I talked to Croan a couple years ago about an AOD for my car and his setup is probably the best way to go.But,and it's a big but,the cost of his setup is a lot more dollars than most of us are willing to spend.I don't remember the figure ,but it was way up in the 4 figure range.I believe it was in the neighborhood of $5000.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

I think Flat-O-Matic makes an adapter too. Never saw one though. Chuck

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

the Croan adapter uses a cut down fordomatic bell housing with a steel plate welded in with the AOD bolt pattern and keeps the stock starter as well, We used an after market oil cooler in front of the radiator and the standard radiator cooler as well.
With the help of  Joe Piraino @
"Westminster Performance Transmission"
714)898-0089
I was able to upgrade to the closer gear set in the AOD and a performance stall converter - we also used a Lokar shifter to finish it off. I also
upgraded to a 4.00 posi rear gear too... it has been pretty much plug and play since the installation with no headaches to speak of.



Woodland Hills,Ca

There is an adjustment block for the TVI cable that is probably what they use at the factory. I would rather actually see the pressure to be sure. Once adjusted its a done deal. The later and better trans is definitely a good way to go. Mine was out of a 5.0 Mustang. Chuck



Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

I'm currently installing a AOD to my 56 mainline ute using the bendtsen kit. the ute uses the sunliner chassis with the enormous X member. the problems I have encontered so far have envoled clearencing issues. (and me getting around to doing some work)

I don't necessarily see the TV cable as being that much of an issue. After all they were installed on millions of cars on a production line. Can't be that hard, Can it? but I'm yet to try. Lokar do a generic cable kit with a pre tensioning tool. It needs a helper spring for return.

Some see the hydraulic valve body as an advantage in it's simplicity over an electronic unit.

If you are looking for AOD core transmissions look for one with the prefix PF-E9 these will have the lubrication mod and the later valve body. Other desirable mods are the 2" od band with matching pressed reversing drum, mecanical diode, A+ servo. This transmission is popular there are many choices for parts and built units.

Grizzly (Aussie Mainline)

The Groan setup uses a Ford-O-Matic bell housing that he modifies to fit the AOD. I think he uses the stock Y starter but I'm not sure. The Bendtsen adapter is a 1.5" to 2" adapter plate with a spacer for the crankshaft. Moves the whole setup back an inch or two. The plate is pre drilled for the high torque starter. The starter is the same as the ones available for the scrubs but bolts directly so the starter doesn't require an adapter. They are fairly easy to come by. My starter rebuilder says the core is a Nissan-Denso but has no idea what the base application is. All the others of this type are sold with adapters. I bought a replacement for a scrub a year ago and simply removed the aluminum adapter. I was already running a 3.80 gear so my results were good. I have a set of 4.10's I plan to put in soon. The 3.80's cruise at about 2500 at 65mph. Not bad at all. Check your station wagon for ratio I think some of them came with lower gears. Does the wagon have the Spicer rear axle (like the T-Birds)? Chuck


Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

Since no one has said anything about it I suppose it might be good to mention the AOD's 0.67:1 over-drive.

Since It's pretty "tall",  rear axle ratio selection might be somewhat important. 

Chosen correctly, you can get a very nice (low)  "freeway speed" RPM that might produce equally nice mileage once you're in OD with the torque converter locked.


The AODE + required transmission controller isn't really the "can-O-worms" one might expect.  Wiring it up isn't any harder than wiring up the lights, heater,  radio etc.

You DO need a VSS  (Vehicle Speed Sensor that bolts into the tailshaft of the trans) AND a TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) Holley has a rather inexpensive kit for most of their carbs.......
Programming is quite easy using a laptop. (I suspect Carl Baumann is working on a wireless Smartphone or tablet application that'll make it even easier)


Either way, the AOD & (E)  seems like it was "MADE" for the Y-block!  And there's LOTS of them out there for all of us!


Cheers,


Rick




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1955 F-600/272/E4OD// Disclaimer: No animals were injured while test driving my F-600 except the ones I ran over intentionally!

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This post was created using OpenSuSE Linux x64 and Firefox

Buzz,
Could you provide some more info about Gary Croan's AOD installation?  I believe he is cutting some of the bell housing off the AOD and welding a suitably modified Aluminum Y block bell housing in place. These bell housing came with early 60's 2 speed Fordomatics .  I have never seen one in the metal.  What did he use for a Flex plate and starter? Did he relocate the starter? 

Hollywood Automotive's owner had another concept. He used a thin plate maybe 1/2" thick with Flat head allen screws to match the Y bolt  pattern and then tapped the plate for the AOD bolt pattern I believe he had to cut away some of the AOD bell for the starter. There was a mockup at a Yblock shootout in 2005 and an article in YBM about the same time. But I tried to contact him several years ago to see if he was still in production but I was unsuccessful contacting the owner.  The pic shows the mockup but unfortunately I was more impressed with the carbs than the trany!

I am not too fond of the Bendtsen adaptor because it adds so much length to the engine trany combo and I do not like the spacer bolted to the back of the crank.  But they seem to work OK.





Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.

Gary Croan's contact info as in a recent 2014 Y-Block Mag is-  garycroan@gmail.com or 949-722-1122 in Costa Mesa CA. I think his setup is somewhat different than the Bendtsen kit, but you'll have to check that out. I think he also operates as Bristol Services ?    


Paul

I did aod 2 years ago works great