88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Topic: 88 Bird in to 86 CAt (Read 1192 times) previous topic - next topic

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

October 07, 2006, 10:57:00 AM

the 88 bird i bought has a floor shifted tranny in it and i want it! it has to my best guess 177000 miles on it if its the original.

what would i need to do to swap it?

what tranny is it? AOD? AOD-E?

if i was to rebuilt it how much am i looking at?

is it worth it since the floor shifted has almost 3x as many miles as the one i have now?

and will my old tranny fit into the bird?

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Reply #1 – October 07, 2006, 11:26:50 AM

The tranny in the bird should be the AOD. I don't think the AOD-E was used until the MN12 platform.

So you want your '86 floor shifted? Why not just convert it? Unless the '86 has the c-5 and you want the AOD, I'd just convert using parts from the bird rather than swap the tranny.

I would think a decent rebuild would be in the neighborhood of $500-$800.

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Reply #2 – October 07, 2006, 12:33:28 PM

didnt know i could do that. i think i will but then i cant but the old stuff it the bird and i wouldnt of be able to before either since it doesnt have the coluom shift coluom.

rebuild will be way way down the line then.

if i but a shift kit on the tranny i have now could i do the same thing as swaping the bird stuff over? B&M maybe in the future of it and if i bput in a bigger stall will i have to worry about breakage. what is a good stall?

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Reply #3 – October 07, 2006, 12:54:26 PM

I'd imagine the column swap wouldn't be too bad to convert the bird to column shift. All you should have to do is swap the plastic cover and the hardware.

I haven't done this myself, but know it can be done...
AOD floor shift conversion
C-5 shift conversion
Trans swapping info

You can get a shift kit for your tranny and shouldn't have a problem upgrading the stall converter. I'm not nearly as well versed in transmission things as many of the members here so I'm sure others can provide better input than I can.

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Reply #4 – October 07, 2006, 03:45:42 PM

For the steering column, really you have two choices: swap one in from the floor-shift car, or just pop out the column shift rod on your current one. That's what I did in the convertible. The shift rod runs alongside the actual steering shaft, on the righthand side (looking at the steering wheel). Once you take the plastic covers off you'll see the rod. It's held in the column by a bracket with a plastic bushing. Ford procedure is to remove the shifter arm (easy), then pop out the rod from the bushing using a hammer and awl. From there it's as simple as jacking up the front of the car slightly, and pulling the rod out from inside the engine bay (after disconnecing the rest of the linkage there, of course). If you have the auto parking brake release you'd need to remove the vacuum line on the bottom of the column, inside the car, before removing that rod. That's all I remember in doing that. Pretty easy procedure.

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Reply #5 – October 07, 2006, 07:43:39 PM

That's what I did with my '88 Bird.I swapped in a factory floor shifter and console.It turned out great.One problem.....If you break the shift cable,they are made of unobtainium.It took me forever to find a replacement.The Mustang and Turbo Coupe cables are different.That cable has to be unique to the 5.0 Cougar and T-Bird,along with the shift cable bracket that bolts to the tranny tailhousing.I'm buying a T-Bird Sport,and it has a floor shifter in excellent condition.It'll be neatly boxed,marked,and packed away on a high shelf and kept.

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Reply #6 – October 07, 2006, 11:23:25 PM

but can i but the column shifter in the bird?

88 Bird in to 86 CAt

Reply #7 – October 11, 2006, 05:55:13 PM

Hey bubba you need to spell better.
I'm mixed up what you asked.
could be me though.