shift kit
 

im lookin into gettin a shift kit for my '91 AOD but not sure which one to go with and not even sure where to start looking. I know B&M and trans-go make some but not sure with is better or the pricing for them. Thanks for the help
Ryan

Well, from things I've heard, I know that there are a good number of people who are not satisfied with the B&M kits. Personally, I don't trust their transmission products. However, there are others who are completely satisfied with what they got and have not complaints (because it was a quality product or because they've never tried anything else, who can say?). But I cannot truly judge B&M as I have never run their products and thus have nothing to compare to.

I have run the Transgo kit in the past, and it is a very good kit for basic street use. Very complete and it comes with a handy install video. Nice, firm shifts with the stock converter and very polite on the street. I had no problems with it, however, something went foul, and I began having problems with the tranny tending to shift into OD reguardless of being held in the D position. Needless to say, this killed quarter mile times. I don't know if it was something with the kit itself or the fact that my valve body was about to take a crap (most likely the later).

Baumann also makes a good kit from all I hear and many people run it without complaint.

Another recommendation....a full valve body. Reguardless of which way you go, a good shift kit is going to cost in the neighborhood of $100. You can spend about $400 and get a complete valve body. I'm running the Lentech unit right now, and aside from the torque converter, it is one of my favorite mods. Perfectly controlled shifting and a full electronic OD delete. Also, it's easier to install than your basic shift kit, and the price is more than made up for in the performance, reliability, and consistancy gains. Others on this board and elsewhere are running valve bodies from Performance Automatic, GER, and the like.

If you've got the money to spring, I'd recommend a full valve body. However, go with what you can afford, and the Baumann or Transgo kit will likely do all you need it to for basic street/strip use.

--nathan

B&M sucks!!!! IMO

bauman and trans-go
 

what are some places that i could get some info on either of the two kits. I cant really go for the full valve job even though i would like to. With a shift kit will my car be shifting alot harder or just slightly?
thanks again

Check out Baumann's site. They've got some good tech info on there as well.

http://www.baumannengineering.com/

Transgo, unfortunately, doesn't have a site. They can be ordered from Summitt or other places for around $110.

The Transgo kit I used made dramatic improvements in shift quality and firmness at WOT. It was also much firmer under normal cruising conditions, but it wasn't harsh at all. Under throttle the tranny shifted hard and fast...hard enough to chirp 2nd with the stock converter. When I put the 2800 rpm PI converter in, it absorbed some of that firmness, but it was still worlds over stock. For a stock AOD, the best mods you can (and need) to do are a quality shift kit, a higher stalling torque converter, and some steeper gears (3.73's or 4.10's).

The shift kit by itself is going to make your car much more fun to drive. You still will have to play the 1-D-1 shuffle if you want to hold 2nd gear, but driving is going to be much more fun, reguardless. When you can afford to, look into a torque converter. It was absolutely the best mod I did to my car, and is the best thing you can do to an AOD car short of adding the squeeze or boost. Most people see a drop of .4 - .5 seconds from their quarter mile after a converter and shift kit. With the shift kit alone, you still will drop some time off your et...maybe as much a 1-2 tenths depending on how bad your stock AOD is.

--nathan

If you only want to spend $25.00, the B&M kit will improve your shifts. If you want a more complete kit that allows more things to be adjusted (like WOT shift points) and want to spend around $100.00, bet the baumann kit.