Hi, i posted this earlier on the Ford Transmission Forum but that forum looks like nobody has posted since December on that site and got no replies.

I am in process rebuilding an AOD out of 89 Ford van for a future project car and info I’ve read online suggests that the centrifugal governor on the tail shaft might have a different internal spring for various size vehicles. I’ve seen replacement governors that fit 80-93 AOD so this might be BS but I’m wondering if an AOD out of a 3900 lb E250 van would require a governor spring change for install in a 2500 lb car. I see that several shift kits have various performance governor springs that install in the valve body but I haven’t found any info on alternate springs for the actual governor internal valve.
Also trans has the B overdrive servo and I wonder if I should upgrade to the A servo. This will be behind a mild HP 302 so I don’t plan to upgrade to the 2” band and drum or the 4R 70 geartrain but thought maybe the A servo would help the narrow band from slippage. Thanks

 

Ok I’ve done some more research on the Governor portion of my original post. Today I contacted Dan From Silver Fox Transmissions and he says there are three levels of governor springs for the AOD governor Hi, Med and Lo as they relate to shift rpm. He said Transgo is the only company that makes a kit with these three selective springs. He said the kit is called the AOD Hi-Rev kit and that I should use the Hi spring option for my governor. From what I understand this centrifugal valve in the tail shaft Governor controls upshift timing depending on which spring you choose. I plan to order the kit and see what the instructions recommend.

 

Good to know..

The govs used to like to come loose on the TS causing poor shift scheduling.
Be interesting to know the differences in how early/late the shifts are extended with the different spring options.Id think to stiff a spring would cause a late shift, but would be good for HP applications..
How is the car going to be driven?

 

I plan to use this car for a cruiser and not drag racing with extreme HP but want to be able to get on it and have it shift at proper times. My concern since this AOD is out of a van, shifts might occur too early or late in a lighter car. But logic tells me the shifts will probably occur later since in a loaded truck or van it seems shifts would hold longer for pulling loads up hills etc. I was hoping someone on this forum had maybe experimented with different governor springs. It could be this van Governor I have will give me the performance I’m looking for with a little later shift.
Dan at Silver Fox builds hi performance transmissions and builds valve bodies that eliminates the shuffle shift similar to Lentech. His recommendation to install the Transgo kit and install the Hi spring may be too severe for my build. I am not an expert by any means but just trying to do a bunch of research. Most auto trans I have rebuilt in the past have gone back in the car they came out of so I had some history on prior performance.
Thanks