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Almost 3 years ago I converted my 71 automatic trans to a TKO-600 5spd. The trans had been in someone else's 72 for a while but the owner never drove the car much and the shop that originally installed it confirmed that it only had about 500 miles on it. I bought it without ever driving it (long story why, but I still should have). Conversion into my car went great and it drives great. Only problem is that it has way too much throw and neutral is sloppy, real sloppy. It shifts fine just not at all what I expected. Like the shifter goes almost to the console at first and to the console in the other direction in 2nd. I have lived with it because it's still fun to drive and did not want to pull the trans. I'm under the understanding that these transmissions are modified differently by the company that sells them and that every company makes there own shifter. My trans was modified and purchased from Mike Forte. I spoke to him two years ago and he told me I would have to send him the whole trans for him to look at and fix. I now need to fix this but before I pull the trans, Any suggestions of what I might be able to try while it's still in the car?
Do You remember what the Shifter Looked like ? If it was Aluminum Billet anodized Red it was probably made by Hurst. I'm under the impression that every TKO aftermarket Trans leaves the factory with this one installed. Then depending on the application there are a couple of other versions of this same Shifter, which would be installed by the seller of the Trans before shipment. Keisler started selling a completely different Shifter just for Corvette applications. It had the Tailhousing machined out and a whole different set up welded on. I believe that other Trans providers started selling the same system. So what type of Shifter do You have? Is it just 1-2nd that has the long throw, or all the gears ?
Do You remember what the Shifter Looked like ? If it was Aluminum Billet anodized Red it was probably made by Hurst. I'm under the impression that every TKO aftermarket Trans leaves the factory with this one installed. Then depending on the application there are a couple of other versions of this same Shifter, which would be installed by the seller of the Trans before shipment. Keisler started selling a completely different Shifter just for Corvette applications. It had the Tailhousing machined out and a whole different set up welded on. I believe that other Trans providers started selling the same system. So what type of Shifter do You have? Is it just 1-2nd that has the long throw, or all the gears ?
It's not the red hurst. I believe the tail was milled and the shifter itself was made by Mike Forte. It's all the gears, functions perfectly but long throws, very easy to shift but nothing like my wife's hurst comp on a Muncie.
It's hard to compare an internal shifting trans like the TKO to an external one like the Muncie. Even though some come pretty darn close, there is nothing like the feel of a Muncie with a Competition Plus.
Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.
With that said, it seems odd that your throws are that long-
Is the shift lever too long / tall? The longer the handle, the further you have to move your hand to shift.
It's hard to compare an internal shifting trans like the TKO to an external one like the Muncie. Even though some come pretty darn close, there is nothing like the feel of a Muncie with a Competition Plus.
Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.
With that said, it seems odd that your throws are that long-
Is the shift lever too long / tall? The longer the handle, the further you have to move your hand to shift.
I know they are s different beast but I was really comparing the throw between them. My shift handle is an oem style with the spring loaded non functional reverse lock out just like the ones used with a Hurst comp plus, it is however about an inch too long and I do plan on shortening it but the throw is still not right, from center to center of the shift ball between 1-2 and 3-4 there is 6 inches of throw. An inch of play while in any gear and at least an inch in neutral. I'll try to take some pics. Not much play while in gear left to right though.
First, I would take the shifter off and check the bushing. There is not much to this type shifter. There is a rounded ball on the bottom of the shift lever that fits into a socket on the shift rail. There is a bushing inside that can wear. I know you said it was low miles, but I would check.
Here is one I found in about 10sec of looking. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-GM-Dodg...-/261663351878
I think you could still replace the shifter with a shorter throw version if needed. It would be a matter of taking the old one off and matching it up. The worst case would be you might need to have the shift lever mount welded to match the console offset.
P.S. Not trying to be a a$$, but the shorter the shift lever, the shorter the throw - but shift effort goes up a bit. Just shortening your lever may be the ticket.
Last edited by 74modified; Mar 14, 2015 at 10:38 AM.
Reason: P.S.
Thanks 74modified that's just what I was hoping to hear! I know I need to shorten the shifter will reduce throw but something is defiantly wrong somewhere. Do you think the whole shifter could be removed from inside the car if I remember correct I think not. My car has side pipes and a removable cross member so pulling the trans is kinda easy if I have to. I'll be poking around the shifter from above this weekend hopefully.
Not knowing if you have an access panel above the shifter, you may be able to remove the cross-member and tilt the trans a bit (while still supporting). Another option is to bend a wrench to reach up in the tunnel.
Most have six bolts like this.
In the pic you can see the set screws that can be adjusted to tighten springs that remove neutral slop.
If you wanted to modify your shifter (cant help but thinking this way) you may be able to change the fulcrum point. How easy would depend on your exact shifter.
This is the inside of mine before I did some modification. The pin is halfway pushed out.
If you re-drilled the pin hole 1/4 inch up and then added 1/4 inch spacer under the shifter plate = shorter throw shifter.
Don't think yours is for a c3 corvette unless you have a really offset shifter. Here is mine. PM me an email address and I can send a video of the slop.
I was showing you how a "regular" TKO shifter looks. I took that one and modified it to work with a TR6060. Looking at your shifter, it may be the problem. Other TKO C3 shifters look like this one Richard had. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...3-shifter.html
Yours will probably not work with a "regular" style shifter unless you replaced the shifter rail with regular parts. It looks a lot like this one. http://xtremecarzone.com.au/index.php?showtopic=702
That thing just doesn't look like it is engineered well, at least to me.
It still has a bushing, (maybe two with the conversion), and to me would still be worth looking at.
Thanks for all your help! I actually got in touch with the original builder of the shifter and sent him a video. He will get back to me next week. I'll wait to hear from him before I start taking things apart. Right now I can drive the car and don't want to paralyze the car if something goes wrong. Worse case I drive the car this summer and drop the tranny this fall(well I guess the worse case would be it breaking 100 miles away from home). Hopefully he can send me a new better shifter to swap out. Took the car out for a 100 mile Cruze this afternoon with the top down, what a blast and 5th gear(.64) at 80 miles tacs about 2200rpm.
TKO-600 shift throw problem
