AOD Trans conversion

[gasman826]

Both the Windsor and 385 engines have PowerMaster Ultra starters and wired with a jumper on the starter and have been for several years.  Think of the inner fender mounted device as a relay the energizes the relay to starter cable that energizes the starter and the starter solenoid/servo that engages the bendix/starter gear into the flywheel.  One of the reasons why I wire this way is any Ford compatible starter can be installed without rewiring.  The biggest reason I leave it the FORD way is for the relocated battery in the trunk.  The large starter cable from the trunk to the starter is only hot when cranking the engine.  Yes, all the rest of the circuits run through the entire car but they all have fuses.  I don't want to add resistance to the main starter cable by adding connections and fuse.

[gasman826]

four quarts in the transmission, rear wheels off the ground, drive shaft in...light this candle!

[ROKuberski]

Well, it's too late.  The AOD & torque converter take 12 quarts.  I've put in 10 and won't start the car until tomorrow.  Plumbing changes were actually pretty easy.  One line had to be cut and the other extended.  Now, if they just don't leak.

Update to follow.

Rich

[ROKuberski]

With just about anything that I can think of being cancelled in the Denver area, I have more time to finish my transmission project.

I made the minor changes to the starter wiring I as noted below.  Easy to do and it is working fine.  I took out the battery cable to the starter solenoid and eliminated the cable from the solenoid to the starter,  Added one longer cable direct from battery to solenoid mounted on the starter and added a #12 wire from + on battery to the original battery connection on the solenoid.  Also added one #12 wire from the original solenoid to the starter mounted solenoid so it can be started from the ignition key. 

I got all the welding done on the revised cross member, cleaned up the welds and got it painted, will mount it tomorrow.  Autozone screwed up my order for a 1310 to 1330 combination u-joint, but the replacement will be here Wednesday so I can reassemble the new front yoke on the driveshaft and get that installed. 

I bought a plug w/pigtail for the neutral safety switch, it's mounted, but I have yet to figure out which wires I need.  Lots of places are selling this plug, but I think they all come from Ron Francis.

Rich

[RICH MUISE]

Update?....you've been surprisingly quiet, I hope everything is well up your way.

[ROKuberski]

Rich,

Well, as it happens I just returned from a test drive.

It's been cold and snow here so not much work in the garage.  However, I did get the new u-joint installed.  At that point I went for a test drive, but I was not happy with the accelerator linkage pile of junk that I made.  Just not up to Ford's standards.  So, I dug out the original and took a good look at it and just drilled one hole in it to mount the TV cable/revised spring assembly.

About 10% the work that I invested in making my homemade pile-o-crap. 

So, the drive went okay.  I have to readjust the original linkage after altering the connecting rod shape and length.  I think my speedometer is reading about 10% slow with the original gear so I will check into that.

I have not done the pressure test on the transmission, just the rough adjustment.   Right now, I would say it's shifting a little early.  I'm not putting miles on it until I do get the pressure adjustment completed.

It's been a little more of a project than I anticipated, but that's normal.  I really want to see what it does at highway speeds.

Rich

[gasman826]

Good to see it coming together.  Adjust that cable or you're going to smoke that transmission...if you haven't already!!

[ROKuberski]

I adjusted it with the tool that came with the TV cable kit.  I've got about 2 miles on the car now.

Rich

[RICH MUISE]

Yep, cold weather will put a damper on working in the garage.
I'm still curious/puzzled by your tranny placement.........did that 4"+ mounting holes movement back work out? As Gary said, get that TV cable fine-tuned............I've never dealt with one, but I've read many times about having them not adjusted correctly will damage the tranny real fast.
Good luck, you're almost there.

[ROKuberski]

Rich,

Look at reply #109, it shows the revised cross member.  It seems to be fine.  I haven't checked to see if any tranny shops are open, but the way things are going now, I doubt it.  I just looked through my pile of misc. stuff and found two gauges.  I'll use the one on the right and what it says.  I noticed it says R-22 & R-12, so this must be from a refrigeration gauge set.  I'll check it against my air compressor and see if it makes any difference.

Rich

[ROKuberski]

Well, I verified my pressure gauge is at least as accurate as the two gauges on my air compressor.  I did get the TV cable adjusted, but I did have a minor problem.  The return spring on the TV cable was not pushing it all way to the stop.  Just a very small additional bit of oomph was required.  No, there is no resistance in the cable.  With the cable free and moving the arm on the transmission the spring was not pushing it to the zero pressure point.  I'll let Lokar know about that.  In the meantime, I added a small spring.  In the picture you can see that there is virtually no stretch in the spring.  I looked for a long weak spring so it would not add much pedal resistance.  I was a little surprised how sensitive the pressure is when that lever moved.  I do have it set at exactly 35 psi with the adjusting tool installed and it goes to zero when removed.

On the test drive it seemed to be shifting properly.  Twice I had it downshift unexpectedly, maybe properly?  I was coasting down a long hill doing about 55 approaching a turn, at about 45 +/- it dropped out of O/D.  Another time, I was approaching a red traffic signal when it turned green.  I was doing maybe about 10 - 15 when I hit the gas and it dropped a gear then too.  I measured about 1840rpm at 60 mph (measured by GPS.)  The speedometer is reading high by about 10%.  I have a R-19 gear and it appears that what I need is a 21 tooth gear. 

Now, if I just had a place to go.

Rich

[RICH MUISE]

Alright!!!
As I said before, with my car I'm not sure I would even have it in Overdrive most the time, yours may differ. Can it be manually locked out?
A place to go???......take a ride to Blackhawk/Central City and take some pics of your car downtown with no cars around! You may never have that chance again.

[ROKuberski]

Rich,

Selections on the gear shift are, in order, O/D, D, 1.  So, of course I don't have to use overdrive. 

I think I have only been to Blackhawk/Central City a couple of times since they legalized gambling.  It is very likely that they will be deserted, maybe a good idea.

I've included a picture I took last summer at an old gas station in Golden, it's now a construction company.  Also a picture of my '37 Chevy taken in Silverplume some years ago.  I no longer have that car.  Silverplume is about 11,000' and the car has a zero pressure cooling system.  The last few miles are a very steep road and I lost a lot of coolant getting there.  I put in about 1-1/2 gallons of water when we got there.  I think water boils at about 190 at that altitude.

Rich

[RICH MUISE]

Those are great pics Rich. That Chev is beautiful! Great use of an old service station.
I've assumed they've closed casinos in Colorado..they have in OK, NM, Nv. It would be kinda neat to cruise Breckenridge without a ton of traffic as well..as long as you're up in that area. The nicely redone road out of Blackhawk going to the west I70 exit would get you going in that direction, lol.

[ROKuberski]

The '37 Chevy was a car I bought about 6-months before I retired.  A guy had worked on the car for 20 years, then sold it to someone that was going to make a hotrod out of it.  It sat in his garage for about 4 years and he did nothing to it.  I bought it in November and was driving it by February.  I eventually took it completely apart, had it painted and rebuild the engine, front end, transmission and did a new interior.  The car had a fatal flaw, no a/c and perhaps not enough HP to run one.  If it was 95 outside, it was 95 inside and it did now matter how many windows you opened, it was just not comfortable to drive in the summer.  So, I put it on ebay and sold it right away for full price.  I then took the cash and bought the 2002 Corvette.  Still got that one.  Check out this link I made to sell the car.  It was getting so many hits I left it on YouTube.  https://youtu.be/xtwGx0RFrVg

Yes, I know about the shortcut to I-70 from Central City, after, it's almost in my backyard.  And yes, the casinos are closed as well as the ski areas, restaurants, barber shops, gyms, rec. centers, etc.  Many restaurants are doing delivery and carryout.  Denver is doing a major shutdown of all non-essential businesses this evening at 5:00pm.

I did go to Home Depot late this morning.  Huge line at the store, they are restricting the number of people in the store at a time.  There is a Lowes about 1/2 mile away and there was no line and no crowd.  I wore my half mast respirator and no one laughed at me. 

We old pharts need to keep ourselves safe and healthy,

Rich