Keisler RS Transmission

[Darwinskeeper]

After spending the past year saving money and wondering if I'll have a job, I am starting to think about trying to get Darwin to live up to my initial promisses.

One of my first steps would be to replace the ancient Saginaw 3 speed with a better transmission. I had been debating between the wide ratio Super T-10 (3.42, 2.28, 1.46, 1.00) and the Tremec TKO 500 (3.27, 1.98, 1.34, 1.00,.68). I have also heard about a promissing transmission from Keisler called the RS (3.37, 1.99, 1.33, 1.00, .67). The smaller RS400 is supposed to match the TKO in price and have a supposed to be a better fit for a Malibu trans tunnel. Unfortunately it is offered by Keisler which has a reputation of overpromissing and underperforming.

Does anyone have any experience with this box?

http://www.keislerauto.com/?gclid=CPf3xpXJ26cCFU9pKgodR0zN-Q

 

[LS6 Tommy]

IMO, other than taking a little dead stop acceleration load off the engine with deeper 1st & 2nd gear ratios, no "standard" 4 speed is going to make any significant difference in overall mileage as they all have a 1:1 final drive ratio like your 3 speed. Auto Gear Engineering has the "Syracuse" M21Y. It's a standard duty Muncie based 4 speed with a .086 OD 4th gear.

http://autogear.net/pdf/AGE_M20_M22_orderform.pdf

Tommy

 

[SSedan64]

There's a guy from Auto Gear on Hotrodders.com forum if you want to PM him directly. Screen name is "AutoGear".

 

[abigda]

IMO, other than taking a little dead stop acceleration load off the engine with deeper 1st & 2nd gear ratios, no "standard" 4 speed is going to make any significant difference in overall mileage as they all have a 1:1 final drive ratio like your 3 speed. Auto Gear Engineering has the "Syracuse" M21Y. It's a standard duty Muncie based 4 speed with a .086 OD 4th gear.

http://autogear.net/pdf/AGE_M20_M22_orderform.pdf

Tommy

Thanks Tommy, I checked out that site and the overdrive 4th gear is exactly what mine needs. The nice part is they sell the gear sets by themselves

 

[StreetBu]

The best part for me is they are 15 miles from house Last time I went in there I asked the guy for a reverse Idler for my Muncie, he reached on his desk and handed it to me 3 seconds later and asked what else I needed LOL They know their transmission's!

 

[Darwinskeeper]

After a long time of saving and preparation I will finally be able to get the new garage built and will then be able to start getting my project cars (starting with Darwin) into shape.

One of the first things on my mind is replacing the current Saginaw 3 speed with a proper high performance transmission. I'm intriged by Keisler's new RS 5 speed. A 5 speed overdrive transmission with 400lb ft torque capacity, a reasonable $2300 price tag and an envelope that will fit inside my Malibu's transmission tunnel almost sounds too good to be true. Sadly, given Keisler's performance with the G body TKO swap kit, I'm wondering if this is too good to be true. For the most part all I've seen on the net are media postings of Keisler's PR and questions from curious would be customers like me.

Any thoughts? Better yet, anybody with any experience with this transmission?

 

[Darwinskeeper]

Tommy,

You have to understand my problem. With Darwin's 4.3 V6 and the 2.41 gears, the Sag's 3rd gear is too tall for anything less than 50mph or so, so I do most of my time running around town in 2nd gear (1.89 which makes for a 4.55 final drive). With the Z ratio Super T-10, I would be able to use a 1.46 3rd gear (final drive 3.52) for around town driving.

The M21Y is an interesting possibility. I figured that with 3.08 gears, I would have a 2.65 final drive in 4th and a 3.08 in third to play with. Also, if Darwin's 7.5 bought the farm, I'd be able to find 3.08 gears for her replacement 8.5 rear end.

Thanks!!!

 

[ron c]

i am installing one in my 78 nova, it shift very nice hoping have it done soon, they dont have a kit for my car some i got transmission and driveshaft for 1800, only hole i had to cut was hole for the shifter, yes i am puting a 4.3 in the nova too and i am running 2.73 gears

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Tommy,

You have to understand my problem. With Darwin's 4.3 V6 and the 2.41 gears, the Sag's 3rd gear is too tall for anything less than 50mph or so, so I do most of my time running around town in 2nd gear (1.89 which makes for a 4.55 final drive). With the Z ratio Super T-10, I would be able to use a 1.46 3rd gear (final drive 3.52) for around town driving.

The M21Y is an interesting possibility. I figured that with 3.08 gears, I would have a 2.65 final drive in 4th and a 3.08 in third to play with. Also, if Darwin's 7.5 bought the farm, I'd be able to find 3.08 gears for her replacement 8.5 rear end.

Thanks!!!

I totally blew past the whole point. You have a 3 speed... I forgot what a huge gap there is between 2nd & 3rd. With that in mind, yes any 4 speed is a huge improvement.

Tommy