So...shift kits/valve bodies

[gadget73]

I have a drain plug, but once you drain it and remove the pan, it still drips a while. Unbolt the valve body while laying under said drippy mess while it runs down your arms, and it dumps another load of fluid out once the valve body comes off. Big pans keep the blood off the floor, but its still a drippy mess.

[sly]

my 88 has a transgo kit in it. It is solid. I've beat the hell out of that as much as I can with that lopo (though with that off-idle torque, I would say it gets a good beating) and put over 50K miles on this rebuild with ZERO issues. Obviously, having someone install it that knows what the hell they are doing is a good thing.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

I have a drain plug, but once you drain it and remove the pan, it still drips a while. Unbolt the valve body while laying under said drippy mess while it runs down your arms, and it dumps another load of fluid out once the valve body comes off. Big pans keep the blood off the floor, but its still a drippy mess.

This! Well, minus the wet arms, I've become quite good at ninja-ing my way in and out from under the thing, pretty much right between the drops

my 88 has a transgo kit in it. It is solid. I've beat the hell out of that as much as I can with that lopo (though with that off-idle torque, I would say it gets a good beating) and put over 50K miles on this rebuild with ZERO issues. Obviously, having someone install it that knows what the hell they are doing is a good thing.

With '88 and older the NoYoYo (hell of a name they gave it) kit works good. The newer ones are the ones that are questionable. The one that became the reason for the thread that raised Knucklehead's concerns was installed by someone who should have know what they're doing, considering it wasn't a first rodeo. But sometimes shit just doesn't play nice with other shit, even tho it's supposed to. My E4 was one of those as well, if I felt as intimidated by that mess as most folks seem to be, I'd have never made the bitch work so good. It was the same Trans-Go HD kit used by many many other truck peeps with excellent results right off the bat... Maybe I'm just too damn picky, lol.

[Mr.Blue]

Do you get pulled over regularly in that?

Nah............was up at the fence watching a buddy make a pass and another buddy got creative while i wasnt looking, kids love that van lol......i did drive home with it....scrubbed it off the next day..............the guys running the tower think they are funny also.............

[knucklehead0202]

Damn, 8.9 in a van ain't bad Blue. Anyhow, yes, my concern was over the noted issues with the Transgo in +89 AOD's. May just go for the silver fox that way I've got the one I want later when I do an HD rebuild on the trans. I really want to get the electronic OD lockout, always liked that feature on the later cars, and I want to make it even cooler by using the column shifter off a later Ford with the button/OD off light on it, long as I find one that fits. I'll roll this around in my pea-brain a bit before going balls-out but I'm kinda trying to get this shit all together. Almost have everything I need for my top-end swap and to have lousy, low, soft shift points will not cut it once that's all done. Heads, intake, 1.7 rockers, TB, maf, and injectors will really wake this baby up I reckon.

[Mr.Blue]

Good buddy has a silverfox auto/od lockout VB with trans brake and it has worked great for him............what stall are you putting in it? That made the single biggest difference in the van (3200/3500 roadrunner non-lock) E.T. wise...........i'm a big fan of non-locks for N/A performance and the way they make the vehicle "feel"........not so much for gas mileage lol..........

[88grandmarq]

Len bertrand sold LenTech several years ago and word of mouth says build quality and customer service have taken a nose dive.

the last 3 AOD transmissions I have built got valve bodies from Silver Fox. everybody I know that owns an AOD and that has installed a silver fox valve body raves about them. I have talked to Dan numerous times on the phone and via email and he really knows his stuff.

my vote is get a valve body from Dan at Silver Fox

[knucklehead0202]

Silver fox it is then. As for converter, stock for now, but once I build a real motor for this thing i'll be running a mild stall. If this car ever sees the track it won't be much so it's going to stay lockup. I'll be doing a stock-block(unless I score an aftermarket one cheap) 347 with my edelbrock performers, a mild cam, 9.2-9.5:1 compression. Basically a torquey street motor that'll surprise some people in grandpa's car. At some point may do a little centrifugal blower. Mind you, everything I'm doing to this car is technically CA smog-legal, so I'm limited in the amount of awesomeness I can squeeze without the smog Nazis raiding me. If I ever get out of here I'd shitcan the smog junk in a hot hurry, but I'd like to stay legit here if possible.

[86VickyLX]

Silver fox it is then. As for converter, stock for now, but once I build a real motor for this thing i'll be running a mild stall. If this car ever sees the track it won't be much so it's going to stay lockup. I'll be doing a stock-block(unless I score an aftermarket one cheap) 347 with my edelbrock performers, a mild cam, 9.2-9.5:1 compression. Basically a torquey street motor that'll surprise some people in grandpa's car. At some point may do a little centrifugal blower. Mind you, everything I'm doing to this car is technically CA smog-legal, so I'm limited in the amount of awesomeness I can squeeze without the smog Nazis raiding me. If I ever get out of here I'd shitcan the smog junk in a hot hurry, but I'd like to stay legit here if possible.

The nice thing about dan is, he'll redo your vb when you decide to change the converter and whatnot. Only drawback to that is you'll be without the vb till you get it back.

[Mr.Blue]

one other thing i would add about going non-lock is that IMHO it helps keep the 2 piece shaft alive under load in a heavy vehicle with "decent" power......lot of stories about them breaking when they try to lock......i was on a tight budget and didnt want to pony up for the hardened pencil shaft and a one piece was out of the question not that that would have made a difference just throwing it out there..........

Honestly i would seriously look at a stall.........the stock stuff sucks balls

[knucklehead0202]

I totally agree, but I don't see a stall converter doing me much good with the stock motor. Once I get cammed and all, it'll definitely be in the cards, just trying to keep it simple until things really start ramping up. While I can't call it a "daily driver" anymore, it is my only car so I don't want it all apart for long unless it's going to be a MAJOR thing like a stroker motor going in.

[gadget73]

With a lopo the converter is pretty much right for the package. Its too tight for an HO though, and much too tight for almost anything else. The cam I run actually does OK with a stock stall, but if I were to bump it a little it would not hurt me. No desire to screw with the trans tho, so it stays.

[knucklehead0202]

Yup, I need to adjust my tv cable because I can feel it getting a little weird and I don't want to smoke this trans, but otherwise it won't be necessary to booger with it much until I do a serious build. Once I get shit going I may be a test mule for factory computers because most of you assholes are still running speed-density. Being a '90 California car my beast is mass-air, which is kind of a benefit, but also going to be fun converting to HO. We'll see how it goes when the time comes. I have a free A9L computer out of an '89 so it should be a good starting point. When things start getting good, i'll be dialing in a converter, valve body, and probably a good rebuild. This tranny is pretty tight though so I hope it holds on for another year.

[gadget73]

heh, not I. SD wouldn't run right and I wasn't motivated to fight it.

[knucklehead0202]

What computer are you running gadgo? Pretty sure any MAF mustang computer should work for me and I may not even need to fuck with the harness since it's already a MAF harness, but we'll see. Even if not, i'll have access to the mustang harness anyway since my brother's car is getting a standalone.