Wayne,
I lived what you are going through. This is the fix I found. It is a two step fix. Step #1 is ship the unit to Liberty and have them do their magic internally. If you are comfortable working Iside a manual transmission you can do the job yourself on a Saturday morning and save shipping. Even if you are comfortable working inside a manual transmission go to the Tremec website and get Tremec's Service Manual for the TKO 600. It will make the job easier.
What you need from Liberty is the following:
- Bronze Shift Fork Pads
- Surface Enhancement Processed Hubs & Sliders
- Internal Shift Linkage Upgrade
- Carbon Fiber Blocking Rings—2nd, 3rd & 4th Gear
Additionally I highly recommend you switch to a special Pro 5.0 midshifter for the transmission. It will produce a straight vertical shifter located at the front edge of the driver's seat positioned very much like a 289 car, which has excellent sifting ergonomics.
Shifting ergonomics notwithstanding, the midshift position removes a troublesome internal shift rail from the mid shift location to the rear shift location that was the source of considerable shifting slop and shift problems. Liberty's internal shift linkage upgrade will change the interlock timing on the second to third gear change, which is
absolutely essential for a good 2 to 3 gear change.
The Pro 5.0 shifter you need is not well advertised and not available directly from Pro 5.0 because their dealers need to make modifications to it to work in the TKO midshift location.
This is a picture of the shifter installed on my TKO.
The two sharpie lines are for a shift ball height of either 6 or 6.5 inches from the top bolt at the bottom of the shifter to the top of the shift ball. Make yours 6.5 inches or taller. You can easily shorten it to fit your taste. If you go too short, lengenthing it means starting over.
The Pro 5.0 shifter assembly is relatively short so it makes for a nice fit,
I chose to build my own shifter arm that bolts to the Pro 5.0 gizmo. I used a 1.25 inch bar of 17-4 ph stainless and machined the bottom to look pretty but also put the shifting lever in double shear on the Pro 5.0 shift stub.
Another view of the bottom,
The shifter is available from Forte or Hanlon and is easily installed. If you can change plugs you can install this shifter!
The shifter is not easy to find on Forte's site. This is the url, click here =>
https://fortesparts.com/product/mid-shiftier-tko-500-600/
Here is the Hanlon Pro 5.0 midshift conversion url, click here =>
http://hanlonmotorsports.com/hms-mid-shift-kit
The little black gizmo you see in the picture on Forte's site significantly improves the transition from second gear to third gear. Be sure to use it.
Once you have made the modifications you will curse yourself for not doing it sooner.
This is a pic of the custom Kirkham manufactured midshifter they put in the billet Cobra for Larry Ellison. Click here =>
Interior and go down to the fourth photo.
That should be enough to keep you busy for a while. Definitely do the Liberty mods and I highly recommend the midshift conversion. It is way more natural to drive and much better shifting because of linkage reductions in the internal rail system.
Ed