Shift kits

[Hillam069]

hey every1,

wats the go with shift kits do they make ur car better...
if they are wats the best brand and are they hard to instal..

cheerz guyz...

[savage1987]

They'll make your auto shift harder, takes out a lot of the slop in the gearbox. I have a stage 2 with strengthened internals in my VR SS, it's definitely quicker than it was without it. Here's a bit of info I found from a couple of sources...
SC magazine had this to say:
"With a shift kit you raise the line pressures and modify the shift overlap. This is done via different springs, removing some check balls and blocking some passages.
"It allows the transmission to shift harder and hold gears longer even when left in drive. The car is generally faster from removal of the softness from the trans.
"Shift kits are cool, but they can be a small pain when you are not actually racing. Your engine will still hold gears longer and shift quite harshly... generally a shift kit is worth a couple of tenths down the strip. We have heard of people shaving half a second off their ETs just by installing a shift kit, but it depends on the vehicle."

I don't think any of us are too worried about that 'small pain' on the street though, hey?

This is another bit of info from "Building a Commodore", a book I found.

"Apart from obvious performance gains, fitting a shift-kit will extend the service life of your clutch packs and brake bands.
"Shift kits come in four stages. Stage 1 is for general towing... Stage 2 is for street and strip... Stage 3 is even harder, but this is necessary only for full strip use... Stage 4 is a full manual conversion.... Lazy use of such a system on the street could cause damage."


Generally the kits nowadays are divided into 3 stages, with 3 being manualised.


Hope that helps some people No idea on brands though, or installation.

Sam

[VT-565]

I have seen quite a few B&M kits getting around, they seem quite easy to install. Most of the time it is a case of dropping the pan on your tranny and removing the valvebody, then performing the necessary mods.
As previously mentioned though, if you go for a full manualised valvebody, you have to drive it that way all the time as it will damage your trans.
Thats about all I can say.

[savage1987]

As long as you shift sensibly you won't damage a manualised auto, though, right EcotecManiac? I still don't know if I should manualise mine. I want to, but will it reduce the lifespan (is it a bad idea)?

[Gavin_LP]

"Apart from obvious performance gains, fitting a shift-kit will extend the service life of your clutch packs and brake bands.
"Shift kits come in four stages. Stage 1 is for general towing... Stage 2 is for street and strip... Stage 3 is even harder, but this is necessary only for full strip use... Stage 4 is a full manual conversion.... Lazy use of such a system on the street could cause damage."

Wow, thanks for that mate, cleared up alot of hassle for me.

[Hillam069]

chere guys..
wheres a good websire to find shift kits and prices

cheerz..

[rb26dett]

Depends on what gearbox you are going to use.

[savage1987]

Wow, thanks for that mate, cleared up alot of hassle for me.

No worries mate, glad it helped someone

[VT-565]

As long as you shift sensibly you won't damage a manualised auto, though, right EcotecManiac? I still don't know if I should manualise mine. I want to, but will it reduce the lifespan (is it a bad idea)?

Hey Savage,
What I was actually getting at was if you manualise your auto, you HAVE to shift it manually from there on. Otherwise damage will follow.

[savage1987]

Yeah it really isn't that good to drive everywhere in fourth..... How do manualised boxes go without a high stall? Can you even do that?

[Cane_It]

yeah you can run a manualised box without a stall, you match your stall to the cam and therefor motors torque vs rpm curve.

[VT-565]

Yeah it really isn't that good to drive everywhere in fourth..... How do manualised boxes go without a high stall? Can you even do that?

Savage,
A manualised box runs a modified valve body to reduce/eliminate the soft shifts and takes away the 'automatic' function....you could run whatever stall you like with a manualised valve body as the two are not really related.

[savage1987]

Nice. Thanks guys. I like my fuel economy enough not to put a stallie in Plus I've driven them heaps at work and I just find them annoying.