Ford Motor and Trans questions

[railroad]

Looks like 3.73 or 3.55 will be right for your tires and trans. If I did a lot of highway driving, I would go 3.55s, or whichever came in the axle I used.

 

[Justin Hunter]

Perfect, thanks for the help guys!

Justin

 

[benT]

I run a mild 302 with aftermarket heads, and dual quad intake- probably 300 hp give or take. C4 trans. I run tall 275/60/17's in the back and 3.73 posi. If you are going AOD, I wouldn't go less that 3.73's. Even with the 3-spd C4, I don't have any issues highway driving. If I had an AOD, with the tall tires, I'd probably run 4.11's!

 

[ellis8500]

Have stock Ford 302 and AOD with shift kit. Starts in 2nd gear with loads of acceleration. 3.55 rear end, Aussie locker, 29" tires. With these light weight cars just about anything will feel like a rocket. Cruises at 70 mph in OD just fine. Have had it up to 90 mph but Boss [wife] said never do that again.

 

[Justin Hunter]

Well I think I am going rear end shopping tomorrow morning. I am going to try and find a decent 8.8 with 3.73's and limited slip out of an exploder. Lots of salvage yards near me so I am pretty confident I can find what I am looking for.

Justin

 

[fletcherson]

Well I think I am going rear end shopping tomorrow morning. I am going to try and find a decent 8.8 with 3.73's and limited slip out of an exploder. Lots of salvage yards near me so I am pretty confident I can find what I am looking for.

Justin

Pretty common. You should have a fair chance of finding one. Disc brakes too, maybe.The aod are plentiful also, especially in the trucks from the late '80's through the '90's. I'm unsure when they became electronic. I would advise to make a decision as to weather you want fuel injection or carburation before shopping for engine and transmissions to save some headache. Sometimes finding a donor car or truck is preferable to buying a piece at a time and you have all of the brackets, cables, etc... that is if you have room to pull it off.

 

[rubicon]

see next post

 

[rubicon]

Looks aside , the best reason for a smaller tire on the front is trying to limit the unsprung weight , if the sprung weight of the car is too light to control/overcome the unsprung weight ..

What do you mean b un-sprung weight?

 

[Spanky]

Formula 1 Dictionary: The "unsprung" weight includes wheels and tires, brake assemblies, the rear axle assembly, and other structural members not supported by the springs. We can say all parts outboard from suspension springs.

 

[2old2fast]

weight not supported by the springs , i.e. wheels , brakes , axle....

 

[Justin Hunter]

Pretty common. You should have a fair chance of finding one. Disc brakes too, maybe.The aod are plentiful also, especially in the trucks from the late '80's through the '90's. I'm unsure when they became electronic. I would advise to make a decision as to weather you want fuel injection or carburation before shopping for engine and transmissions to save some headache. Sometimes finding a donor car or truck is preferable to buying a piece at a time and you have all of the brackets, cables, etc... that is if you have room to pull it off.

Found a nice 8.8 out of a 99 exploder. It is the 3200 series which if I did my homework correct is just a heavier duty axle (3200lb capacity). 3.73 limited slip with calipers and discs. They even threw in another passenger side axle for when I shorten it. As for the AOD the same yard has two, one from an 86 cougar and one from a 92 crown vic. I might try and shop for a 90-92 f-150 as I have read they have 2" bands and are just a little bit more stout. I think I am splitting hairs but will see if I can find the nicest and best before I just settle. I think 92 was the cutoff for the non-E AOD. I plan to run a carb so the "E" is out.
Am I making sense guys? Sometimes my head spins with all of the info I read!

Justin

 

[fletcherson]

Found a nice 8.8 out of a 99 exploder. It is the 3200 series which if I did my homework correct is just a heavier duty axle (3200lb capacity). 3.73 limited slip with calipers and discs. They even threw in another passenger side axle for when I shorten it. As for the AOD the same yard has two, one from an 86 cougar and one from a 92 crown vic. I might try and shop for a 90-92 f-150 as I have read they have 2" bands and are just a little bit more stout. I think I am splitting hairs but will see if I can find the nicest and best before I just settle. I think 92 was the cutoff for the non-E AOD. I plan to run a carb so the "E" is out.
Am I making sense guys? Sometimes my head spins with all of the info I read!

Justin

They are plentiful in f series trucks, plan on a rebuild, I think they are ok from my experience. Also, look for crown Vic. They had heavier components in certain models, police, etc...

 

[ellis8500]

I bought an AOD that had been in an F150. OD clutch pack was burned up so needed a rebuild. Did it myself. Only had to have one seal installed at a trans shop; charged me $10. Buy the shop manual. Oh....spent $25 for the tranny; about $200 rebuild and shift kits. It works great. You will also need to get the Lokar cable and carb bracket. Hooks up nice to an Edelbrock 500CFM carb.

 

[Justin Hunter]

So my local options are a lot more expensive than 25 bucks! 150 up to 350 bucks. Should I just plan on rebuilding the thing and buy the cheapest one I find? I just don't know?

88 f-150 known 100k miles- 350
88 f-150 unknown miles -150
86 cougar
92 crown vic- both of these are unknown miles and 250 dollars
or do I wait and keep looking?

Might have found a 302 out of a 90 f-150 with 70k for 200 dollars, I will find out more details, but I figure for the block its almost worth it.

Justin

 

[fletcherson]

So my local options are a lot more expensive than 25 bucks! 150 up to 350 bucks. Should I just plan on rebuilding the thing and buy the cheapest one I find? I just don't know?

88 f-150 known 100k miles- 350
88 f-150 unknown miles -150
86 cougar
92 crown vic- both of these are unknown miles and 250 dollars
or do I wait and keep looking?

Might have found a 302 out of a 90 f-150 with 70k for 200 dollars, I will find out more details, but I figure for the block its almost worth it.

Justin

Where are you located? 350 sounds steep. I bought one off Craigslist for 85.00 and it turned out to be good. I would shop around. You may find a wrecked car with motor and trans for a good deal. 100. Is fair for a rebuildable complete core, maybe even less. As for planning on a rebuild, that's how I'd go. If the fluid isn't burnt and dark, check main shaft end play and front, rear bearings aren't too worn. Without tearing them apart, not too much else to do to check them. I would advise looking for private seller as opposed to salvage yard if you can disearn condition. Craigslist, etc... buyer beware. 200 for the 302 sounds good. Definite cam change, that's an injected engine. I occasionally build older general purpose trucks. FYI, I pay 400-700 for complete Ford trucks that usually have rust or collision issues, but I get the complete chassis, running geer, engine, trans, etc. that's just for a ball park idea. The salvage yards around here pay about that for running complete cars, etc. defidently shop around, the components you are after are plentiful, you should be able to get a good deal on decent components with a little digging.

 

[ellis8500]

Get that 302 for $200. That's what I paid for mine and it had 180K miles on it. No work needed on block and crank was still at factory specs. Pistons popped right out [no ridge]. Put in all new bearings and new cam shaft and intake for carb conversion. Summit Racing 4400 is a good cam for a stock engine.

 

[Justin Hunter]

Picked up the 302 yesterday! I will start tearing all of the junk off of it soon. I also was able to get the AOD out of the Crown Vic for $125 bucks, half of what he had initially told me.
But first I need to get the rear 8.8 cleaned up and shortened.

I also need to learn how to post pictures for you guys.


Justin

 

[Spanky]

I also need to learn how to post pictures for you guys.
Justin

Well, Pilgrim . . . that be easy; take the pic, & save it in your device. Then click the "Upload a File" button at the bottom of the space where you post. Browse your device file until you find the pic you want to upload, and open it. Then click "upload" and it should appear as a thumbnail in your posting space. Just choose whether you want it to be full size, or a thumbnail in your post. Easy, huh?

 

[DavidLee]

I must disagree. First, EFI is no cure for MPG because all of it runs on 14.7:1 air:fuel for emissions, carb can go leaner, like 17:1.
Second, as great as 390s are for easy maintenance, they're excessively heavy, like the Explorer version of the 8.8, and the cheapest aluminum 4-barrel intake manifold for them is over $400 delivered, and there's no vvay to adapt any OD to them for less than $500, not including the trans. Plus the heads are extremely inefficient, and no roller lifers. A 3.85" stroke vvith 302VVindsor pistons in a 351VV plus home-ported GT40P heads destroys a 390 in every measurable vvay. If you vvant to throvv aftermarket heads into the equation, AFR's offerings for the SBF out-flovv any head on earth that fits any 390. Plus you can bolt a 4R70VV, the best Ford automatic, or a TKO600, or a T56 Magnum, directly to a 351VV. And there vvere factory-roller-lifter 351VV blocks, plus it's easy to retrofit them into any '90s 351VV block.
The 460 is a non-contender unless you get the AFR heads, the E4OD isn't bad but is heavy and requires a costly stand-alone controller, and decent torque converter for it are also costly. VVithout the AFR heads, it has nothing over a 40P-headed 351VV. I have an EFI 460 / E4OD in my '91? F350 dually.
An Explorer 5.0 vvith the Mustang HO cam and springs, a 4R70VV, a 2400-stall, and 3.08:1 gears is a great daily performer in a late-'80s Mustang, 3.73s make it a tire shredder but drops the MPG to around 20. Still, a 125-hit of spray can take a 300C Hemi vvith the 3.08s and no drag radials, so in a half-vveight bucket, it'd kill anything short of a 556-horse CTS-V, if you can find traction.
A fevv years ago I bought my retired mom an '03 E150 for camping trips to the Tetons. It has a non-PI 4.6 / 4R70VV / 3.55 / 235/75R15 combo, and it's the first thing I've ever driven that felt right in stock form. I nearly stuffed that engine and trans in my '87 Mustang, vvith a 3.27:1 gear to make up the difference in tire diameters, but it lacks the cheap HP potential of turbocharging my 4.8L LS. Plus the 4L80E bolting up to the 4.8, Ford has nothing to rival it. Heck, there are 1500-horse Toyota Supras adapting the 4L80E. As my step-son says, it's beast. Oh, and I knovv hovv to vvire it to shift according to hovv you move the shift lever, nothing extra required except for 3 relays, under $5 each. No costly stand-alone controller required. Doesn't vvork on the E4OD.
The 351VV's 3" mains are no concern belovv 6500 RPM, and the 302 blocks literally break in half at the 500 HP level. Pics all over goo gle images. The production 351VV blocks can take 1000 HP, and a 4.1" stroke.

 

[fordsbyjay]

I have a 382 ci windsor in mine. The 302 or 351 will be fine and can be made to make more power then small tires can handle. I know 800 horses of 540 sounds awesome but these cars tend to get pretty scary pretty fast. Old suspension and old steering is not a good combo with gynormous horsepower unless you are really used to it. The loser that built my car put a TH350 in it because they are the shortest transmission out there (and he was a GM guy). To me it is just a leaky POS so DON'T DO THAT. A C4 is nice and small. An AOD with some 4r70w parts in it would be nicer, their only downside is cost to make them strong enough for more hspr. If you haven't worked on a tbucket or built one before you probably don't realize what little space you have under the body. Long transmissions are your enemy here.

If you do an AOD (and I would) I don't see needing anything more than 3.73 and I would be tempted to say 3.55's would be plenty. Don't forget this thing is going to weigh only 1800+ lbs so 500 hspr is going to already be a donut machine.