On March 13, 2004, my 4 month old rebuilt AOD transmission suddenly was unable to shift out of first gear. It looked like I was faced with yet another expensive rebuild. After some long hard thought and a look at my bank account, I decided to do a AOD to T5 swap.
I got the car down to Track Toys Racing in Ambler and prepared for surgery.....Click here to add your text.
The word went out that I was broke and in need of any and all cheap conversion parts. Thanks to many people from www.superstallions.com, we were able to assemble almost everything for a fraction of the cost of new stuff.Click here to add your text.
I owe many people for the success of this project, but most of all Brian Kirk (left) did 90% of the wrenching. Thanks Brian - if it wasn't for you I'd still be sitting stranded in a puddle of ATF.
I masked off the console and driver's seat and removed the gauge cluster and pod so the speedo cable could be relocated and AOD shifter removed. My interior is in great condition and I was super nervous about cracking or injuring anything in the cockpit.
Finally after a long battle, the stubborn leaky AOD was out...
I still can't believe we did this to my dash - I thought we'd never get it back together right, but we did. We also opted to drop the column to help get the T5 pedals in. Undoubtedly the hardest part of this surgery was the pedal swap.
With the AOD out we installed the used 93 Cobra clutch and block plate....
My used T5 arrived just in time. Big thanks to Gregg Pintauro for letting this go for a laughingly cheap price and Scott Lehr for doing an excellent top-notch but inexpensive rebuild.
The T5 is bolted into place........
One of the biggest battles was the extraction of the AOD shifter. This thing did not want to come out of it's home where it had lived for 11 years.....
FINALLY the AOD pedal assembly was also out. Another patience-testing battle.......
After it was over the car ran great and my shifting skills get better each day. What a joy to drive. I'll never own another AOD car again. If you're thinking about converting your automatic car, I'd say DO IT!
Thanks so much to:
Brian Kirk..................Chief Mechanic and co-owner of TTR
Bill Tumas.................Parts acquisition and co-owner of TTR
Brian Alloway.............Bell Housing, shifter, clutch & advice
Gregg Pintauro...........The T5 transmission
Bob Conlan................Long hours wrenching
Scott Lehr..................T5 rebuild wizard
Jimmy Chahalis..........Advice, knowledge and neutral safety switch wire
Mark Weiner..............T5 pedal assembly and block plate
