MyGrandMarquis - Burgundy '83 coupe

[1990LTD]

And thanks to a certain alteration I made, the Mercury shouldn't leave me stranded in the manner it did today, THREE TIMES, again. That's what put me behind the schedule in the first place. :|

deets!

[MattsLincoln]

I hardly ever floor the gas, smartass. Usually my eye's glued to the tripminder and I'm accelerating slower than a granny and max speed below 55 trying to keep my avg MPG above 20. I just happened to need to be a place in a rather short period of time and had a wide open stretch of road to wring her out on.

And yes, it DOES kick down into 3rd @ unknown speed. I let off the throttle until it shifted into 4th, thinking it was just doing a typical AOD gear hang, slowly rolled back onto the gas and it kicked down into 3rd.

U lying.

i will wait to hear john's answer since he knows how my car acts. and yes on cfi car you have to give it moderate gas to keep it going. slowly rolling back on the gas will make the car downshift thats how the aod works. as far as you mean saying pinned i think you mean WOT(Wide open throttle). oh just read 1990 ltd's post i take back what i said i apologize i never knew the aod wont allow 4th gear at wot i always assumed it was in 4th gear.


if you want to beef up the tranny slap a AOD WR The Destroyer in there i plan to eventually put one in my lincoln.

[Midnight Drifter]

Well durr, max power is achieved through WOT. I wouldn't do a top speed run at 3/4 throttle.

Edit: '90LTD; it was so easy, so painfully obvious so... so... ugh.

I can't bring myself to say it in mere text. You'll have to wait for the video.

[1987cp]

normal stock AOD operation does not allow 4th gear when at WOT

TransGo AOD-HP is advertised to allow WOT in Fourth. However, there are those who say that isn't a good idea, even with upgraded OD parts.

Amusing exercise, go here (or do it on your own) and try calculating what your top speed would be if you took your car to your max useful RPM in Third (1.00:1). I come up with 123mph for my P72 with 3.27 gears.

[Mainemantom]

If you ever get stopped DO NOT say "but the speedometer only said 85" The last time someone said that to the Highway Patrol it got the driver put in jail and car impounded. When the driver went in front of the judge his driver license was suspended for 1 year. Judge said to driver that he would like him to see him hit 85 on a bicycle !

[Midnight Drifter]

Hm, so I was doing 106? Not too shabby. Felt about that speed, too.

Going by my ideological configuration (4.10 rear end, AOD gear ratio, 6,000 RPM redline) 3rd gear would be good for 120 MPH. Current gear set without modding the trans to hold OD would be good for... Jesus Christ, nearly 160 MPH. 4th gear is useless, haha.

With a 4.55 gear set and a 6K redline, top speed would be a click over 150 MPH and 3rd would be 108 MPH - which would equal a perfect 1-3 gear pattern for drag racing! I'd be just shy of redline at the stripe, assuming I was putting ~300HP to the ground. A 4.10 rear axle would make 120MPH in 3rd. Still not bad but it would be 'short shifting' for the 1/4 mile. 4.30 would make for 115 MPH at the rev limit, which would leave room for improvement but I'd probably never capitalize on that.

Once the car's 300HP to the rear wheels at the dyno and making 14 second passes, I'll be content. Still want that 'useful 4th' for a flying mile. But thanks for that calculator, it gives me mind food to chew on.

[MattsLincoln]

i heard that somehow you can tune an aod shift point to make it shift later or earlier wonder how though.

[Midnight Drifter]

I'd personally keep one shift point in mind, then tune the engine's power curve to match the transmission's personality.

[1990LTD]

i heard that somehow you can tune an aod shift point to make it shift later or earlier wonder how though.

bumping the tv pressure a little bit will make it shift later but it's not advisable to make it shift much earlier than proper

[MattsLincoln]

Probably sometime after Friday after next, doesn't look like my first option for the heater core is living up to his word. It will be worth it to me if you can help me with this issue alongside the heater core.

I'm also getting rid of the keyless entry. I haven't used it once yet, but it's contributed greatly to drain on the battery... if NOT, then at least it's one more dumb thing I can whittle down the list of what's causing the drain.

Going to replace the positive lead going to the main relay today, too. The car had no juice, hooked up the charger, voltage was 12.6. I was like what the fuck. Played with the old cable and it fired right up.

I'm also considering replacing the main relay before it fails. The one the positive lead connects to. Do they still make a factory replacement?

thats not a relay the positive lead goes to thats the starter solenoid. and it doesnt need to be replaced as i replaced it new hence the color why it is brown casing stock ones had a black casing.

[MattsLincoln]

note when you do swap over to an analog cluster get ready to swap the fuel sending unit with an analog one too. boy was that fun NOT. or better yet just install an aftermarket speedo

[86VickyLX]

normal AOD operation does not allow 4th gear when at WOT

Thank you. Lol. If you want the heater core done Anthony, save up your money and let me know. I will try to see what my schedule is looking like. I may be getting a job at Pepboys in Marlton (I'm actually pretty excited), just gotta pass the piss test (no problem).

Next, as for 'tuning the AOD' you can't really do shit with that trans. As far as I remember there are no shift kits for pre 84 AODs. Your best bet is to ditch that trans, and get either a 90 AOD, have it rebuilt with the 4R70w gearset, updated bands and drums etc, or buy a premade Wide Ratio AOD, suchas from someone on the site.

If you want to get rid of the starter solenoid, I can get rid of it. It'll add for more wiring though. It'll involve a fusebox, 91+ 5.0 starter, a relay, and money. It will remove the fender mounted solenoid, the fuse box will eliminate all of those fusable links that were bolted to the solenoid, and an ISO relay will control starter operation. Kinda like a modern day car.

[1987cp]

Why are you recommending a wide ratio transmission?

[tjc78]

Still, it seems pointless for the gauge to be able to read '1XX', but yet it's programmed not to read higher than 85.

.

In the Townies there is a switch to make it read KM/H so you would need the "1" for any speed over 62MPH. Most cars from the 80s have max 85 speedo a remnant from the 55 MPH max national speed limit from the 70s.

I believe there is a mod for those digital speedos to make them read over 85, or is it the Tbird/Cougar ones? I can't remember, but I'm sure a quick Google would find something.

Oh, and if you have an Android Phone there is an app for a GPS speedometer. That was you would have no question how fast you were going.

[Midnight Drifter]

Actually, if this is possible, here's the gearset I'd want in my custom AOD:

Reverse: (no preference)
1st: AOD gear
2nd: 4R70W gear
3rd: AOD gear
4th: 4R70W gear

I'd have a taller first than a 4R70W, with a shorter 4th than an AOD, and closer spacing from 1st to 2nd, which would be crucial during the 1st 8th.

Anyways yes, John. YES. YES. YES. Well, actually, no to the starter solenoid, but YES TO EVERYTHING ELSE. If I could learn how to jump the starter solenoid, it will be great for tuning the timing - or carb - in the future without a helper. but that wiring can GO GO GO. So can the rest of the smog pump system, now that it's all a bunch of dead weight.

What department in Pep Boys are you going after? Service, Retail, or Commercial Sales/Pep Express Parts?

If the race wasn't today, I'd so be driving down there. Well, not for the heater core, but for that door skin and fixing the door lock relay/keyless entry delete.