shift kit

[Jared91]

i came into a few thousand dollars recently and would like to put a shift kit on my commodore.. its a VP SS
wondering costs and where to go anywhere recomended?

[runner8]

as i'm not from perth, i cant help with a preference of trans shop/mech. you'd be surprised of how easy a shift kit is to install with basic mechanical knowledge.

my recommendation would be to head down to your local parts shop and enquire about a b&m kit. you'd be surprised how cheap they are! read through the manual carefully and see if your confident. if you are, go for it! one note though is when removing the base of the valve body to be carefull not to lose any of the bearings from the circuit, they'll fall out pretty easy and go in strange places if your rough.

[v8_bomberdore]

i think its best left for someone that knows what there doing , but u will find most places deal with the transgo shift kits, these are every good , cost wise will depend on what stage shift kit u want to put in , eg pulling out the valve body and installing the shift kit is only a stage 1 kit , to do a stage 2 kit u need to have the box removed witch is more $$$$, if u can afford to do this then this would be the best becuase this will stop your 3rd gear clutches buring out whitch is a problem the t700 has , for a stage 2 kit to be installed ,i think u would be looking at around the $1000 mark,a few hundred to remove and install the box , couple of hundered for the shift kit ,and a few hundred to install shift kit , i picked up mine directly from the USA wen the aussie $$ was good , i payed $110 to my door for shift kit , corvett servo and auto service kit , i guess i was lucky , i hope ive shed some light on this for u

[1991_Vn2nV]

i think its best left for someone that knows what there doing , but u will find most places deal with the transgo shift kits, these are every good , cost wise will depend on what stage shift kit u want to put in , eg pulling out the valve body and installing the shift kit is only a stage 1 kit , to do a stage 2 kit u need to have the box removed witch is more $$$$, if u can afford to do this then this would be the best becuase this will stop your 3rd gear clutches buring out whitch is a problem the t700 has , for a stage 2 kit to be installed ,i think u would be looking at around the $1000 mark,a few hundred to remove and install the box , couple of hundered for the shift kit ,and a few hundred to install shift kit , i picked up mine directly from the USA wen the aussie $$ was good , i payed $110 to my door for shift kit , corvett servo and auto service kit , i guess i was lucky , i hope ive shed some light on this for u

Thats way off the mark man

The transmission does not need to be removed to fit a stage 2 shiftkit.

You should be paying around $180 for the Transgo Stage 2/3 shiftkit, bit more with a corvette servo. Installation shouldn't be more than $400.

[Morton]

Yeah, it can all be done with the trans in the car. It's a bit of a wiggle to pry the transmission to the side to get the servos out, but it's do-able, and any good trans specialist will get the job done. $400 is around the mark you want to be paying

[v8_bomberdore]

Thats way off the mark man

The transmission does not need to be removed to fit a stage 2 shiftkit.

You should be paying around $180 for the Transgo Stage 2/3 shiftkit, bit more with a corvette servo. Installation shouldn't be more than $400.

Yeah, it can all be done with the trans in the car. It's a bit of a wiggle to pry the transmission to the side to get the servos out, but it's do-able, and any good trans specialist will get the job done. $400 is around the mark you want to be paying

im standing by what ive written, i stood there and watched wen i had my gear box rebuilt and i have seen what is needed to be dun to install a full stage 2 shift kit ,its impossible to do it with the gear box in the car plain and simple , as i sed u can remove the valve body while the box is in the car but this is only half the job, if u look inside a transgo shift kit there is a litle white box with a man on the front of it , this is the part that needs to be installed wen the box is appart it can NOT be installed by just dropping the valve body out

[runner8]

sorry bud, you watched while your trans was rebuilt? thats a different story to whether the trans needs to come out.

[Morton]

Yeah, you watched exactly that. A trans being rebuilt, NOT just a stage 2 shiftkit being installed. End of story. (And for $1000, you'd hope so too.)

I watched most of my stage-2 shiftkit install too. The car wasn't ever high enough off the ground for the transmission to come out, it was on a small set of home-made ramps. And trust me, if the transmission had to come out, I would have payed more than $150.

[padrickz88]

Yeah, you watched exactly that. A trans being rebuilt, NOT just a stage 2 shiftkit being installed. End of story. (And for $1000, you'd hope so too.)

I watched most of my stage-2 shiftkit install too. The car wasn't ever high enough off the ground for the transmission to come out, it was on a small set of home-made ramps. And trust me, if the transmission had to come out, I would have payed more than $150.

150!!!! where did you get that from?

[89 vn]

B&M shifters are about 150 from memory form repco and supercheap.
I was under the impression to spend 1k on a transkit you were getting the box strengthed at least

[v8_bomberdore]

Yeah, you watched exactly that. A trans being rebuilt, NOT just a stage 2 shiftkit being installed. End of story. (And for $1000, you'd hope so too.)

I watched most of my stage-2 shiftkit install too. The car wasn't ever high enough off the ground for the transmission to come out, it was on a small set of home-made ramps. And trust me, if the transmission had to come out, I would have payed more than $150.

i had my shift kit put in , a week after that the front seal went on the input shaft , so my box had to come out and , i had this dun by a different auto bloke , i told him i had a shif kit put in and he told me where is the rest of it , so he put the rest of it in while he rebuilt the box , he also told me what ive told u already , if u dont bleive it i will give u his number and he will tell u how much u realy dont know , its obvious u dont know much about autos

[Cheap6]

Before this turns into a huge domestic and gets locked, perhaps there is more than one "Stage Two"? We have Transgo and B and M, which tells half the story for each of them. Individual 'shops may call something else "Stage Two".

Perhaps a more specific list of the changes made in each case would be more productive.

[VSIIBerlinaL67]

i had my stage 2 shift kit put it gear box doesnt need to be removed they just modify the valve body, clean it out and service add deep pan aswell for $440.

[v8_bomberdore]

Before this turns into a huge domestic and gets locked, perhaps there is more than one "Stage Two". We have Transgo and B and M, which tells half the story for each of them. Individual 'shops may call something else "Stage Two".

Perhaps a more specific list of the changes made in each case would be more productive.

well from what ive seen here today , a stage 1 must be just installing a corvett servo , then a stage 2 must be dropping the valve body and installing the little springs and pistons that come with the kit , maby thats wat u get wen u buy a b&m shift kit sounds crappy to me , coz like i sed its still only half the job dun , i can argue all day but if u have pulled a auto down then u will know what im talking about, a stage 3 kit is the same as a 2 but the only difference is its fully manualized and this can be dun by just dropping the valve body, bare inmind if have brought the right kit in the first place

[v8_bomberdore]

i had my stage 2 shift kit put it gear box doesnt need to be removed they just modify the valve body, clean it out and service add deep pan aswell for $440.

did u buy a transgo shift kit , if so i bet u still have a little white box left inside the box that the shift kit came in , with heaps of little springs left inside it

[Morton]

i had my shift kit put in , a week after that the front seal went on the input shaft , so my box had to come out and , i had this dun by a different auto bloke , i told him i had a shif kit put in and he told me where is the rest of it , so he put the rest of it in while he rebuilt the box , he also told me what ive told u already , if u dont bleive it i will give u his number and he will tell u how much u realy dont know , its obvious u dont know much about autos

OR perhaps you could just tell me how much I don't know, since you seem to know it all

I'm just curious, what parts were considered to be part of the "shift kit"? What did the bloke say was missing?

edit: stage 1 is NOT a corvette or billet servo, it is simply a less extreme version of the stage 2 kit, with a less aggressive valve body, and still retaining some of the factory over-ride and smoothness between gear changes. Stage 1 is usually recommended for towing.

[v8_bomberdore]

the part im talking about are called retun springs , they dont look like a return spring but thats what they are , they can only be installed wen the box is appart , what happends is wen your box changes from 1st to 2nd your 3 rd gear clutches start to spin from Centrifugal force this is what causes your 3rd gear clutches to ware ,wen these springs are installed they create more clamping pressure against the 3rd gear clutches to stop them spinning before 3 rd gear is ingauged

[Morton]

Are you talking about the 4th gear return spring? Because that can be found under the 4th servo. It reduces band slippage on the 2/4 band if I'm not mistaken. The clutch piston return spring is something different altogether, and I'm FAIRLY certain they're not part of standard shift-kit procedure. Not a bad idea to change them, but like kevlar bands, they're not part of a standard "shift kit".

Mostly, a shift kit is a valve body kit, and in many cases they do a few things that can increase the longetevity of the auto. My mechanic did his own valve body mods, but you can use Transgo or B&M kits. They're all different, but all strive to one end: to increase fluid pressure, stick a larger boost valve in there, and make harder shifts and reduce band slip. They all include new shift valves, valve springs, etc, but I've never seen one that required you to pull out the clutch packs in the front of the transmission to change the piston return springs in there.

[stocky]

agreeing with morton. i got the same $150 shift kit and corvette servo done to mine

[v8_bomberdore]

yes i know what u mean a shift kit is designed to increase the life of your auto but without these spings inplace it wont happen , maybe some of the kits use have brought dont come with them but if u buy a trango 2&3 kit they do

[Morton]

Transgo isn't the only valve body kit you can get If you're serious, you can get them custom made to suit your needs and driving style, which is what me and stocky had done. And the trans did not need to come out

That's all people here are saying. Good shift kits, stage 2, AND the corvette or billet servo, can be installed without removing the transmission, and with fantastic results.

My VP copped 80,000km of HARD driving, downshifting, spirited hill climbs and towing on that shift kit, and the bands never slipped, the trans fluid was free of debris on every service I performed, and the shifts stayed sharp and true, doing exactly what I wanted, WHEN I wanted it to.

Proving you don't need to spend $1000 or have your trans taken out to get a good, reliable valve body kit installed.

If installing those springs really DOES involve removing the trans, then you're incorrect in saying that without them trans life won't be increased. The larger boost valve (0.5 I think?) and the modified bearings and springs, and new flow pattern on the valve body cuts back on a LOT of clutch overlap between gears - and combined with a larger billet servo, you can cut down massively on transmission wear. Fact.

But these days I've got an extra pedal in the footwell to help me control clutch wear.

[1991_Vn2nV]

well from what ive seen here today , a stage 1 must be just installing a corvett servo , then a stage 2 must be dropping the valve body and installing the little springs and pistons that come with the kit , maby thats wat u get wen u buy a b&m shift kit sounds crappy to me , coz like i sed its still only half the job dun , i can argue all day but if u have pulled a auto down then u will know what im talking about, a stage 3 kit is the same as a 2 but the only difference is its fully manualized and this can be dun by just dropping the valve body, bare inmind if have brought the right kit in the first place

lol I have a stage 2 transgo shiftkit, I even have the instructions laying around here somewhere. You do not need to drop the transmission.

Ask any transmission specialist. Grab the phonebook and do a ring around.

[v8_bomberdore]

lol I have a stage 2 transgo shiftkit, I even have the instructions laying around here somewhere. You do not need to drop the transmission.

Ask any transmission specialist. Grab the phonebook and do a ring around.

ive never seen so many thick people in my life , go back and read my post 17, u can install your shift kit by dopping the valve body out but there is still more of the shift kit to be installed that u cant do with out pulling the box appart , how hard is that for u people to understand , this will be my last post on this subject , its like the blind leading the blind on these forums

[padrickz88]

ive never seen so many thick people in my life , go back and read my post 17, u can install your shift kit by dopping the valve body out but there is still more of the shift kit to be installed that u cant do with out pulling the box appart , how hard is that for u people to understand , this will be my last post on this subject , its like the blind leading the blind on these forums

its a forum, deal with it......


btw I'd believe morton, vn2nv and stocky because they know there stuff and its proven by all there post your new in comparison = possible n00b (so it usually just gets ignored)

[Cobez]

Yep, sorry, i watched my stage 2 B&M kit with corvette servo on my old VP get fitted by Trans Diff. Box didn't need to come OUT at all. Needed to be taken apart a bit obviously, but not completely taken out at all that's for sure.

Cost me $450 parts and labour. Shifted real hard from 1st into 2nd. Revs held right out too.