Thanks to Craig Fletcher ( aka: W2zero ) for this tech article.

My AOD Swap.

This is what I encountered and how it went. My car is a 64 Ford Fairlane and shares the same platform with all the Fairlane's 62-65 and with the 62-63 Meteor. It was stock with a 200 six cylinder and a two speed Ford-o-matic transmission, column shifted. I found a deal on a 5.0 engine with an 89 Thunderbird AOD transmission. I built my own frame mounts for the engine and used 69 Mustang motor mounts so the engine sits within a half inch vertically and a quarter inch fore to aft of a stock V8.

  Once the front of the assembly was located then I took a C4 transmission mount and drilled the original cross-member to fit.  The holes must be towards the front to allow clearance for the rear of the transmission pan. Supporting the power train on a jack, adjust the height and bolt the cross-member on the transmission.  Depending on the engine and transmission combination that came stock, you may have to make some changes to accommodate the length of the new transmission.

  The Mustang transmission is an inch shorter than the rest of the AOD's.  The extra length of the T-bird transmission worked to my advantage as it allowed me to use the original drive shaft. However the Mustang transmission has a different governor for higher shift points and better servo pistons. You can upgrade by installing a Trans-Go shift improver kit to minimize or eliminate shift overlap to extend the life of the unit. I find bone jarring shifts most entertaining and it keeps my neck loose.

The AOD takes a 28 spline yoke and mine was a 26. I replaced it with a C5 yoke. With the cross-member bolted on you can measure from the center of the bolt holes on the cross-member to the center of the slot on the frame extensions. Average the two sides and that will tell you how long a section to add. Two bolts hold each of the frame extensions in and one of the holes allows for vertical adjustment of the transmission. Cut the extension at the front of the slot and add a piece cut from some rectangular tubing then weld it up.  I think I used inch and a half by three by eighth inch rectangular tube to get the right cross section. I have also seen pieces of angle iron bolted in to bridge the gap on a featured car in a national magazine.  Butt-ugly and only slightly more out of place than the $130 cross-member from Windsor Fox. At least with my method or the angle iron you don't have to reconfigure your emergency brake. 

  My car was and is column shifted. I was told I couldn't make it work with the AOD.......It was easy but took a while and it maintains the stealthy attitude to a degree. The late model engines do not have a place to bolt the clutch ball or a shifter pivot but it is easily fabricated. If you look at the the pictures, it is the shiny bit in front. My shift quadrant is still the original with just D and L so everything except for D lines up. Drive is just below the D and overdrive is just above, almost intuitive eh?  Maybe someday I'll put a different quadrant in there or just custom make one.

  There is no kick-down rod on an AOD. That function is part of the job of the Throttle Valve in the transmission connected to a lever then a cable to the throttle body or carburetor. It controls how much pressure is directed inside the transmission to activate the bands and clutches. Full throttle should result in full travel at the lever on the transmission. You will puke the transmission if it is loose or out of adjustment. Junkyards have cables and even TV rods on the earlier models. Be careful of plastic ends though. They have failed and cost the transmission. Lokar makes a very nice cable assembly that is relatively cheap through Summit. You may need more of the bracketry to fit your application and it is available through all the mail order houses too.  Be sure to put an anti-seize compound on the adjustable end though as the aluminum ferrule will gall and prevent further adjustment. 

  There are no electronics in an AOD, that pigtail is for the neutral safety switch and the backup lights.  Use it!  It's quite a bit better than the stock one and it's dependant on the transmission gear position and not the assumption that the linkage is in adjustment. My original speedometer end, gear and all just plugged into the AOD and away I drove. 

  The rear end gear selection for an AOD depends a bit on the induction. With EFI  providing better fuel management at lower rpm's you can run 3:00 gears effectively. With a carburetor and 3:25 gears I soot the plugs up if it is in overdrive below 70.  I got 27+mpg at 80 mph once but it isn't practical as the tickets will cancel out the savings on gas. I am presently putting in 4:11 gears for maximum fun and it will act like a set of 3:00's in overdrive.