That sounds pretty cool! I didn't know what a Gear Vendor was but I went to there web site & checked it out.
On my mustang I made just a head change and gained 38 RWHP. The old heads were 69 351w's and the new heads are edelbrock RPM's with 1.90 intakes. the engine is a 351w .060 overbore. Change to aluminum heads you won't be disapointed!
You might talk to Shawn Simpson about the GearVendors thing. I was debating which way to go so I asked him about it (he has an AOD). He said he bought one, but it was so big it would not fit in the tranny tunnel without cutting and enlarging the tunnel, so he sent it back and bought an AOD (Lentech I believe). Just something to keep in mind.
I suppose the size factor could be an issue. The AOD sounds like an odd tranny to me. They can't be shifted into 3rd, or out of O/D, depending on how you want to look at it. I also thought they were computer controlled. If so, you need to get a 'brain' to make it function correctly when installed in an older car. Art Carr makes 200R4s for SBFs. (GM's small v8 O/D) This tranny is smaller than the 'bulletproof' 700R4, and is much easier to retrofit into older or performance oriented cars. 5.0 guys are known to replace their AODs with 200R4s from Carr. Just another option. Dave
to me if you bought two heads one alum one cast iron with the same CCs and everything they are both gonna run be the same just that ones gonna be lighter then the other maybe 25lbs. if they are differant well of course they will run differant, however the question was iron or alum now if you change to an alum head (infact any aftermarket head) from a stock 289 / 302 / 351 head of course its gonna be better you can't compare old tech with the new they have now. also everything works together... if you dump a set of 62cc heads on a stock motor well yeah it might be a bit better but much better if you have the correct match up with everything... but i'm sure you know that already. so if you can afford it go with the alum heads and save the weight why not.... i mean the new motor i'm building will be alum heads.. but again i don't drive these cars everyday and i'm at the point where i want to lose some weight off the car. either way to me, if you drive the car everyday and you on a budget just get cast iron heads. i drove one of my cars everyday with ported 289 heads (and 3:55 gear i might add ) on my car and it ran in the 13's all day long... yes i'm sure the car would have ran better with aftermarket heads but then again at the time i didn't have that kind of money... just a note that car still has the same set of heads on it. also my other car runs fine iron heads see for yourself. http://maverickman.com/movieMaverickrun.mpg (i'd right click and save to the desk top)
I don't think i'd ever go back to iron. There really aren't any reliability problems with the aluminum, they shave 25lbs off the nose, and if you ever want to get them ported, it's only 1/4 as much work. Unless you're going to just get a set of GT40P heads or E7's, spend the extra money on aluminum...you won't regret it!
If price was a factor, which it was for me...I got a set of clean GT40Ps for $200. Did a couple hours of grinding off the smog bump and cleaning the exhaust ports a little, and popped them on. MUCH improvement! Like a totally different car. ONLY $200. By far, the BEST $200 I ever put into this car.
Get an AOD from just about any v8 ford,mustangs & crown vics your best bet.Stick with one from about '88-93,the 94-up is the AODE-it requires some electrical work.Sure they take more power than a c4,but I'm sure it's packaged much better in these cars than a Gear vendors unit.It may have been true at one time,but why in the @#$% would you pay extra $$ to put a weeny 200r4 GM tranny in a ford when there are 1000+hp mustangs with AOD's??You would probably be happy with an AOD and 4.10 gears and maybe a mild (2000 stall)coverter.
The old AOD can manually shift 1, drive, Overdrive. There isn't a reliable method of making it hold out second gear. They can run without shifting into overdrive. Personally, similar to my plans, get the AFR 165 heads, Hooker 6901 headers (without the headers, the heads will make little difference), and if you're kicking for more, grab a set of 3.80s and an AOD from Lentech. I do agree, with the stock cam you'd be somewhat limiting the heads, but there will be a *signifigant* increase in power and milage by just bolting on the 165's and long tube headers.
I knew there was a gear you couldn't control... I forgot which one. No manual control of 2nd gear is even worse IMO. Did they fix that before they computer controlled? There wasn't even a detent for 2nd on the tranny if memory serves. That's why they engineered the 200r swap.
Wasn't fixed during production, but this way you could prevent going into OD and busting the input shaft, it would likely shift early into third. If you were WOT, then let off *just* before it hit OD, it would shift early and harder than average, so letting off of the power that would snap the OD input shaft would make it a more violent shift. Lentech and many others have valvebodies to fix this. I can't imagine the 200r being any better tho, those things are a dime a dozen out here, all of them broken. Kind of like the weekend dragster Mustangs with AOD's going to C4's, most of the locals swapped their 200r to a TH350.
