I just bought a new Camaro, and I was told it had a shift kit in it. I want to buy a TransGo shift kit, but I'd like to make sure i don't already have it. And also, should I by a Megashifter or the shift kit first?

No sure fire real way to tell what brand shift kit is used except droping the valve body down. A good way to find out if it DOES have a shift kit is to put your car in 1st gear and floor it. If it has a shift kit it will stay in 1st until you hit the tach limit, if it doesent have a shift kit it will shift automaticly into second gear around 5400 rpm locked in 1st.

Flooring it and holding it in first is not going to tell you if you have a shift kit. The forced upshift isn't going to happen anywhere near 5400rpms. I've had 2 completely stock transmissions that would hold first gear out past 6k.

The only way to know anything is to start taking things apart.

Why are you so worried about getting/having a shift kit. And why are you asking what you should get first, a shifter or a shift kit. A shifter isn't going to do a damn thing for you performance wise, and really neither will the shift kit. Get the shifter if you're into non-functional mods or just want to look kool or something. Get the shift kit if you're really dying to change the way your transmission shifts. No offense though, but it seems like you're pretty wet behind the ears, so maybe you'd be better served to save the money and learn what you're doing before you just start randomly doing things for the sake of it.

yea no crap, save the money and learn, i realize you wanna do a quick mod to make your car faster, but you aint gonna get very far with a shift kit. And the first suggestion isnt gonna tell you much, all kits are made different, they shift different, and have different characteristics. if you really want to know if it has one then you have to drop the valve body, but if you dont know what your looking at that wont do any good anyway.

I agree spend your money elsewhere buy a K+N a supercoil or maybe just give the car a tune up a good set of plugs and wires can do more for a car than any shift kit.

If that is a console megashifter you are talking about, don't waste your money on that crap, many posts will tell you they have fit and finish issues and they don't shift right once there in, and as for the shift kit, I wish i never did it to my other car, didn't do anything for me except bark the tires from first to second and I could see some tranny problems down the road. What the guys above told you is true, we would never steer you in a wrong direction.

Maybe I wasn't really looking for a performance upgrade. I just don't like the way my car shifts. And even if i may be "a little wet behind the ears" i do actually try to learn. If I wanted to make my car go faster, I'd definately be asking ?s somewhere other than the tranny board. I know exactly why I asked the questions i asked. I was hoping I could get some polite answers to them, but I guess I asked the wrong people. The reason I want the Megashifter is because i used to drive a stick, and I miss being able to control my shifts.

P.S. I already have super street wires and Bosch platinum plugs. I'm also planning on getting K&Ns and a new exhaust when I freakin feel like it! But like I said I'm satisfied with how fast my car is already.

Hey man don't cop the attitude, we are just trying to answer your question to the best of our ability and expierence. If you want to buy a shift kit and megashi**er, go for it. This is not the way to start your first posts.

ROFLMAO at this guy. If you don't want to hear an answer, then don't ask the question. We're not trying to be rude, you're just asking questions that leave us no choice but to condescend to answer them. Observe...

You asked us how you could tell if it had a shift kit in it. We told you, you have to drop the VB. Period. I even saved you the trouble of blowing your engine by letting you know the first guy's suggestion was wrong before you went and tried it.

Maybe a better question would be: "How do i tell if my tranny is screwed up" Because if your car has a shift kit in it, and it is shifting poorly, thats a good sign that the tranny is on it's way out. Or it could be as simple as a poorly adjusted TV cable. Or it might not even have a shift kit in it. Hell, it might not have a shift kit, AND it might be on it's way out, since most stock 700r4s have pretty decent shifts from the factory anyway (Not necessarily chirping gears, but firm enough for the kind of power these cars made stock) Why is this a good question? Because if your tranny is on it's way out, a shift kit is just going to make the problem worse.

Then you asked us which you should buy first, a megashifter or a shift kit. Considering the 2 have NOTHING to do with each other, why do we care what you buy first? It's not like you're trying to decide whether to do heads/cam/converter and add blower down the road or just slapping a blower on your stock engine then working the engine later. Thats a good question to get opinions on because while both will add a lot of power, and both have advantages and disadvantages in th emeantime. Deciding between a megashifter and a shift kit is like asking if you should buy a new CD player or a set of chrome valve covers. Neither make the car faster, get whatever will make you happy.

As for needing a megashifter to control your shifts. Right. I've manually shifted every car i ever had when need be (track, etc) and i have never owned a megashifter.

thank you please drive through

Thats odd because the only way to eliminate the forced upshift is removing the (MTV up) spring from the valvebody. All shift kits do this to rid the transmission of the forced 1-2 upshift.

Well, I guess I deserved that. Sorry about the attitude earlier. I was in a REALLY bad mood. I had just gotten a ticket for "exhibition of accleration". At least now i don't have to worry about what to buy for my car. I'll be lucky if I don't have to sell the car. But anyways sorry about all that. I'll prolly be askin some more questions when I get some money. Please don't laugh if they sound stupid to you. Thanks for trying to help, even though I'm a stupid butt-hole.

How much is a ticket like that in Kansas? I know here in Hawaii it would be about $80, but I believe moving violation so the insurance is affected also. Bummer.

Ed Maher makes very good points!!

to me a shift kit makes the tranny go right into the next very firm and precise, no slipping, no lag, just from gear to gear in a very timely manner.. shift kits usually make the tires chirp when between the shift.. like someone gunning it off a line in drive and tires usually chirp from 1-2 and 2-3, but that depends on the power of the engine, tires, and type of shift kit..

i think i have a shift kit, or just a great stock 700r4, because i can stomp the gas off the line and when i shift into second i hear alittle chirp from the tires second graps real firm and precise..

It was $87 which is better than i thought it would be. All I'm concerned about is the insurance. Believe me, I'm driving VERY nice from now on.

I know, i've read shift kits advertising this feature, but i've never seen a forced upshift at anything under stratospheric RPMs. I think one time i hit it in my 85 when i wound it way out to 6500 or so by accident one time. The stock tranny in my 92 would also make it to 6k with no shift Did it a few times playing around, and i am sure the tach is accurate in my 92, diacom verified. Just my experience, and like i said, i'd hate to see someone go out, put it in first and floor it till their engine blew up trying to check for a shift kit, knowwhatimean?

I agree, my car will hold first gear well past 5000RPM, I didn't want to push it, but my friend's '90 IROC 350 would force the shift to second around 4800RPM. weird.

I have a megashifter from B&M and I have not had any problems with it. If you can get it go for it, I think they look cool . As far as the shift kit , if you ever do buy one the Transgo shift kit is the only way to go .

Benny, what shift kit did you get? Cause I've read on this forum that the Transgo shift kit is pretty good. And also exactly what kind of fit and finish problems does the Megashifter have? Do you know of any shifters like the Megashifter that are good quality?

I have a Megashifter in my camaro and I LOVE IT. It installed w/o a hitch, and all the electrical stuff works fine. I like the ratchit action feature it has. It did give me a better controll over my shifting, and i dodn;t have to worry about throwing it from 1 to 3 my accidnt. In that was it did help performance, maybe some people got a messed up one or something, but mine is awsome and i would recomend it HIGHLY.

I put the B&M transpak in my old '92 Z28, the kit was good I guess I just got tired of the really hard shifts from 1st to 2nd, but I guess that is what we buy them for. If I do it to my B4C I will go with the transgo kit, I have heard nothing but good things about it and that it actually extends the life of the transmission. About the megashifter: I have read posts about the fit and finish problem but maybe the people installing these did not either read the instructions correctly or was doing a hurry up job, I have also read posts that say no problems, some posts say they had to hack up the console to install it, I don't believe that, that shifter has been on the market for the camaro console for many years so it must be a good product. The Hammer shifter from B&M is a nice looking one also, I do not know if they make it in a console style.

Bottom line: I spent $60 on the B&M transkit and should have spent $125 from Summit for the transgo, you get what you pay for, I will not make that same mistake again. Thanks

Anth,
Sorry you got jumped no like that. I read your initial post and I don't really get why you got the repsonses you did. There seems to be a change in how people treat each other on this Forum. This is one reason I rarely come in here anymore.

You can get very firm shifts for a variety of reasons so that is not a surefire way to tell if the Tranny has been modified. Even one that shifts soft may have something in it but could be on the way out. You don't actually have to drop the VB to tell if you have a genuine (TransGo) Shift Kit/Reprogramming Kit. If you drop the pan and look at the plunger that the TV Cable actuates, look towards the front where a spring is visable. If you see a flat piece of metal in there you have the TransGo. Depending on what direction is facing down you will see writing on it too. As far as performance goes, it is true that in many cases a Shift Kit will not always bring an improvement but it will increase the life of the unit if it is in "OK" working order and there are no internal problems ready to rear their heads (such as a worn bushing allowing the Input Shaft to rub on the inside of the Stator Tube). The SK along with proper shift timing calibration can do wonders for performance though. In fact, with that you really don't have much need for an aftermarket shifter as it will shift when you want it at any throttle position. I hope this helps.

Transfixleo I also don't understand why he got the response that he did. That is why I responded in a more friendly tone. It kind of makes any new member kind of nervous to ask a question.