[Mr427]

Ron, Tom:

Thanks for your input. This transmission issue is a serious matter for those who do not want to bother with a manual transmission. (I did read the accounts on the transmission forum about the Jerico transmission and others, so I do not want that stuff)

Still, I want to be able to have a relatively fresh rearend ratio. Anything from a 3.50 to 4.11 on a mild to hot street car. I do have a 3.50 ratio and a C-6 behind my SCJ at 470CID. It has solid lifters and a lot of other stuff. I drive this car whenever I can because I like to. That is the point. But long distance driving is pain in the neck, literally. At 65 - 70 mph I am runing the engine into the 3500 rpm range which is about 700 rpms higher than I should. The car is built to handle much higher speeds than that.

At this time cruising at over 100 mph is just a dream. I have driven on the Autobahns in central Europe and the case is such that if you can´t run at 100++ mph for days on end, you get honked at. This is my point. So the ideal is a 3.50 to 4.11 with a 40 reduction in high gear, like the AOD gives.

I have read inputs from people who claim the do drive or want to drive their 650hp Cobras with ,700 lift, cross country and no sweat. Yeah, right. Wake up and smell the pizza, boys. It is not going to happen. This reminds me of a guy I spoke to in New York once, about a 1969 Dodge Charger 440 Six Pack that I was thinking about byuing. He said he had to sell the car because his wife got tired of having a mechanic live at their house the whole time.

The problem with these overdrive transmissions from Ford is exactly the same as what happened with the Pinto. Remember when Ford got sued for millions over exploding fuel tanks. It is really an abstract, surreal feeling you get when you hear how these decisions get made by those ivy leagers on the 14th floor.

It goes like this: "Well Mr. Iacocca, our analysis of this situation indicates that if we sell 1.6 million Pintos during its production run, we will have an extra margin of 385 million dollars from saving eleven dollars on each one by placing the fuel tank under the back seat. We know we are going to be sued for only 250 million over deaths and destruction so we will still profit" Says Lee: "Build that car"

Same with the transmission issue. Many transmission specialists have solved the design discrepancy, flaw, if you will, inexpensively and efficiently.

When I bought my first Ford, brand new with the E4OD, I almost instantly noticed that the car had a slight vibration at exactly the speed that we all like to cruise at, 65-75MPH. Now, I went to my dealer and explained the problem. At first stonewalling, then a tacit consent that maybe there was something wrong. Then the tires got replaced and then the wheels. Then the wheels again, because their tire guys scratched the coating off the fancy aluminum wheels when they replaced the tires the first time. Then the dirveshaft, then U-joints and then the driveshaft support. Then I wanted to sell them my car again, but you know how that works. They all said they would work and work and work with me, because I was so important.

Finally, I gave up and went to see the service manager who had flown C-47´s in Viet Nam and he explained to me how they knew if they hit bullseye with the 55mm Gatling they had sticking out the side of the old 47. The color of the smoke told them every time.

Then he told me that the clutchpack in the overdrive transmissions from the Ford Motor Company vibrated at a certain speed. They had no idea why. Well, years went by and I got rid of the vibrator and worked on my other cars.

When I went to my transmission guy to pick up the C-6 for my Galaxie FE, I noticed that he had an E4OD out of an E-350 HD Econoline on his bench. It was not a routine build. This transmission was in shreds and I wanted to know why.

He explained to me how these transmissions failed after a predestined time span because Ford had saved about 35 dollars on the main clutches in their new line of transmissions by using copper bushings instead of Torrington bearings or other equivalent bearings that would stop the shafts from counterrotating inside the bushings once they had been broken in during the first thousands of miles. So there it was.

All he did was measure the outside diameter on the shafts and find bearings at the local parts store, bore the transmission housing so the bearings would press fit and bingo, the transmission flaw was fixed.

This is probably why there is so little real discussion about these transmissions being used in early muscle cars or street machines.

So, the question I really should have asked in the first place was this exact matter. Has anyone solved this problem commercially and made these transmissions reliable and a pleasure to use like the case is with GM´s 700R case.

Secondly, for anyone who wants to use the E40D there is the issue of electronic governors, computer equipment and such that is needed to make it work. I saw this problem solved with a small computer circuit in off road cars with sub 5 - gear ratios and dual transfer cases, where the transmission was fooled into thinking everything was normal.

I will research this matter further as I am building a 474 CID engine from a 1970 N-code 429 with a bit of spice in it.