Hello, First off I thought I would introduce myself, I joined this forum a little over a year ago after I bought my 68 standard, It came with a 289, c-4, power steering, front disk, and originally had a/c. I have been working on it and decided that this winter I would rebuild the engine, which turned into putting a 351w into it and then might as well make it an AOD. still lots to be done but the motor is on order and I have the AOD and trying to gather everything I need for the swap.
My question is I had been using repro 289 hipo exhaust manifolds and am thinking that I will have to change to headers or different exhaust manifold? I am not looking to spend a lot but would like to see if anyone knows what will fit and not have clearance issues with the power steering and AOD.
I know there are other threads with this same topic, I just curious if they had this same 351w/AOD combo.
xr7g428, What transmission is in your sons’ cougar?
It is my understanding that the AOD is closest to FMX or c6 in size. So I am thinking if it clears them it should clear an AOD?
Reading your signature it looks like you will be doing the same swap soon, adding an AOD to your 68 xr7. I am hoping to get my engine at he end of this month and hopefully have it all going by mid feb.
FPA make the best fitting headers, but your going to pay more for them. They have a set for the 351w that will fit the quick time bell housing which is larger then the stock bell housing. I think they would clear the AOD but you would have to contact them directly. He usually knows exactly what the headers they make will or will not fit. Just make sure you don’t get 302 headers as they won’t be long enough. You might run into trouble with the shorty headers as the collectors end up high next to the bell housing.
We have a C4 in the car right now. Since the headers are short, I think this will not be an issue, but the only way to know for sure is to do the work.
Thanks for all the replies everyone. I appreciate all the advise. I am going to order the hedman 88650, from my research they should fit.
I got a few weeks before the engine arrives but once I find out if they fit I will report back.
I got the hedman 88650 installed the other day. I mounted them before I installed the engine and the fitment was good. There was one small spot where they rubbed on the drivers side engine block. Looked to me to be just a strange casting area on the engine block. Easy fix. plenty of clearance around the AOD and power steering. installing them once the engine and transmission were in wasn’t bad besides a few hard to reach bolts. I was using allen head bolts but had to use 3 hex head bolts in order to tighten properly.