Well I'm going on deployment here shortly and Im talking about a month off. 3 days is going to be me hauling my life back to Detroit from coronado (let me know if anyone wants to meet up along the way) but once I get there I am doing 2 things I'm helping my father drop the ls3 in his 79 vett and we are going to be pulling the clevland out and dressing the old girl up. I'm leaving it up to you guys to help me decide what I do to her I'm wanting some jewelry so valve covers headers stuff like that but Im also wanting to upgrade my ignition I have a msd blaster 2 sitting in a box wondering if I should leave it or put it on let me know if you have any ideas of a better ignition also I want to upgrade my distributor as well as anything else you think I should do I'm open to anything however money is an option so the smaller upgrades that pull some horses out the better while the engine is out getting her makeover I think it's time for a new transmission if I'm just cruising in the city or on base it's fine goes through the 3 gears fine but if I get on it from 1st at low rpm once I change gears I here a loud Rhea k sound that scares the piss out of me so highway driving is a no no let me know what transmission would be best I don't want to put a hole in my floor so no manual unfortunately. And........ She is finally getting paint and the little rust she has will be dealt with as well.. I know this is a long post that's all over the place but I will be recording video and pictures along the way I'll post the videos up on YouTube and link to my channel once the first one is up
Together we will make my car the monster she should be please leave recommendations for all the parts you think would work good and look good..
The AOD will bolt up to the Cleveland block. There are a couple different cams, one that was available from Crane was a hydraulic roller set which I wanted for my '74. Whatever you do with the ignition, make damned sure it ditches the points and condenser. A Duraspark dizzy from a 335 or 385 engine will drop right in. Just ensure, if you go with a roller cam, you swap to a steel or composite driven gear. Then, paint the car Battleship Grey outside and white with green carpet inside....
I'm thinking about a c4 with a overdrive what do you think. I just want to have a car that is good on gas but will tear a hole in the earth if I stomp on it.
An overdrive will cost more than an AOD conversion and weigh more with no advantage other than durability under high horsepower situations.
What he said. And if you were looking to race, I know there are race-spec AODs. It's a much better setup as parts and personnel versed in the AOD are fairly plentiful. Apparently, there's even a 4R70W upgrade for the AOD.