should i get shift kit/restall or get a loan for a full ipt trans?

[ryu]

well in january i will be dropping about 5k on performance parts for my car. my car is stock right now. (i have a 91 eagle talon, awd auto w/64k miles) in that 5 thousand, ill be getting a t04b w/support for around 20 psi. im shootin for low 12's. ok so heres my q. in that 5k i have about 1-1500 hundred researved for the endclutch,shift kit,restall and cooler/installed. correct me if im wrong but the ipt full rebuilt trans installed is like 4k right?and this comes w/a aftermarket torque converter correct?ok so. well im scared that my stock trans wont hold up and if i blow it, ill need a trans rebuild anyways, and i just dropped a bunch of money for a stock restalled torque converter/and shift kit install labor costs. should i just stay on the stock (stock stock) trans for 2 or 3 months? in those three months i can save up 2k. and you add the 1500 i have now, for the trans, and another 500 loan or soemthing and just get the fulll rebuilt trans??? i just dont want to end up throwing money away.if i stay w/stock trans then atleast if i blow the trans and rebuild it. ill only be paying labor to take apart my trans once rather than twice. so what doyou guys think????

 

[98TalonTSi]

My philosiphy is 1 never but yourself in a debt over the car 2 if you cant afford what you really want at that time, then just wait...would another few months hurt? Say you did drop all 5gs on the car, then you do the trans work you mentioned and then the trans does go....then you're in trouble.
Just a question though....is the 5g all in parts and you're doing the labor yourself?

 

[StyleElements]

well in january i will be dropping about 5k on performance parts for my car. my car is stock right now. (i have a 91 eagle talon, awd auto w/64k miles) in that 5 thousand, ill be getting a t04b w/support for around 20 psi. im shootin for low 12's. ok so heres my q. in that 5k i have about 1-1500 hundred researved for the endclutch,shift kit,restall and cooler/installed. correct me if im wrong but the ipt full rebuilt trans installed is like 4k right?and this comes w/a aftermarket torque converter correct?ok so. well im scared that my stock trans wont hold up and if i blow it, ill need a trans rebuild anyways, and i just dropped a bunch of money for a stock restalled torque converter/and shift kit install labor costs. should i just stay on the stock (stock stock) trans for 2 or 3 months? in those three months i can save up 2k. and you add the 1500 i have now, for the trans, and another 500 loan or soemthing and just get the fulll rebuilt trans??? i just dont want to end up throwing money away.if i stay w/stock trans then atleast if i blow the trans and rebuild it. ill only be paying labor to take apart my trans once rather than twice. so what doyou guys think????

i was thinking the same way you are now. i was afraid of killing my stock trans, so i had my trans rebuild and beefed up. i sent the converter to dynamic. well when i got it back and put it all back together, dynamic messed up the converter. they made it to tight and it choked trans fluid and fried my trans. i had it rebuild again. from when i fried it, microscopic metal shavings screwed up a solenoid (spelling??) causeing the car to get stuck in 4th gear, causeing the tans to fry, again. i finally sent it to dean mason, and he rebuilt it and strightend the whole mess out. so moral of the story, if i would have just left it alone in the very begining, and didnt have it rebuilt, it prolly would be fine to this day. be very careful who you send your trans to if you do. sure i have a wicked trans right now, but it took about 5 grand to get it there. as for the shift kit, well ... to be honest i cant even feel a differance. for the converter, if you want to build a race car, go for it. but for everyday driving it sucks. it makes the car slow unless your to the floor. before i put a converter in it, gasing it from a 55mph roll, the car would bark the tires for a good 1/2 to a full second. now it wount even turn them over. ???? i dont know, my .02

 

[Jehu]

Sound like you still have a problem with your trans. A higher stall TC should not make that much of a difference from a roll. If anything it should improve it as it will allow a slightly higher speed differential between the two sides of the TC, hence drop you more firmly in the power band. It sounds like the tranny isn't kicking down...Is it? Any other changes when you changed the tranny?

I know most people who put in a shift kit felt a big difference. I know I did. When I first put it in, the difference was night and day. It felt like the car turned from granny shifting to power shifting. When my trans blew, I had a stock trans in there w/o the shiftkit, and the difference was again very apparent.

 

[StyleElements]

Sound like you still have a problem with your trans. A higher stall TC should not make that much of a difference from a roll. If anything it should improve it as it will allow a slightly higher speed differential between the two sides of the TC, hence drop you more firmly in the power band. It sounds like the tranny isn't kicking down...Is it? Any other changes when you changed the tranny?

I know most people who put in a shift kit felt a big difference. I know I did. When I first put it in, the difference was night and day. It felt like the car turned from granny shifting to power shifting. When my trans blew, I had a stock trans in there w/o the shiftkit, and the difference was again very apparent.

no, the higher the stall taking off normal, the more the car will feel like its taking off in second gear. this is because the tc is letting it slip more then stock. this is why i say it makes it feel slow. if you are just driving around town, and you accelerate a little, it lets the converter slip more, so your just building more rpm instead of just accelerating as normal. now if i was crusing and i smashed the gas, then it would let the tc slip enough to allow me to build a lot of rpms before the converter .. catches up, if you will .. allowing me to blast off at a higher rpm, higher boost.

and i dont know about this shift kit, i have the trans lab, i installed it, didnt do very much at all, then after i got it back from dean mason, he put a whole differant one on and it still feels the same

 

[ryu]

no, the higher the stall taking off normal, the more the car will feel like its taking off in second gear. this is because the tc is letting it slip more then stock. this is why i say it makes it feel slow. if you are just driving around town, and you accelerate a little, it lets the converter slip more, so your just building more rpm instead of just accelerating as normal. now if i was crusing and i smashed the gas, then it would let the tc slip enough to allow me to build a lot of rpms before the converter .. catches up, if you will .. allowing me to blast off at a higher rpm, higher boost.

and i dont know about this shift kit, i have the trans lab, i installed it, didnt do very much at all, then after i got it back from dean mason, he put a whole differant one on and it still feels the same

wow....this might suck then... is it really that bad?i dont drive really drive fast or take off fast but. is it really that slow???what are you stalled at? im not building a race car and really, im doing all my driving in the city. but i NEED more power.

oh and yeah, my 5k is ONLY parts. im not going to pay somebody to do allthat for me. i dont even want to know how much thats going to cost. and im sure something will break. and i need to knowi can fix it. besides, its sooooo much fun working on my car. (after the getting soo pissed because something doesnt fit or i cant find some stupid bolt)

i guess i COULD wait till a few months into next year to do my mods. but i wont. i think i might just throw the 20psi at the stock trans and see how it holds up! then ill report back to you guyz and let youknow how it went. oh and the reason im kinda in a rush to do it in jan-apr is because is because i want to have the car put together, tuned and ready to start going to the track by summer time. if i wait till spring or summer to start this project ill end up going into winter! and i work on my drive way, out side! any more advice??? has anyone had ipt rebuild their trans???

 

[Jehu]

Ah...you're talking about part throttle driving...when you were talking about gasing it on a 55 mph roll and barking your tires I assumed you were talking about WOT operation. Part throttle, the high stall won't feel as nice. Take off is improved IF you brake torque or apply any kind of throttle. The high stall is great for me because of my driving style...my throttle is like an on-off switch . I'd rather speed up quickly to 60 and stay there then take my time getting up to 60. My TC stalls at 3500rpm with an EVO16 in about 3-4 seconds of brake torquing. It'll probably go higher if I leave it a little longer but a 17psi launch is enough for me.

 

[ryu]

ok so i thought about it more. should i just mod the car within the limits of the stock trans untill the year after next? i might just keep the psi around 15 or less. i know this is a vague q so dont flame. im just trying to get an idea on if i can really wait another year for more power when its sitting infront of me at the turn of a knob. what kind of psi you think i can push w/t04b/frontmount w/restall,endclutch and shift kit?

 

[KingTonberry]

I bought my mods all at once, but it took me 6 months to finally get them on there, things always come up, or break. Just be ready for HUGE downtime if you want to do everything at once.
But taking your time can be good becasue if a problem comes up its easier to trace than if you put injectors, turbo, shiftkit, exhaust, etc... all at once. Then if it doesnt run, or messes up you could blame it on many things as compared to a single change. (And if you havent done mods to your car before... it is extremely time consuming the first time through)

 

[ryu]

I bought my mods all at once, but it took me 6 months to finally get them on there, things always come up, or break. Just be ready for HUGE downtime if you want to do everything at once.
But taking your time can be good becasue if a problem comes up its easier to trace than if you put injectors, turbo, shiftkit, exhaust, etc... all at once. Then if it doesnt run, or messes up you could blame it on many things as compared to a single change. (And if you havent done mods to your car before... it is extremely time consuming the first time through)

hum.....you make a good point. i didnt think about that. thats some food for thought. you may just have screwed up my plans for the next half year.!..... thanks for the heads up... i guess i need to think about it more or find a good order to install my mods so they dont "clash" (that was a horrible attempt to explain what i was trying to say but im sure you know hwat i was tryhing to say. ) thanks

 

[98TalonTSi]

I say it depends on what mods you're doing at the same time. If your trans is out, a turbo install becomes easier as does and exhaust and IC. Especially if you're going to install a trans cooler. If you're talking about a head swap, then you're kinda lengthening your down time.
Mike