FiReBReTHa

My apologies, ive researched all i could,
i have a 91 firebird 305, its auto, (sux) and i wanted to change over to a manual but cost is a Large factor. i kept on seeing this thing about B&M
Is it a manual shifter for Automatics? or how would you classify it?
and how is it setup?
Our autos are
[P]
[R]
[N]
[OD]
[D]
[2]
[1]

What is it on a B&m,
any info you guys can give is appreciated... and how is it to install cause id prob do it at my school with a lift..

Thanx In advance!

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

B&M makes a million products. Are you referring to the Megashifter? It's primary purpose is just to stop you from over-shifting if you are the type of person that likes to manually shift your automatic. I bought it because I was sick of dumping it into 1st gear every time I pulled it back to 2nd to go down a steep hill. Instead of just pulling the shifter back into 1'st gear like you do with the stock shifter, you bang it back, then it returns to it's original position. You do that once for each gear. Once you're in first, you just bang it forward to shift into second, then bang it again for the next gear, etc. If you're the type of guy that just puts it into "D" and forgets about it, you'll find no functional advantage to buying it.

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FiReBReTHa

AAAh... im startin to understand it,
i learned that if you manualy change gears (all the time) it will destroy your tranny, so then i thought for some strange thing this would avoid that. i still like the shifter, but have no use for until i think i get what is called a 'shift kit' ?
that will change your valve body, has anyone had experiance with this? like doing it yourself, or how much on average does it cost to get installed,

Thanx

TomP

Don't know how much it is to have installed, but it's easy to install yourself. Visit the "Transmissions & Drivetrain" message area, there's quite a few messages about shift kits. In fact I wrote up a huge list of hints in one of them- just go to the transmission forum, click on search, type in "shift kit snap ring", and click on search again.

Oh the B&M lists the shift pattern as 1, 2, 3, D, N, R, P. D becomes 3, and OD becomes D, as it should be.

You don't 'need' a shift kit to use the Megashifter.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

89camaroRSV6

can u just use the mega shifter like a ordinary drive mode ... simply by pushing it into drive and forgettin about it... or do i have to manually go from 1 to 4 all the time..

????

whats a forward and reverse valve bodies...

Mark305TBI

It works just like your stock shifter with the exception that it only moves "up" one gear at a time. This way you can pull it down into first when you're racing (or something) hold it in first 'till it's time and put your weight into moving it to second. On your stock shifter it would slide up all the way to neutral (unless your careful). Other than that, it works just like stock. So yes, you can just leave it in drive.

89camaroRSV6

oh yeah good to see that someone responds to a thread thats almost 1 1/2 years old

thanx ...

and what do u think of the B&M shift kit

would it kill my tranny or does it improve life

Mark305TBI

Wow...I didn't even look at the date that it was originally posted.

Don't know anything about shift kits...sorry.

FiReBReTHa

smoother harder shifts,

Jza

Depending on the kit, I wouldn't say "smoother"..

[nevermind on this second part]

Rizock2000

Is it really that bad for the tranny to powershift from 1,2,D,to OD? I had my tranny rebuilt just a couple of months ago, but I powershift just about any time I come to a stop light. Am I going to blow my tranny again doing this?

Mkos1980

iTrader: (8)

I upshift but I dont downshift.

Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

As far as hurting the tranny goes...the tranny doesn't know whether it's the computer or the driver that's doing the shifting. It's just that if YOU are shifting, it's probably more aggressive driving, at higher RPMs. Therefore it is probably gonna wear out the tranny faster, but no, it's not actually the shifting that's doing it.
As for the reverse valve body is concerned, I think it allows you to shift in a reverse pattern. So if you were drag racing, you'd pull BACK from 1 into 2, then BACK into 3....etc. instead of pushing it up the pattern.
I do have a B&M MS question ... can't you operate it exactly like a stock shifter, using the trigger to downshift, and just being careful when you shift from 1,2,3 etc.? Then if you WANT to ratchet shift, I thought you had to push DOWN on the t handle when in nuetral or something? I dunno?

84RIceEater

ypu.

rocluvr0013

lol... uh this thread is 5 years old. It was actually originally started in 2000!

chevymetal

wouldn't that make it 7 years old??

Kenneth'sbirdie

nope now its 8