Keisler 5-speed conversion on Early A-body: Install has begun

Longgone said
Hey Dave, I got the trans in and "OH MY GOD"..............this is a bad !@#$%^&*. With the 3.91 ring and pinion, 1st gear is like a 4.23 and after all the stoplight to stoplight stuff ,you can drive right up on the interstate. Wow ,this is the most drastic and profound change I`ve made to the car and I wish I would have done it first. Between the trans (and the extra 60 cubes I added) the car is just amazing. A couple things you might do when you install yours is to install your speedo cable as you bolt up the rear crossmember because you`ll have a hell of a time doing it later if you don`t. If you`re not going to use the electronic speedo simply cut it off with a hacksaw because it gets in the way. The nuetral safety switch can go the same way if your not going to use it. I just cut the pigtail off mine. The crossmember ,oddly enough ,fit much better one way than the other ? I did have a leak at the top cover which was remedied with RTV, so you`ll want top be careful on install that you don`t bump them. They`re pretty light stuff and don`t take any bumps well. I also removed the center hump (Keisler supplied sheet metal) that I initially put in and fabbed a much smaller piece that kept the contours of my carpet closer to what they were. Keisler didn`t have a shifter for use with the console so I`m searching for something now that`ll work. In the meantime I`ve made one from a 5/8 anchor bolt. I think you`ll be happy with the trans/transformation in your car. We`ll be waiting to see how things progress.Regards- John

That's awesome John. Glad you are happy with the car. I can't wait to get mine going. I'm going to change the floor sheetmetal as well so my carpet sits down better. I knew about the electronic speedo and figured I would unscrew it and clock it so it is out of the way. I don't need the neutral safety switch either. I'll just keep it capped in case I ever use it. Yea the tranny mount only fits one way on my car. Great advise on installing the speedo cable...thanks. The other thing I heard from TTI at the spring fling was you have to make sure the tail shaft angle is just right...otherwise the tti headers and tti exhaust will have trouble mounting up properly. I may have to shim the poly mount to get a good angle. I'll have everything on a cradle so I'll be able to see everything pretty well before it goes under the car.

I hope to have my car back home in a couple of weeks. It's on the home stretch from the painter. :headbang:

Thanks again for all the advise. I'm sure that I will be keeping in touch.

Dave