Absolutely Gary, you would be very surprised how firm a shift you can get with the little plate between the valve body kit. I did my first one lying on my back as a teenager, TR
Gary, just to point out, on one of the B&M kits, you have the choice of the firmness and it requires you to drill one of the holes in the plate I mentioned above. I highly recommend doing this in a drill press, and be sure to use a good back up piece under the plate before drilling.
Done them shift kits many times that way. If it's your first time,just follow instructions and you'll be good.
A good kit is manufactured by TransGo. They don't do a lot of advertising & that keeps their price reasonable. I've used two of their kits in a Ford C-4 automatic.
You can do it with the trans in the car, just go slow and pay attention to how it comes apart. You'll love yourself in the morning ha ha ha
Trans-Go is a great kit, as the others have said FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! Replace the filter while you are at it. A lift helps a lot but you can do it on your back. Don't forget you need a large catch pan for the fluid (diameter & capacity). Good Luck KK
have done a few--as all have said--follow the instructions--kinda messy but not that hard and you will really like the change-used transgo kit
Both companys mentioned are good, tell us more about the car and we can narrow the kit down for you. If your pan does not have a drain plug, now would be a good time to get one of those drain-plug kit's and install it, less than $10 and 10 minutes time.
Ok,it does have a drain plug. It is a 30 highboy roadster (don't know the weight) has a fresh 390 Cadillac engine,turbo 350 trans,8" ford rear with 2.79 gears. Not a race car,but a driver---geared for highway & economy. Don't know if I really need a shift kit,but understand they also extend tranny life,and wouldn't be a bad thing to hear a little chirb when shifting into 2nd once in a while lol Seems I heard somewhere about people having trouble losing,or dropping check balls when doing this job while tranny is in the car???any thoughts on that?
Sweep the floor, jack the car up as high and safely as possible (ramps and jack stands),drain the pan, remove pan and filter. Now have your tin foil turkey roasting pan under the trans and loosen the valve body bolts evenly until it drops straight out and place it in the pan. Follow the instruction and put it back together, you can do it.
Make sure when dropping the valve body to keep it level and don't loose track of the check balls. Do not turn it over to look at the bottom...
They are fairly easy to install and a lift helps but is not a must. I did my first one on my back,,the next one was on a lift,,,much easier
I put the B&M kit in mine in Harry's garage with Kevin "Shoe" looking on.Easy! If I can do it,well....you being the "Iron Man" won't have any problems!
Messy to do in the car, I have done it, but prefer the trans out of the car. You will need some vaseline to hold the check balls in place when putting them back in, the vaseline will dissolve in the oil. Also need an inch pound torque wrench for the valve body reinstall. I prefer the B/M transpak on level 2, no holes to drill and will give good solid shift, tire chirping if you are on the throttle and the converter is not too loose. Lets you hold the trans in any gear to any RPM and will also shift automatically in D.
keep everything very clean, keep track of the check balls when you drop the lower half of the valve body, and use paper towels when you wipe parts off. a shop rag may leave lint and lint can hang up a spool valve.
I like the B&M kits. I usually go with the heavy duty/taxi modification and not the the street/strip set up. The heavy duty setup gives clean crisp shifts and the street/strip is pretty harsh (hard on the neck and u-joints) on EVERY shift.
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