Hi!
I'm going to put deep pan in my T-bird during the next fluid change and I was wondering what kind of filter should I use? I noticed that 4x4 AOD transmissions have exactly the same filter shape and mouting points but come with extension tube.
Or maybe I should stick with stock 2WD AOD filter?
Thanks!
use the filter for the pan that you choose
sounds interesting,, why are you doing it?
Why would you put a lower pan on it, I think its 2 inches lower to the ground if you come close to bottoming out your chancing ripping the pan off. If your looking for more trany fluid to keep it cooler go w/a trany cooler. Most ford trucks came w/coolers stock so take one of a junk one.
or you could buy a brand new cooler at auto zone for like $30.
...except he's in the country Poland... ;)
everytime i see Shevretti on here, i think to myself,,
what are we doing to help keep a cougar up and running in Poland?
where do you get your parts man? How is the body on that thing?
Hello!
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. There are few reasons I'd like to install the Trick Flow aluminium pan in my T-bird: it has a drain plug (makes fluid/filter changes less messy job - guess it's just a bad luck, but every time I change tranny fluid at least quart usually ends up on my clothes :hick:), it's all aluminium so it tranfers heat better (it's also finned so it should cool down the fluid well), it's a little deeper (again - lower temp in the transmission). Now the stupid reasons: I always wanted a cool looking tranny pan and I you know how is it when you simply want to add something special to your car - not all the regular stuff like oil, fluids, brake, suspension components etc. :D
Innes mentioned that it's risky becouse I may end up ripping the pan off - with those very deep pans that's possible for sure, but in this case pan will be just less than 1/2'' lower:
-AOD pan is ~32cm x 28cm that gives 896 sq. cm
-1 quart is 946 cu. cm so the new pan will be 1.05cm deeper (946cu. cm / 896 sq. cm = 1.05cm)
-1/2'' is 12.7mm, so 10.5mm will be barely noticable difference in pan depth
Sorry for messing up Imperial and Metric units, but I'm used to metric that's why it was easier for me to count.
After measuring all the things it turned out that I should stick with regular AOD filter. I've also done some research and the manufacturers of 1 quart bigger AOD pans doesn't mention need of different filter.
My T-bird is in perfect condition as for 21 years old car that's never been painted except right fender which has a few rust spots (it was scratched there and probably wasn't fixed well). It looks decent underneath becouse somebody did a great rust prevetive coating in Germany probably in the 80's. In was imported to Germany by American soldier who was working in US base in Hamburg. It was shipped with US army airplane so it never sat in salty container on the ocean liner (most US cars get badly rusted in a few years after beeing shipped this way - salt with moisture gets everywhere).
Now it has 150k miles on it and runs great (except that strange sound after one oil change that was gone after 200 miles - didn't happen after next oil change and I still dunno what was it - one old mechanic who used a stetoscope to hear the sounds said it was a valvetrain sound). That was last year and this year I found something nice - a 3.8 V6 along with AOD from a totalled '87 Cougar again in Germany - I thought - that's what I need - a spare engine just in case. So I took a van and brought it home (the car already went to the crusher before I came for the engine, so I couldn't take other stuff from it). That's sad becouse the car was still driveable, but with badly bent subframes.
Here are some pics of the set I got:
(http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/mario/thunderbird/engine-1.jpg)
(http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/mario/thunderbird/engine-2.jpg)
I know most forum members don't like the 3.8 but I think it's a nice engine as for Europe. Not a performance one, but it sounds nice and gets pretty good gas mileage. I know that 5.0 V8 is better for sure, but it's a different reality here. Engine conversion from 3.8 to 5.0 will be a hard job here. I can't get anything from a junk yard or parts store, I have to wait a week of so and pay a lot for shipping of heavy parts from US, so a spare engine and tranny exactly the same as the one in my car is just parfect.
As for the parts, I ussualy get them on RockAuto when I need something fast or eBay when I need something cheap :) Internet is a great thing for me. I have many friends in US so I sometimes ask them for help getting some stuff. I know a guy who works in AutoZone, so if I need a big set of parts for some bigger repairs I ask him to get me some parts a few months before I start the job :)
My adventure with american cars started in year 2000 when I got my 1975 Granada Ghia. I was really happy when I got it but than I thought - where I'll get parts for it? I was a LOVEfords member than and that's where I met many people who showed me some websites, helped to get some stuff from eBay when PayPal wasn't available here or seller wouldn't ship outside US. Now I often get phone calls from some people who ask me if I could help them to get some parts for their American cars :D
Now having an american car is something normal for me. I'm not sure if I'd like to have any other car than the one made in USA. I think that the next car I'd like to buy is 1997/98 Mark VIII (looks like next generation T-bird should look like for me). I got the T-bird as a daily driver, but now it's slowly becoming a rare classic here, so I think it needs to rest more and it will be another cool weekend driver in the future when I'll find a nice Mark VIII.
Here are some pics of my three cars:
(http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/mario/thunderbird/granada_thunderbird.jpg)
(http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/mario/thunderbird/granadas.jpg)
Hope my story was readable and wasn't too boring ;)
Good find on the other 3.8 and AOD!
Maybe some soldier will bring over a TC, then fall in love with a BMW, and sell the TC to you! ;)
Nice cars!
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
Nothing else to say for a man in Poland with patients to play with these cars.
Like to shack your hand
listen,
i have a whole 3.8 in the for sale section here and its free. there is a fella out of Mass that is attempting to drive down and get it but i have not heard back from him in a few days.
To get you some perfect spare parts and a couple couple computers,, ill break down this 3.8 of mine and ship it one piece at a time if you want. You will have to pay for the shipping and thats it.
Alos,, pm me with our mailing address so i can burn you a copy of the 87 EVTM manual.
You deserve it
BRAVO....
BTW I used to have a 2dr Granada similar to yours... EX wife got it... :(
Thanks Innes! I really like challenges like that and it's nice to drive a boat between canoes here :D
jcassity, that would be great! If it's not a problem for you to keep that engine and part it out I'd be very thankful. Have you rebuilt the distributor in it lately, I think that mine may need some attention soon.
TurboCoupe50, was it a V8 Granada? My black 2-door will be a nice sleeper with that Tremec tranny and 351W (or maybe a 5.0 HO) :D
its always interesting to me to hear about people fixing and driving american made cars in other countries
KUDOs to you my friend........
No it had the honkin' 200... The engine blew up with 197K mi...:D
I've seen street driven carbed 5.0 Granadas running high 12s, though not lately...
The 351 was a option in '75 only I believe...
Tom
Hey! I got my Trick Flow pan today :) and already installed it. Of course at least 1/2 of fluid was on my clothes after this job :hick:
But as ussual I messed something up (good thing is that I have a drain plug). After filling it up it and switching thru the gears on idling engine the level was under the crosshatched area on the dipstick. So I filled it up again with the rest of fluid left (don't remember how much was it) and it's on the top of crosshatched area now after switching thru the gears again, but I wasn't driving it. So it's full on cold now. Should I drain it to be at the bottom of crosshatched area? If so, how much should I drain to get low on crosshatched area?
Thanks!
P.S. I'll take some pics tomorrow after checking for leaks.
If I'm asking about "crosshatched" dispstick area, think it's a good time to ask wht does the holes in the dipstick indicate? I don't have owners manual for my T-bird and I dunno where to find that info.
As I remember well one of the holes (the lowest one) indicates add 1 quart, right?
The fluid level should be in the crosshatched area at operating temperature. after driving 20 miles or 32 km.
The level should be between the middle and top holes at room temperature, 70*F or 21*C.
Check on a level surface. Start the engine and move the gearshift selector through all the gear positions allowing sufficient time in each position to engage.
Then check the level in Park with the engine idling.
Interesting I new at operating temp to keep it between the xxx area but did not know about the holes.
I try and keep it as close to the top of the xxx area as possible.
I drove 100 miles with new transmission Pan installed. The latest trip was 60 miles trip to my girlfriend's grandmother. I checked the fluid level after the trip and it was 1mm over the XXX area, think it won't hurt. I topped it up with 6 liters of Valvoline MaxLife ATF. Think it was a good idea to install the TrickFlow pan - epecially becouse of the way it looks :D
Innes, as you can see in the pics the new deep pan isn't lower that the exhaust pipe, so there shouldn't be any ground clearance problems.
The best thing is - the drain plug :)
I know it's not a correct section for this topic, but this thread already has lots of offtopic stuff, so I thought I'd share my sad story here.
I always say that good cars break down near home, or at home and I think I was right. :) Brake line exploded in my T-bird just after I switched from Park to Drive on the driveway. I heard something popped and than the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. First I thought it was a brake cylinder that popped cylinders, but after I drove to the garage (using e-brake) I walked around and noticed that right wheel inner fender is sprayed with brake fluid.
To be honest, I already got the brake lines and wanted to replace them before the new year. One of the lines (the one that popped) had badly broken insulation. Think it shouldn't pop anyway.
Good thing is that... it happened at home after 100 miles of highway trips around 80mph with last 60miles trip yesterday and it was nice, dry and sunny here today, so I washed my T-bird well and took it for a trip around the block to dry it underneth - so everything is clean, not covered with mud or something and it's pretty nice to work on it now.
Bad thing is that it happened at all, and that it sprayed some brake fluid around so I had to wash it well with brake cleaner before the fluid messed up the paint.
I was just wondering if there are any precautions before I replace the brake line? Is there something I should check/do before I continue? I don't want to end up looking for new calipers or metal brake line, that's why I'm asking.
Thanks for reading! :)
looks like the rubber hose blew and not the metal line! You should get one for each side. Common for the rubber to deteriorate and break. Your lucky you were not driving!!
Would be a good idea to rebuild the complete brake system... But assuming you aren't going that route, I'd recommend using a vacuum pump to pull the fluid through the system... Guessing you can get the small hand pump type in your country...
At the least you may want to think about replacing the master cylinder... Often when a old cylinder is "Floored", it stirs up corrosion, which cuts the rubber cups causing them to fail in a short time...
Think it's not a bad idea to replace the master cylinder, but I'll be probably able to do that in the Spring. It got cold here again and I was able to keep 50F in the garage.
I've replaced that brake line today and will work on the other side on Monday. I wonder if I may notice any difference in braking after this job? Guess old rubber lines were swelling a little?
If it didn't run out of fluid after the line exploded should I bleed rear brakes too anyway?
I was also wondering if the brake system is based on metric components in my Thunderbird?
BTW. Isn't it a cast aluminium master cylinder body? It shouldn't rust like the old iron ones?
Virtually all parts on your car with the exception of the engine will be metric(I believe the 3.8 is std, never owned one)... The 2.3 is metric and the 5.0 is std...
Old lines were probably swelling at least a little, possibly may have a better pedal feel...
Doubt the rears need bled if the MC didn't go dry...
Good point on the MC being aluminum, if its still OK in spring likely it will be OK... Just remember it could fail in a month or so...
3.8 is mix and match but mostly metric
You're going to need to carry around a flashlight and a mirror on a stick so you can show it off everywhere you go.LOL.I've wanted one of those pans,I just can't get myself to spend the money on one.I did hook up a cooler though.
Hey nice pan I love mine too
http://z71tahoe-suburban.com/iboard/index.php?&act=garage&CODE=14&type=garage_mod&id=2810