Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #15 – December 27, 2007, 01:53:08 PM He did say track,thats why I said 4.10,street 3.55-3.73. Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #16 – December 27, 2007, 07:20:59 PM Can you use a 6 tooth gear for a t-5 in the AOD tailshaft? Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #17 – December 29, 2007, 09:19:41 PM Quote from: V8Demon;194752Can you use a 6 tooth gear for a t-5 in the AOD tailshaft?Nope, gear teeth is cut into the output shaft on the AOD... Requires swapping shaft(total dissemble) Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #18 – December 30, 2007, 01:19:12 PM QuoteRequires swapping shaft(total dissemble) Can those 2 tailshafts interchange then? Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #19 – December 30, 2007, 03:20:09 PM When I did the shift kit in my first 'Bird, it didn't make that much of a difference...except for the 2-3 shift and the light throttle shifts. Just manually shift the tranny and get the 3.73's until you can afford the shift kit...then still manually shift it at the track. Many people are probably going to respond with "doing that will kill your transmission!". Well, I did it for 3yrs in an AOD that already wasn't in the best of shape...and it was the 300k+ engine that popped, not the tranny...infact another member of this forum is running my old valvebody in his '88 'Bird.With 3.73's over 2.73's or even 3.08's, you could expect to pick up a solid half second in your quarter mile ET. Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #20 – December 30, 2007, 06:11:59 PM i would go with gears. more so if the tranny is in decent shape. this is assuming they will be installed correctly. shift kit is nice but gears are going to perform better. 355s or 373. im not big on getting real deep into gears. i would have a shop do a gear swap. the shift kit can be done easy enough by yourself so i would do that later. Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #21 – December 30, 2007, 09:03:30 PM Quote from: Sick88Tbird;195035When I did the shift kit in my first 'Bird, it didn't make that much of a difference...except for the 2-3 shift and the light throttle shifts. Just manually shift the tranny and get the 3.73's until you can afford the shift kit...then still manually shift it at the track. Many people are probably going to respond with "doing that will kill your transmission!". Well, I did it for 3yrs in an AOD that already wasn't in the best of shape...and it was the 300k+ engine that popped, not the tranny...infact another member of this forum is running my old valvebody in his '88 'Bird.With 3.73's over 2.73's or even 3.08's, you could expect to pick up a solid half second in your quarter mile ET.Chances are he will kill it. Yours is an exception. Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #22 – December 30, 2007, 10:27:00 PM All this talk about manually shifting and stuff. I have a question about TransGo's. I cannot find ANY specific description on their site as to how the hell you hold 2ng gear, but they claim you can hold 1st 2nd and 3rd to any rpm. 1st and 3rd are obvious. What about second? From what you guys are saying apparently the shift kit doesn't somehow make the 1-d-1 deal non-damaging...so how is it done? Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #23 – December 31, 2007, 08:51:16 AM I had the trans-go and making the 1-D-1 shift to 2 held 2 all day till I slowed to much and it when back to 1.Let’s all not forget the benefit of a shift kit is not holding 2 gears at the same time making better shifts and better ETs and not wearing a tranny. Sure a rear gears might help ETs as well or better the reason I stated shift-kit is the fact of tranny ware. Both are good upgrades Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #24 – December 31, 2007, 12:25:51 PM Well that's really why I want to get one this year...for wear. It made me cringe the first time I read what actually goes on in there! Comfort and smoothness be ed I say, in the name of making the thing stay together. (really gettin kinda unhealthy ain't it putting my car before myself ALL the time) Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #25 – January 28, 2008, 12:03:26 AM For the money I would recommend skipping the shift kit and the gears and find a 4cyl T5 tranny and pedal assembly. The bracket with pedals from a mustang work perfect, you would need a thunderbird clutch cable, Zoom cluthc with multifriction disk is around 280. First gear is 3.97 which will make up for the higher ratio in the differential and allow you to launch through the first 60 feet. If your car has an automatic floor shifter it will fit your car without any problems. The only reason I am installing a Tremec this winter is because of the 351 Windsor I am installing. A lot of drag racers use the 4 cylinder tranny because they are cheap and reportedly they last just as long as the V8 T5's on the track. Lighter car, quick shifts, you select the shift point, the you have solved the gear problem all on a budget. Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #26 – January 29, 2008, 09:32:51 AM This might be my personal preference...but Gears. When I swapped to 3.73s in my supercoupe it was a kick in the ass. Ive been in cars with shift kits that would make you swallow your own teeth and they are just jerky. Don't get me wrong, a good shift kit is an excellent addition. But, if you got the dough/time for gears.. do it now and get a shift kit with the next paycheck. :hick: Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #27 – January 29, 2008, 11:26:07 AM Basically a good shift kit will add durability, the gears will decrease ET... A 2400 stall converter(talking fairly stock HO) will probably give more increase than the gears, but defiantly also install a shift kit with that change... A engine with good heads(NOT E7s), should have a 3000-3200 converter, S/K and gears...Somewhere I have a article on modifying the AOD for a 1-2-3/OD shift pattern... Basically it eliminates the 2-3 shift in the D position... It's a early Lentech mod from the mid 90s, before they started selling custom valve bodies and requires a bit of cutting and epoxying... Main issue is no O/D lockout but with 3.73 gears, I've NEVER missed it... I did the mod to my SC AOD, along with a Trans-Go kit back in '00 and it still shifts good, though not with the authority it once had... Wonder if approx 700 drag strip passes(a few with nitrous) has anything to do with the shifts softening??? Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #28 – January 31, 2008, 10:20:11 PM Quote from: TurboCoupe50;200741 Main issue is no O/D lockout Would you mind please explaining? I'm confused on O/D lockout. Quote Selected
Opinion: Shift kit or 3.73s Reply #29 – January 31, 2008, 10:27:19 PM D on your shifter is 1st, 2nd & 3rd without O/D (otherwise known as 4th). The mod Tom mentions deletes that option and the AOD will act as if in the D with the O around it position.... Quote Selected
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