I spent the weekend in Provo, and the guys at Kirkham removed my top loader and put a Tremac TKO 600 in for me. Just thought that the group might profit from some of the things learned during the process.
First, the bolt-in is pretty straight forward, especially when the Kirkham guys are doing all the hard stuff
The drive shaft is a direct replacement, and the only real fabrication required is to weld the Kirkham supplied brackets into place. As many may know from following other threads on the subject, no cutting of the frame is required, and the Kirkham supplied mount, which is isolated with rubber busings, fits like it grew there.
Be aware that if you are swapping a 600 for a toploader, you will need diffrent splines in the clutch disk hubs, and you will need a different throw out bearing base. I had a McLeod Street Twin clutch, so I had to purchase two new plates -- aint nothin' cheap when you want the fast stuff. We could have done it on the cheap and riveted new hubs into the old disks, but chose not to.
We drove the car after the install and the additional gear makes life so much easier at cruise. The revs dropped to around 2200 at 70 mph, which is just perfect for my engine. I would use caution before going with the extra tall fifth gear that is available on these trannys. In my case, had I installed one, I would have to go 90 before I could ever use it.
Many warm thanks to the Kirkhams, as always, for the hospitality and expertise. The best decision I ever made was to buy a Kirkham. The product is awesome, but the people are what really make the Kirkham experience special.