Update on A4ld rebuild and thanks

[merkur]

Just wanted to thank Glacier for his diary on the A4ld rebuild. We finished our rebuild with many of the updates he used, and the information was a great help in getting it done. We picked up a 94 4.0 core, and went from there, and got it back into the car a couple days ago. It is working great in a 87 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. Solid shifts in all gears! It turns out that the original trans shattered a aluminum body 3 pinion planetary gear. I don't think that will ever happen again. I do have a question. We reinstalled the original speedo sending unit, and now the speedo is ready way faster than the accual speed. Where can I find out what gear we need to get on the sending unit to read right with the 94 4.0 tailshaft gears, and 373's ing the rear end? Something else that might be of interest is the fact that we bought a rebuilt and restalled converter that turned out to have a lower stall than the stocker. who can we trust to do it right? We need about 2800-3000 stall to spool the turbo we have on it. Thanks
Danny

 

[Glacier991]

Danny.... thanks for the kind words.... glad to have been of help.... Too bad about the TC stall.

Since TC's are so heavy, I usually refer folks to a local rebuilder because of the high cost of shipping one. As a result I really cannot help you much there except to suggest you find a local speed shop and ask who does their convertors... those guys know who is good in the area as a rule.

IF you have to pull the A4LD... a late addition would be to add a ZC servo cap on the OD servo, and move the OD AB servo back to intermediate posiition. (If you have not already).

I need to revisit the diary and add a few updates since I wrote it, now 4 years (and a number of trannies) ago.

Anyway glad you like the rebuild.

ps. there is a sticky about speedo gearing that might be of assistance to you, courtesy of Brooklyn Bay.

 

[merkur]

We replaced both servos with larger ones. I also used both shift kits, and went with the servo srings provided and removed the little clip from the intermediate. Oh yea we used five check balls, and drilled the pucks to .063. I found the post about the speedo gears also. Thanks again and again.
Later
Danny

 

[karnage]

dont run too much boost on that a4ld as it will soon go boom.I have a TC with the WCT-5 and i run 25 psi boost with no issues but many guys I know who ran the a4ld have blown them up.Most run C-4s in the 2.3 turbo cars.

 

[merkur]

Hey there Mr Karnage. I recognize you from the turbo ford.org. I would agree with you if we had just rebuilt the original A4LD, but with the help of Glacier we were able to build a much stronger transmission than the one that came with the TC in 87. I feel pretty confident that we won't be having many, if any problems with this tranny. My Merkur Xr4ti still has the original T-3 in it, so it's next on the list to get a updated A4LD. I have allways stuck with street tires on it to allow it to last as long as it has. Later
Danny

 

[karnage]

Cool.I was going to suggest turboford.org to you.Too bad the stall isnt high enough for that tranny.They go with a low stall for towing so you get a right now shift when pulling instead of that delay with a stall which can heat the tranny up.Glad to see a fellow turboforder somewhere else.As you can see I have an explorer as well and now have a nice firm shifting a4ld.