The Box History to End all Box Histories

[marquisman]

damn ford!

[Tiggie]

and your grommet is backwards, lol, i guess this is where i show my rod?lol

Show your rod! Show your rod! Show your rod!

[marquisman]

tomorrow...when i get pics, lol

[1987cp]

And you're right, a rod would be more convenient than a cable, but it doesn't work since the geometry gets screwed up. The advantage with this system is that when that bushing goes bad, it makes the tranny default to max TV pressure instead of min, so you won't explode your tranny when it falls off.

Wow, that sounds even more convenient. Of course, that would make it sound like there's a mechanical difference inside the transmission (even if it's just a spring hooked up the other way) that would make one TV linkage incompatible with a tranny intended to use the other one.

[Nathan in MI]

Wow, that sounds even more convenient. Of course, that would make it sound like there's a mechanical difference inside the transmission (even if it's just a spring hooked up the other way) that would make one TV linkage incompatible with a tranny intended to use the other one.

Dunno exactly how it works, but I know there are people around here who have converted from CFI to carb and they have a cable now. I'll know in a few months when I do my 4 bbl swap.

[88MercWagon]

Yep, I have trouble with that on the C4 a lot of the time when I reach over to put it in Drive with my left hand and manage to get in in "2" instead of "D" and then wonder why it's accelerating even more slowly than usual. Reading this thread, I suddenly felt silly for not taking advantage of that this winter while starting out on ice.

My AOD downshifts to Second when you're driving and move the gear selector from "D" or "OD" to "1" and then downshifts again to First without touching the selector at all when your speed dips below about 20 or 25. As I recall, starting out in "1" it starts in First and stays there until you put it in "D" (overdrive lockout), and then you can put it back in "1" real quick to keep it from shifting to Third. As I understand it, the weird P-R-N-OD-D-1 shift pattern is to make the AOD work with the old P-R-N-D-2-1 pattern, and AODs really aren't intended to be shifted manually.

Maybe I'm not following the string of conversation quite correctly ... is the claim that in addition to my P-R-N-OD-D-1 shift pattern there are also AOD shift patterns that go P-R-N-OD-D-2 and will start out in Second?

While we're on the topic of transmission differences, what is a C4 like to drive compared to an AOD? Does the converter on a C4 lock in 3rd like the one on an AOD does?

[1987cp]

Nope, no lockup converter on the C4. I think a tranny called a C5 was basically a C4 with a lockup feature, but I've never driven one and I'm not sure just what cars they were used on. A transmission a friend had laying around that he thought was a C5 turned out to be an AOD, so I'm not sure even just what a C5 looks like.

The C4 is really a nice little transmission. The weird part for me was that I was so used to the more progressive kickdown characteristics of the TV cable setup that the thing of it's either in gear or it's kicked down at a certain amount of throttle input was odd to get used to. There's a vacuum modulator at the back of the tranny that can be adjusted somewhat; it moves the off-throttle shift points up or down a few MPH and affects shift harshness, but that's the only difference I've found. I found a setting where the shifts are firm but not klankey-feeling and left it.

The other weird part is of course just not having the overdrive gear.

[Tiggie]

Okay guys, I attached the latest copy of Teh History. It's pretty close to final form, so make sure you read it and catch any errors. I've taken out some things that I wasn't 99.8% sure of because I do not want to publish false information. This is the Official Box History and it needs to be correct.

Anyone got information about GM door panels? For instance, I've noticed some come with cool woodgrain (Dave84's car comes to mind). Others have what appears to be the standard issue CV with interior decor group door panels.

I didn't really add all the discussion about the AOD shift patterns because I really don't know when they started doing it. Gimme some detailed info and I'll add it.

[Tiggie]

I think it's ready to be added to the tech section now. Anyone second that motion?

Changed a couple more things. There are probably a few things still missing. We can always change it when we get some new info.

[saiyaneye]

Why isn't this stickied.

[88Vic]

Dammit, I don't have winzip, I can't see the history. Is there any other way to view it?

[1987cp]

Um, there's Ezip, ZipIt, and other free Zip utilities. Try a quick Google search or poke around at www.thefreesite.com .

[saiyaneye]

http://www.7-zip.org/
7zip is better and it is open source.

[87lxcoupe]

Damn! Now THAT'S a thorough history! Thanks for the information.

[351wcrayz]

ummm....Any way to convert that to like WordPad, etc? Bcause I have windows B.C and it wont load for shit....