To use the AOD you need the engine block plate, drive plate (flex-plate), converter, the AOD, a new cross-member or mod your existing one, a set of 4.11 - 5.56 rear gears, and possibly a shortened drive-line.
my AOD install included... stock...164 tooth blockplate 164 tooth 28 oz. flexplate (Summit) stock...converter w/AOD and N/S switch pigtail ('87 F-150) stock... length driveshaft 355 rear gear (Summit) stock... Maverick floorshifter Lokar...TV cable and corrector (Summit) TV/TC bracket - SRK-4000 - Throttle Cable-TC1000U TV Cable - KD-2AODHT one of my ...AOD crossmembers (from Me) ...:Handshake...
Everything Frank said, plus I had my driveshaft shortened 1", and I used Lokar's column shift kit : http://www.lokar.com/product-descriptions/aod-adj-col-shift-linkage.htm
Remember that the AOD has a .70 over-drive gear. That means that your rear gear at 3.0:1 will be 2.1:1 in OD. That will keep your carb in a very rich idle mode and you will get worse mileage than now. A 4.11:1 rear gear will be 2.8:1 Better for mileage than your 3.0 (2.92) is now but still allow the engine to out of the idle circuit and into the cruise circuit of your carb which is better for economy. A 3.55 gear will be almost 2.5:1 in OD and if you are running a carb it will be in the idle transfer circuit - a very rich portion of the carb operating range. It is different with an EFI engine (which is how the newer cars get away with it) because they use a speed sensor to know when to lean the mixture. Your carb doesn't have that feature so it goes by the amount of airflow going through it and assumes you are idling or just beginning to accelerate and it thinks you need more fuel. The best gearing for the AOD on a carbureted engine is 4.11:1 and it gives you tons of acceleration when you want it with the cruising economy that you want. This is what make the swap to an AOD so expensive (unless you are already running the 4.11 for your time at the track). The improvement in mileage will take a lifetime to make up for the costs associated with this swap but it is worth it to those who have steep gears for racing and still want to drive the car on the street.
I find my car runs fine with the 3.55's, it'll go down the highway at 1500 rpm all day long. But I wonder how much better it could be, with 4.11's... I do have one issue with my AOd, from time to time, as I pull up to a light, it seems to be still loaded up, it kind chugs to a stop, but not always..The pressures are perfect, the linkage works good, it's just the odd time...
my carbed. AOD got 22 + MPG on my 3300 mile trip running 75-80 MPH to the roundup and back w/3.55s...is Paul saying i could have gotten better if i would have had 4.11:1 gears...
I'm waiting for the flexplate right now. I got the pigtail from the donor car. Same as the shifter. I made my own crossmember and then I'll have to get the linkage stuff next. One thing cool is I'll be using the smaller starter.
Is the crossmember mod for the AOD roughly the same as the T5 swap? i.e. moved back a little and down some? I am getting ready to install an overdrive in my friends Torino(same one I built the 351 for).
Sometimes when people make recommendations they forget to take this into account. Cruise at 55-60, you better have 4.11:1. At 75-80 that's more debatable. Here's a good calculator to give you an idea. http://www.csgnetwork.com/rearendgearcalc.html Enter your target RPM, current Ring Gear ratio, Trans final ratio, and Tire diameter. It will give you the cruise speed at your target RPM for all the Ring Gear ratios close to what you already have. Pick the one that is close to your most common cruise speed. For example: 2500RPM, 3.55:1 Gear, 0.70 Trans, and 26in tires gives you 77.82MPH cruise speed. Same setup except with 4.11:1 gives 67.21MPH which may be better depending on the speed limit where you are. As far as fuel economy goes you just have to decide what the best cruise RPM is for your engine setup (carb/efi) and go from there.
If you get 22 on the highway with 3.55:1 rear gear and an AOD then you are doing ok but I get 21 - 22 on the highway with my 302, 2bbl, C4, stock rear gears with the windows open. I doubt that decreasing the RPM 30% would give me better than that - mine would drop me right into the idle circuit (mixture ratio of 12.5:1) instead of my cruise ratio of 14.2:1 (about 14% decrease in mileage).
