The Ford Barn

40 Deluxe · 09-09-2015, 11:00 AM

Don't go with the old Ford-o-matic! It will turn your car into a slug! Unless you floor the gas pedal or pull the shift lever into manual Low, they start out in 2nd gear. They are 1940's technology-good for the time but now antiquated. (I think Kahuna meant to say you will lose the overdrive function, not 'love').
I say keep what you have. A properly functioning manual overdrive was the best transmission of the day. It gave you both the best performance and the best gas mileage of any combination available from the factory. You have 4.11 gears for acceleration and passing, and an effective ratio of 2.87 in overdrive for economy-best of both worlds. Remember, this was the time before Interstates, so you did a lot of passing on two lane highways, with oncoming traffic. So the kickdown feature was great! Just floor the gas, and you automatically went from the 2.87 ratio to the 4.11 ratio, that flathead woke up and you made the pass without a head-on collision!
I guess if you don't like to shift, however, the AOD would be the choice.

09-09-2015, 11:00 AM	#8
40 Deluxe Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: now Kuna, Idaho Posts: 3,835	Re: AOD Transmission Don't go with the old Ford-o-matic! It will turn your car into a slug! Unless you floor the gas pedal or pull the shift lever into manual Low, they start out in 2nd gear. They are 1940's technology-good for the time but now antiquated. (I think Kahuna meant to say you will lose the overdrive function, not 'love'). I say keep what you have. A properly functioning manual overdrive was the best transmission of the day. It gave you both the best performance and the best gas mileage of any combination available from the factory. You have 4.11 gears for acceleration and passing, and an effective ratio of 2.87 in overdrive for economy-best of both worlds. Remember, this was the time before Interstates, so you did a lot of passing on two lane highways, with oncoming traffic. So the kickdown feature was great! Just floor the gas, and you automatically went from the 2.87 ratio to the 4.11 ratio, that flathead woke up and you made the pass without a head-on collision! I guess if you don't like to shift, however, the AOD would be the choice.