I am rebuilding my 1973 camaro and it was recommended to me by a friend that since the trans has been sitting idle for the last 5-6years that i should take it to a trans shop and have it cleaned up and also to install a shift kit. What would that do for me and/or what is its purpose?

Also they recommended putting in a stall converter (2500) instead of using original torque converter. Also what would this do and what is its purpose? Thanks

A torque converter allows a certain amount of slip in an automatic tranny before fully engaging the drive train (over simplified). In essence, this allows your car to build up horsepower and torque before transferring to the drive train. The size of your converter depends on the tranny, gear, cam, and engine. I have a 350 with a 278/284 split duration cam, 400 HP, 700R4 tranny, 3.73 rear end. I run the Buick Grand National 2500 converter, which give me a good balance of daily driver and street performance.

Also - I made the mistake of putting in the shift kit. If you have the HP, you won't need it. In my opinion, shift kits are for lower HP motors where you want to catch scratch between gears and your car doesn't have the power to do it! Hope this helps. 68 Camaro (http://www.excipio.net/camaro)

If you are making decent torque and using a stall converter, I would definitely put in a shift kit. They come in different stages and will give you a better shift.With more power and a stall converter, your shifts will feel soft without one. A stage 1 type kit only replaces a few springs etc... and is no big deal, it is the same kit installed on towing and recreation vehicles for better performance.

The shift kit answer also depends on your use. Daily driver - the hard shifts will get obnoxious. Weekend crusing or track use - then put them in. Just my two cents.

im gonna put in a stage 3 kit in my 87 camaro, its for extreme hard shifts... but this car is not for daily driving so i can take the risk

I have a stage 2 shift kit in my camaro. The 1-2 shift is way harder than the 2-3. If you are just cruising around though, the 1-2 isnt that bad... but if you are leaning into the throttle 1/2 way, the 1-2 gives you a little bark no problem. This is coming from a guy with 280HP.

a shift kit will firm the shifts back up, a higher stall converter will soften them

transgo all the way (firmest settings)

You said the transmission had been sitting for a while. How many miles does it have on it. In my experience, old trannies don't like shift kits. If they've got more than 60,000 or so on them, you just might wake up the deamons.

-dnult