TKO 600 in my Kirkham
 

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.

I am going through the decision process now of toploader vrs tko 600. What ratio toploader did you have? Is it for sale? What were the rpms in the toploader at the same cruising speed? thanks; chuck

Mike:

Did you use the Tremec shifter or something else?

David I.

I think the Tremac 600's fifth gear is .064?

Conrad

you can get the .82 fifth in the 600. A better choice for most of us. chuck

TKO600 can be bought with 5th gear ratios of .64 or .82. I have the .82. I can drive all day around town in 3rd. In 4th @ 45, I'm just over 2000 rpm. 4th works well for low highway speeds (55-60). At 70, I'm cruising at 2000. I actually hear the wind instead of the car. I have the 3.23 rear and I think it or the 3.31 make for the perfect gearing combo.

Hi W. Mitty

I admire your choice in both the trans. and having the Kirkhams do the install.

I have the .64 final with 3.42 rear and 26.5 Bigletters. That gives me 2000 rpm at 75.

I just have my first 150 miles on #318 and it looks like the engine might be comfortable at that rpm.

I don`t think it would be if my rear ratio was numerically lower.

Total agreement regarding the Kirkham family.

Maurice Lawrence
Sacramento

My rear is a 3:31, and the final in my TKO is .82. This seems like a good combination for general use. Track use might benefit from a lower rear ratio.

Chuck,

My toploader is for sale if you are interested. It's a David Kee, wide ratio, with shift linkage included. Has about 3500 miles on it since new. Let me know if you are interested. The revs at the same speed (70 mph) with the toploader were around 3000, maybe a bit less. As indicated above, my rear is a 3:31.


David I.

I think that the shift lever is the standard mustang lever -- I was working on a different part of the car when Jeremy at Kirkham was putting the shift lever on. We did need to do a few tweaks to the ring surrounding the shift mechanism to get full engagement of 2nd and 4th gear, but it was very simple. Call Kirkham and they can walk you through it, I'm sure.

Guys,

This may help in determining which ratio TKO (5th) or Toploader (wide vs close) and the corresponding rear gears.
I will be using 3.5 ratio series third member, and a TKO 600RR with the .82 5th. This combo is real close to 3.5 rear and a wide ratio toploader, plus an extra top gear.


http://www.secondstrike.com/Technical/GearCalc.asp

Regards, Bret.

WM,email me about the toploader. I sent you a PM. chuck

I really enjoy the 5 speed on my KMP...smiling all the way to 5th gear...:LOL:

I must confess, I am getting to be more and more of a fan of the Tremec 600. I really liked WM's car and I was very impressed with the gear splits.

David :):):)

WM,

I am getting ready to put a Tremec 600 in my car right now. How is the tightness of the shifter? I would imagine it is getting better/looser? Thoughts?

David :):):)

ps. I edited this because I had a very unintentional typo on shifter...:LOL:

JEEZ, I guess I need to get some shorter gears! At 80 MPH, in 5th, I am taching 1900 RPM!!! (NAF, 351W, 8.8 w/3.08s!)

Edley,

I'd be afraid of detonating my motor lugging it like that. I like to keep it at about 2800 rpms while crusing on the freeway.

David :):):)

Why the worry for detonation if you have EFI? Is it just normally aspirated? What is your air/fuel ratio? Are you running sequential or batch EFI? What fuel injection components have you done away with to reduce weight for the elusive 2000lbs.?

Always happy to help you today!

Hi David,

I just checked in for the first time in a while and saw your reply.

Seems like the second drive in #318 got the temp gauge kicked in and everything appears to work great.

I now have over 580 miles logged. Smile Thanks for the reply
Maurice

Maruice,

Glad to hear you are up and running. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any help!

David :):):)