrid]

I didn't bother with the 1 piece shaft. I just have a 300M inner shaft in mine.
Bear in mind if you go that way, you will lose the lockup function of the box.
You will also have to buy a non-lockup converter.

Edit: how many horsepowers are you expecting?

[Edz66Vert]

I didn't bother with the 1 piece shaft. I just have a 300M inner shaft in mine.
Bear in mind if you go that way, you will lose the lockup function of the box.
You will also have to buy a non-lockup converter.

Edit: how many horsepowers are you expecting?

425 hp / 450 ft/lbs. Have a non-lockup 2500. Not worried about lockup, more worried about longevity and reliability.

Was this the shaft you used at Summit - TCI-439600 - TCI Hardened Input Shafts? $210 US
'Input Shaft, Hardened, Vaccu Melt 300, Stock Carrier, Stock Spline, Ford, Automatic, AOD, Non-Lockup, Each'

[boofhead]

Engine porn - I like engine porn.

[hybrid]

Mine was something like this one:
http://www.tcsproducts.com/products/pro ... ect-shaft/

It's just the inner shaft, not the whole input shaft.

I wanted lockup and you generally don't need to go to a single piece shaft until near on 600HP where the 2 piece shaft is just not thick enough.
But if you already have a non-lockup converter, makes sense for you to do it.

[Edz66Vert]

" hybrid - Mine was something like this one:
http://www.tcsproducts.com/products/pro ... ect-shaft/

It's just the inner shaft, not the whole input shaft.

I wanted lockup and you generally don't need to go to a single piece shaft until near on 600HP where the 2 piece shaft is just not thick enough.
But if you already have a non-lockup converter, makes sense for you to do it."

So what you're saying, is if I have a non-lockup, I can just go straight to a one piece shaft. Now the tricky bit, which one, when I first saw a shaft similar to the one you listed above on Summit/TCI I thought that was the one piece, but obviously then it's not? That's the inside 23 spline? The one-piece that Dan talks about in his article is 31 spline (C6) where I assume my 2500 rpm stall will be the standard 35 spline (or will it need a 35/23?). I'll know in a couple of days.

[hybrid]

That's not the same shaft that I used in mine.
That does look like a shaft that replaces the two innner shafts in an AOD.
It almost looks like the two inner shafts welded together would be like. I guess they are making it that way so it still slots in the same way the other shafts would.

That part you mentioned says it's only compatible with TCI converters too, so be careful with that if your converter is not TCI.

That would be different to Dan suggesting use of a C6 input shaft. I haven't heard of, or researched that one.

[Edz66Vert]

That's not the same shaft that I used in mine.
That does look like a shaft that replaces the two innner shafts in an AOD.
It almost looks like the two inner shafts welded together would be like. I guess they are making it that way so it still slots in the same way the other shafts would.

That part you mentioned says it's only compatible with TCI converters too, so be careful with that if your converter is not TCI.

That would be different to Dan suggesting use of a C6 input shaft. I haven't heard of, or researched that one.

My flexplate is TCI but converter was made by a pro converters in Victoria. The TCI shaft is 31 spline like C6 but not sure about length so I'll steer clear. Just need to workout which one piece I can use to replace standard double shaft?

I found this great mod for the standard shifter to stop you accidentally hitting neutral when you shove it forward into 2 or Drive if you have the updated VB that changes the shift pattern to 1,2 3/4.

I coloured in the pic to make it a bit clearer as it took a bit of interpreting - came from the Shelby site - through the magic of google!