Kirkham Trans Shifter ?

[FUNFER2]

A while back I saw a thread that David did not like everything about the Tremec shifter, made a couple of changes, hut he wasn't happy so he built his own, even his box, that I thought he called it.

I'm trying to find more information and,...price

All I know is it worked and looked fantastic. (as always) 👍

[spdbrake]

Page 9.

http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/aoe_14.pdf

Probably a great idea to call Kirkham for the pricing I'm guessing.

[FredG]

Compared to the older 4 speed Muncies, Tremecs shift like crap. There are some internal modifications that can be made to make them shift better. If you are looking for a shorter shifter, just replace the current one with a short Hurst. First thing you will notice is that you are now shifting by pulling and pushing forward and backwards instead of pulling up and down.

Fred

[FUNFER2]

Thank you.

[patrickt]

Note that in the PDF referenced they write: "The bell housing must be aligned within 0.012 inches of runout. If the transmission is not in line with the crank shaft, there will be a bind on the input shaft causing the transmission to shift poorly." I personally believe that failure to align the bell housing properly is the cause of 98% of the transmission shifting complaints on this forum, regardless of the manufacturer. When I was up at ERA many moons ago, it literally took them the better part of a day to get my Lakewood aligned, doweled, and bolted up to my FE. And that was with the engine on a stand, not in the car. This point can't be emphasized enough when your drive train is being put together.

[FUNFER2]

Originally Posted by spdbrake

Page 9.

http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/aoe_14.pdf

Probably a great idea to call Kirkham for the pricing I'm guessing.

I tried their email but it came back as undeliverable ?

sales@kirkhammotorsports.com

[FUNFER2]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Note that in the PDF referenced they write: "The bell housing must be aligned within 0.012 inches of runout. If the transmission is not in line with the crank shaft, there will be a bind on the input shaft causing the transmission to shift poorly." I personally believe that failure to align the bell housing properly is the cause of 98% of the transmission shifting complaints on this forum, regardless of the manufacturer. When I was up at ERA many moons ago, it literally took them the better part of a day to get my Lakewood aligned, doweled, and bolted up to my FE. And that was with the engine on a stand, not in the car. This point can't be emphasized enough when your drive train is being put together.

I assume you're talking about the hydraulic shifter ?

If so, I just have the normal. I didn't want the headaches of the hydro I hear about, especially with the confines on the Cobra.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by FUNFER2

I assume you're talking about the hydraulic shifter ?

If so, I just have the normal. I didn't want the headaches of the hydro I hear about, especially with the confines on the Cobra.

No. Aligning the bell housing to the crankshaft has to be as close to perfect as you can possibly get. With a bell housing like my Lakewood, it takes time, trial, and error, to get it just right and then you set it with dowels so when the BH is removed in the future you don't have to repeat the operation. I am told that Quicktime bell housings are considerably better out of the box than Lakewoods, FWIW. If you don't have the BH dialed in properly, your transmission will not be aligned correctly and you will have problems. Dialing in a bell housing does not require an advanced engineering degree, it just takes the time and the patience to do it right. If the engine is sitting on a stand, it is wayyyyy easier to do than lying on your back under the car where you might very well be tempted to say "well I've been under here for an hour, that's good enough." I have no doubt that if the Kirkhams were dropping an engine/trans combo in they would do an outstanding job dialing in the bell housing, as did the elves at ERA. Anybody else and I would ask to personally see the gauge run around the bell housing opening to see what the numbers were.

[eschaider]

I had an interest in that particular Kirkhan shifter recently also. When I called Kirkham to inquire about it I discovered what I had suspected but needed to confirm. Apparently there were a small number (2?) of them made. One was used in Larry Ellison's billet Cobra and the one in Sandwich's Cobra, that he used on his wedding day.

There was no continuing demand for the shifters and It has been years since those were manufactured. Even when they were manufactured, it appears, they were what most firms might have called proof of concept or engineering prototypes. The pics I had seen of the Ellison shifter and then Sandwich's shifter while similar had small IMO inconsequential differences.

I found a good alternative available from Mike Forte. He calls it his TKO Mid-Shift conversion. Here is a link to it on his site, click here => TKO Mid Shift. Mike uses a Pro 5.0 mechanism and CNC's a billet adapter to mount the shifter in the mid-shift position on the TKO. He makes the kit for 3550's and TKO 500/600 cases.

Mike's mid shift location on the TKO allows for a natural straight up and down shifter with a natural positioning at the front edge of the driver's seat. When you are done, the install looks and feels very much like a shifter in a 289 car. Gone is the up and down shifting and it is replaced with a more natural and much more comfortable back and forth shifter movement

I am going up to my race car garage this afternoon to do some work on a new engine build. I have a TKO out on a shop cart with a Forte shifter installed and a homemade shift lever attached but not yet trimmed to proper length. I'll take a few pics and post them up this evening.

BTW the shifter stops on the Pro 5.0 mechanism are functional and quite nice.


Ed

[FUNFER2]

Originally Posted by patrickt

No. Aligning the bell housing to the crankshaft has to be as close to perfect as you can possibly get. With a bell housing like my Lakewood, it takes time, trial, and error, to get it just right and then you set it with dowels so when the BH is removed in the future you don't have to repeat the operation. I am told that Quicktime bell housings are considerably better out of the box than Lakewoods, FWIW. If you don't have the BH dialed in properly, your transmission will not be aligned correctly and you will have problems. Dialing in a bell housing does not require an advanced engineering degree, it just takes the time and the patience to do it right. If the engine is sitting on a stand, it is wayyyyy easier to do than lying on your back under the car where you might very well be tempted to say "well I've been under here for an hour, that's good enough." I have no doubt that if the Kirkhams were dropping an engine/trans combo in they would do an outstanding job dialing in the bell housing, as did the elves at ERA. Anybody else and I would ask to personally see the gauge run around the bell housing opening to see what the numbers were.

I bought the Quick Time, and I had a little problem aligning the Trans shaft into the pilot bearing for me, so I bought three from Summit between Jegs and all three were different in size. A friend that is a machinist took some measurements and made a bushing at work, and it is PERFECT lol. So the bell, input & clutch are almost perfect. I've never had them inlign so well.

[spdbrake]

sales@kirkhammotorsports.com is working.

David responded to me in less than an hour.

[eschaider]

This is what the Forte mid-shift shifter looks like installed on a TKO. Mike did a very nice job adapting the Pro 5.0 hardware to the Tremec.



Here is a side view of the shifter



and here is a measuring tape view to get a sense of the height of the shifter



I cut the shifter length intentionally long so I could shorten it to my taste later. When I was talking with Kirkham I asked how tall their shift lever was and they thought it was pretty close to 6 inches. The two sharpie marks on the shifter are for a ball height of 6 inches for the lower mark and 6.5 inches for the upper mark.



The measurement is to the top of the ball. There are at least two different ball diameters I am aware of. One is 2 inches and the other is 2.5 inches. The shift ball I have is a 2.5 inch version so the shift bar needs to be cut 2.5 inches below the target mark. I am going to start at 6.5 inches so I can lower it later if necessary.

Hope this helps anyone trying to do the mid shift mod — BTW it is very easy to do.

In the FWIW bucket I chose to use 17-4 stainless bar for the shifter partly because it is strong, partly because it will not rust and partly because when I get done polishing it, it will look like chrome.

To get a sense of the visual here is a link to the shifter in the billet Cobra Kirkham built for Ellison, click here => Tremec Mid Shift and go to page 273 and 275 to see the shifter. Here is another view click here => Mid Shift Side View and go to page 58.


Ed

[FUNFER2]

Originally Posted by spdbrake

sales@kirkhammotorsports.com is working.

David responded to me in less than an hour.

It still,...comes back as undeliverable ?