[Huskinhano]

IIRC, the best years for AOD's are from '88 and up. The earlier ones had a lubrication problem for the overdrive. They would seize up if used for high speeds or prolonged times. Cop cars use to have a warning label telling not to use OD!

The good news is that they can be convertered to the newer style. Ford use to sell a "rear lube" retrofit kit for these. The 90 trans should be fine. A lot of parts interchange with the electronic version too.

They should bolt up to your 351C, as the C shares the same bolt pattern as 302's and 351W's and these are the only engines besides 6 cyls that used this trans.

 

[mlnielsen]

Read thru the BaumannEngineering website.

 

[johnpro]

I would choose the '90. No transmission ever went through more changes more quickly than the AOD. The later the transmission, the better. The AODE didn't come out until '94, so there will be no electronics to worry about in any of the transmissions you listed.

The AOD in my '66 is an '84 from a Lincoln Mark V (or so I'm told). I've got about 5k miles of some serious driving on it, and it's been fantastic.

The stock torque converter will likely be enough, but I wanted to get more up into my power range, so went with the B&M Holeshot 2400 stall converter. Look to Windsor-Fox for the conversion pieces you need. These will include a crossmember, possibly a flex plate (not sure on the Cleveland), and the shift linkage. They also sell the TV cable, but it's just the Lokar "downshift cable", probably available for cheaper somewhere else.

The folks at Windosr-Fox are very helpful as well as having a some very, very good products.

When you get the tranny, try to get the yoke and NS switch plug with it. If you have the plug, you can easily fabricate your own harness, but you have to have the plug to plug into the tranny.