Well the weather this weekend in TN was absolutly perfect. I was able to log a ton of miles from friday to sunday. The transmission itself is quiet but I still ache for my old longer hurst shifter handle. The throws are short but hard at first. Then by sunday afternoon it had loosened up quite a bit and I don't miss my hurst so much. I did hear a grinding noise on saturday so I thought the driveshaft might have hit the tunnel but I couldn't see anything and it never happened again so the gremlin must have fallen off. I took it on the interstate and was cruising at 2200 with traffic. I don't know what speed I was going because Keisler (after over 4 months since I ordered) has still not sent me my speedo gear and cable. I guess I'll have to call (oh joy) again! I did get on it once sunday afternoon and I didn't feel a bog shifting into second which was a concern with my motor and it did bark the tires in first and shifting into second. Of course my 4 speed did that too.
Now the only drawback (not Keislers fault) with my 3.70 rear end first gear is useless. I have no idea how much a 3.36 rear would get me but I would guess a 3.08 would be better. I don't know for sure maybe some people with tremecs can tell me what rear gear I need. I'm frustrated because the whole point of getting a tremec was so I could do a head and cam swap. But now I might have to put that on hold to do a rear end swap. Also if I knew I had to do a rear end swap I would have bought a 5 speed rischmond and put a 3.08 rear in. I think performance wise that would have been a better choice and I wouldn't have to deal with calling Keisler up every three days begging them to ship me something.
Now that its in it does shift nice and the overdrive sure comes in handy. It is a quality piece and went in without hacking up my crossmember.
Oh well live and learn.
I wonder would a high torque low revving engine or a high hp high revving engine be a better choice for the tremec and 3.7 rear. I wonder if a cam swap might make the tranny more enjoyable. I guess thats fodder for another thread someday.

 

I drove a friend's 78 last summer right after he'd swapped the 700r for a TKO, he's running 3.55 rear gears. I like the way the car shifted, the acceleration was also great! :cheers:

 

Goovyjay did you feel his first gear was usefull?

 

If you are swapping a longer duration cam then you will prolly not have such a short 1st gear duration since you will be able to rev higher. Believe the tremec is intended for the person who hits the track on a occassion so with your 3.70, a long duration cam and some tires that hook you would be screaming in the 1/4 mile. That being said I am consider swapping someone with a 3.08 or 3.36 (for my 3.70) and going the Richmond 5 speed route to save $1000.

 

I have a 700r4 and 3.73 in my Formula and 1st is usefull for great burn outs. :) I really do not care for the shift patterns with the combo, 1st is too short and it drops off too much shifting into 2nd but that is pretty much a wide held opinion.

 

I love my setup (3.73 gears and Tremec TKO)... On the street - I just spin the tires through the first 4 gears if accelerating heavily..

However - the short first gear rocks at the track.. My 60' times are 1.59 - 1.64 with slicks. I could get even better 60' times if I'd launch harder but I would probably blow up my differential if I would...

 

Like GS. :lol:

 

I agree thats a problem with the tremec too. I might try and get used to the combo for now and do the swap with a longer duration cam. Maybe it will just take time to get used to it.
You might save $800 over the tremec but my reasoning was $2000 for the richmond $450 for a rear end swap and $400 for the hurst shifter( I haven't heard any good things about the long shifter) so thats $2850 the same price as the tremec. Just my .02

 

I can't imagine you would have any trouble swapping with someone for 3.08's (the ones I would use). Did this on a Cobra kit with a Richmond and a Ford 427 and it's dangerous!

Hans

 

Grandsport would rpm do you shift at on the track?

 

I have 3.90's with my TKO and haven't found it to be a big problem. I would probably be better off with a 3.70, but I autox more than going down the strip, so it works good for me (I usually don't use 1st at autocross ;) ). I love the highway cruising I get w/ the TKO :D

 

I thought is was fine, he said he might be going for 3.08 gears though... :confused:

 

6000 RPM.. but that'll change.. I will have to shift at 6400 with my new intake (it shifted the RPM range of the engine 400 RPM higher).
I launch at 3000 RPM..

 

I've got 3:08's ......Anyone want to swap their 3:55,s or :70's let me know.

 

I ran into the same problem with 1st gear. I would move about a car length and need to shift. I was running 4.11 and switched back to my 308's that were original. I like it alot better with the 308's for getting off the line. The problem with 308's is that at 50 mph you are about 1300 in overdrive and unless you motor has tons of torque it will have a problem. 1550 is 60 mph and that is fine with torque.
The transmission needs about 500 miles on it before it loosens up enough for smoother shifts.
Mine is going into it's 3rd year and I am very happy with it.

 

It works perfect with my setup.. but my engine has over 400 ft/lbs of RWTQ between 3600 and 5200 RPM... :D :D so it's not a big deal...

 

Groovyjay - thats funny maybe some people (including me) are never happy.

Grandsport - It seems if you shift at 6000 rpm you would have to shift into 4th in the quarter mile which would bring your times down. Are you in fourth at the end when you run the 1/4

Maybe I will just drive the car for awhile and see if I can get used to it. Maybe its just going to take time to get used to it. I am dieing to put those aluminum heads on anyway :D

 

I absolutely love the Long shifter! :yesnod: Very high quality and well engineered.

Chuck

 

I read one installation where the poster commentated the long shifter supplied was not correct, or wasn't the best fit, so they got a diff Long shifter, seems the new one had a shorter throw if I remember right. I cannot find the post and am unsure whether it was here but I think I found it on another site. :confused:

 

Someday, I would like a Tremec swap.
However, the 1st gear ratio was a concern. With a 3.70 rear, first gear is "short and sweet".

Tremec now have the answer.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=749885

The 2.89 first gear, .64 overdrive Transmission.

You could sell your transmission, and install one of those.
Likely cheaper than changing the rear.

Lots of demand for the Tremec.