yes... maybe it's easier than I know... i never full reasearched it here... i'd do the site: thing and search for threads on it. I think there is a "how to" somewhere.
will do. thank you so much for your help man. did i miss where you explained why the gear vendors OD would work and not the AOD though?
no ididnt say... from what i know, the 200 has a high starter on the bellhousing and the 250 and 302 are the same so the AOD, which is for the 302, will work for the 250 I6 but not the 200 I6. The gear vender goes on the end of your existing tranny, with a shorter drive shaft. but the cost is staggering... wouls pay for a lot of gas.. when I cruisse to Vegas I run at 2400 rpms and thats when I wish I could drop down a gear... and I already have the tallest tires on my 14's and the highest gear... 2.79:1 rear gear. plus the ineficiency of the non lock up tq,, i start thinking of 4 speed manual or AOD's with OD lock up. I think the manual tranny is the way to go except Im lazy I dont want to shidt and the stick is where i put my coffee mug!
Have you priced a Gear Vendors? It's almost 3 grand.... Plus a AOD fit's right in, no major modification needed.
I wouldn't say a AOD is huge, larger than a C4 yes, but it's smaller than a C6, 'bout like a FMX(that they're based on)... As long as the TV cable pressure is adjusted correctly They aren't fragile either... I have one in a 5.0 Trick Flow headed '88 T-Bird with around 700 drag strip passes(a few spraying, 12.23 best) and 80Kmi, still shifts fine... It's a stock, never opened unit with only a Trans-Go Shift Kit and hardened input shaft... At around 65 MPH it gets 25mpg+(has broke 26) and has 3.73 gears, but it also has EFI... The car has been to Carlisle five times, plus trips to WV & OH on several occasions, great road car and the R-12 AC will about freeze you(wife always takes coat and blanket)... No it doesn't have a aux trans cooler, does just fine with the in radiator cooler... You don't really understand a torque converter, unless it's a race only converter a quality unit will act just like a normal stocker(usually in the 1600-1800 range)... I have a 2600 in the above Bird that you'd never know it it was there, at least till really getting on it... As long as the lockup feature is retained they are 100% streetable and way ahead of a C4 in my opinion...
ha, yeah i dont like shifting much either. so dave b, you said no major modification need, what has to be changed? and to anyone who can answer it, if i got a plate of steal and on the cnc at my school, cut it to size and put threaded holes for both the block and AOD trans, bought the extra bolts for the trans to bolt in to the plate from one side, and bolted the block in from the other (i could even recess the the bolt holes so they dont stick out), and obviosly leaving cut out for the starter and making sure nothing rubs blah blah....would that work?
In the summer with AC on, it's approx same as engine(180*-210*) or just what it was with stock converter... I cold temp it's rarely over 165*... Yeah a cooler would be a good idea, when the 3500 stall goes in along with the 331 & fresh AOD, it'll get one... Remember this about a AOD, in 3rd & 4th(O/D), the converter is locked(well 3rd is a 60% lock)... Sooo so even if you had a 10,000 RPM stall, as long as you could get it shifted into the upper gear, it won't make any more heat than a stock converter(no doubt make some heat getting there)... If the engine has even a small performance cam, the AOD(or C4, C6 for that matter) isn't much fun without at least a 2400 stall... With a AOD, I'd recommend a 2000 for even a stock 250 6cyl...
A 4-speed without O/D won't give any better gas mileage than a 3-speed... The '65 &' 66 200 Mustang did use a English built 4-speed but good luck on finding one... http://www.billwrigley.com/v_14.html There were modified Toploaders in the '70s Granadas that 3rd was over driven... Shift was actually 1,2,4,3, but to diver it's still 1,2,3,4(easy to accomplish when the 3-4 shift arm is installed upside down)... Problem would be finding one and a bell to make it work on a 200... Maybe you could consider a 5-speed??? If so I'd look for a 4cyl T-5 from a '87-'93 Mustang or '86-'88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe(same trans & have a 3.97 1st gear)... While they aren't as strong as the V8 versions, you'd never hurt one with a 200 or even 250 for that matter(they'll live behind a modified 275Hp turbo 2.3 with ease)... You'd need a adapter, or with a 250 could be done with stock parts... They use same bolt pattern as V8 but input is slightly longer and pilot is slightly smaller, still they've often been used behind a 5.0 with only a change to a Probe pilot bearing....
the difference between a low torque 200 that you have to put your foot into to get up and moving.. won't be much more efficient than a high torque 289/302 that you can just barely crack the throttle on to move even faster. The bigger problem will be keeping you foot out of the latter is that you'll be enjoying yourself that much more most of the time. You can also super-tune that little 6 to gain the 3-5 mpg that the OD trans swap will give you too. Much easier and better bang for the buck to put the cart after the horse where it belongs, IMHO.
I would love to get a 289 in my car but financially its not an option. I'm not sure if you guys have ever owned a 200 or if they were tuned properly, but I don't have to push the pedal in any more on this to get moving than I did with my 350 elcamino...given its not ad fast, but flow of traffic is not an issue...if I were going to make an adaptor plate than I'd put an AOD in, because I live in hills and manuals are a pain. I need to keep this project under 1k, and with the v8 swap is not going to conform to that. I think the AOD may be the best option for my budget. I can make an adaptor plate, and I have a close friend that can fab anything for me...i think that's gonna have to be it
You're trying to do what many people have tried in the past. A 40+ year old car will never get you really good gas mileage, even if you spend some money. It's not worth the effort to put a AOD behind a 200, even if you make all the stuff yourself.
its not so much the gas mileage, that's some of it,but I've never said that was my reason, other people here assumed that, which is a reasonable assumtion, but its more so about interstate driving, i can't do 80 all the way to Florida if I'm as some 4k rmps
