Shift kits.. do you really need one????

Bakerlite said
I think I may not have made the reason for this thread clear. It's not about if you should have a shift kit, it's more about if you really need to use all the parts and do all the mods that the kit asks you do to, when you are building a trans from scratch.
The first part I'm looking at is the cup plug and it looks like if you were to use the correct selection of parts and clearances at build time then this plug would not be necessary..
It's easy to say.. " oh yeah, just stick a shift kit in it" but how many people really know exactly why they are doing these things.

As I said, so far, there are two parts I would use in the kit. That's the
New manual valve and the stiffer line pressure spring.
I'd like to discuss the rest of the parts and why we would use them..
I think it's a good topic and would give a different perspective on trans building..

Put all of the parts in or don't put any in. There's been a lot of thought and testing into the kit. It's a system. I once had a guy come back to me complaining about the rotten kit I sold him and how it @#%^*@up his valve body. He ended up with 2nd, neutral, reverse, and park only. When I looked into the box he was returning, there were a lot of parts in it. I asked why he didn't install all of the parts as per the instruction sheet, and he told me his buddy (who wasn't a trans builder) said they weren't required. Unless you're a qualified transmission builder, or your "source of information is" and have an understanding of how the hydraulics work in a transmission why would you not install the kit as per the instructions. All kits work, some better than others, but all kit manufacteurs have spent a lot of time and money to make the kit work as it should.
just my $.25 worth