'79 Fairmont Column shifter and AOD

[rxracer]

I know what you're saying. The bell rank and linkages are there(well, was there. The muffler shop took them off for the exhaust to clear). The rod with the long slot(for adjustment) attached to the shift arm, but for some reason I thought it was a good idea to shorten it and it would work. Guess I'll be going back to the junkyards.

BTW, the arm can be rotated. There's a nut on the inside next to the manual valve you have to loosen with a 21mm wrench. The arm will then rotate 180°. I did try this but for some reason I thought nothing had changed.

-off to take some aspirin

[JACook]

BTW, the arm can be rotated. There's a nut on the inside next to the manual valve you have to loosen with a 21mm wrench. The arm will then rotate 180°. I did try this but for some reason I thought nothing had changed.

You may be able to flip yours, but IIRC when I put the column shift AOD in my '85 Vert, the
arms had different offsets, and I think the center-to-center distances were also different.
The offset thing might not matter if you're going the other way, but the center-to-center
distance needs to be correct or the detents in the column won't match the ones in the
transmission.

[rxracer]

Ok. I gotcha. I'll figure something out.

And yes the blue lines are fuel lines. Twist-Lok 6an. Supply and return. I ran them to a bulkhead behind the pass strut tower then used 3/8" aluminum tubing with tube nuts and sleeves.

[JACook]

One more thing. If that 4R70W is from a truck, they have a larger OD slip yoke. It's the
same output shaft though, so if it is from a truck you can either swap out your driveshaft
yoke, or the extension housing.

[Turbo-Box]

One more thing. If that 4R70W is from a truck, they have a larger OD slip yoke. It's the
same output shaft though, so if it is from a truck you can either swap out your driveshaft
yoke, or the extension housing.

All 4R70W's have a larger diameter tailhousing seal and bushing, not just truck transmissions. Luckily the AOD tailhousing he has already is a bolt-on swap.

[rxracer]

Surely you guys don't think I just bought a trans and a $600 controller without researching, right? :-)

[rxracer]

AOD is out and the fluid was naaaasty! Only had maybe 50miles.

[josephstjohn]

What tire sizes are you running? Looks good.

[rxracer]

225/55R16

[rxracer]

Trans controller came in today. Got the 4r70w in today and just need to fill it and wire this thing up. And if I have time figure out the column shift linkages. I did get the linkages off a '88 cougar today and the driveshaft. Which happened to be 1" shorter. Bonus!

[rxracer]

This trans and controller is awesome! Shifts great, but when I put my boot into it, it hits the rev limiter. Need to get ahold of a laptop to fix that. It comes with a basic configuration. I don't even know what RPM it shifts at since I don't have a tach. Controller shows speed, trans temp, and battery voltage, too.

[rxracer]

I got the column shift 75% working. LOL! I can get P, R, N, and D. My linkages max out at "D". I think I might be able to make the "lower" bracket longer to get full range. Here's a quick sketch of how it is connected now:

[rxracer]

I used nothing of the factory linkages either. Only part I kept was the bushing at the column.

[TWR2003]

I think you are doing some pioneering work here! Good job.

T

[rxracer]

Haha! Thanks! I think if I extend the lower bracket in the pivot point, it will have full range. Not too worried about it now. I'm just glad I don't have a rod sticking out if the floorboard for a shifter!