The Dodge Challenger Message Board

The gearbox of my dreams. I have only heard positive comments about it so far. Aren´t there any drawbacks with it (except that it is a bit pricey)? keisler

I have only heard negative comments about it from people that have actually tried to fit one of these things.

I heard from a good informer that Kiesler is bringing out it's own Over/Under drive unit for TorqueFlite Autmoatics.

I have the Keisler 5-speed in my 70 440-6pack.It's a sealed system. No problems with fitting. Fit like a glove.
When it's cold it shifts very smooth.
As things warm up the clutch seems to go flat and shifting isn't as smooth. I thought there might be air in the sysem. A few pumps on the clutch and the pedal seems to improve only to go a little flat again.
Not loosing ANY fluid. The slave is always full.
Noticed the steel fluid line coming off the clutch going to the transmission gets real close to the back header i.e. HEAT maybe thinning or possibly boiling the Dot 3 brake fluid.
Spoke with Steve,one of the engineers at Keisler in Tennessee. He had no known problems.He checked my account and design. They are actually very responsive,organized and helpful.
We wrapped the header to heat sheild it and moved the line as far away from the header as we could. It seemd to help some. I'd say 40% better but still not totally happy.
Currently running Dot 3. Thinking of changing fluid to Dot 4 and also wrapping the fluid line itself.
I DO love the 5th gear on the highway.
I'll let you know how it turns out once I get that done.
Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Part 2 of the article is now added above.

I just got my Keisler 5-spd installed in my Challenger. I had several issues to resolve and many phone calls to Keisler, and my car is a factory 4-spd. Some of the persons there are alot more helpful than others. Some don't even bother to return calls. Some of the problems I encountered have been eliminated because they have redesigned the tailshaft of the tranny. I also ran into driveline angle problems and had to massage the floor tunnel in a couple spots. Although I have only put about 50 miles on it, the trans shifts smooth and the gears seem to be spaced nicely. Also crusing at 65 MPH at 1700 rpm is going to be nice this summer going to the cruises over a few miles from home. This is not just a bolt in like the articles all say, there are some issues to resolve, but all in all I would do it again.

To follow up on my 6-05 post.

Protecting the fluid line from header heat resolved the flat clutch which occured after driving for awhile.
I'm still going to change to dot-4 fluid for the summer though.
I agree with Mopar340.
It's smooth and I also love the 5th gear cruising on the Highway.

mopar340 wrote:I just got my Keisler 5-spd installed in my Challenger. I had several issues to resolve and many phone calls to Keisler, and my car is a factory 4-spd. Some of the persons there are alot more helpful than others. Some don't even bother to return calls. Some of the problems I encountered have been eliminated because they have redesigned the tailshaft of the tranny. I also ran into driveline angle problems and had to massage the floor tunnel in a couple spots. Although I have only put about 50 miles on it, the trans shifts smooth and the gears seem to be spaced nicely. Also crusing at 65 MPH at 1700 rpm is going to be nice this summer going to the cruises over a few miles from home. This is not just a bolt in like the articles all say, there are some issues to resolve, but all in all I would do it again.

regnellahC wrote:To follow up on my 6-05 post.

Protecting the fluid line from header heat resolved the flat clutch which occured after driving for awhile.
I'm still going to change to dot-4 fluid for the summer though.
I agree with Mopar340.
It's smooth and I also love the 5th gear cruising on the Highway.

Thanks Guys! Your real life comments are really appreciated!

I just put a Keisler 5-speed OD kit in my '70 R/T Challenger (non-original 340 motor).
It fit great, but I had to cut the floor to fit the in-line shifter, even though they say you shouldn't have to. The only problem I had was that the throw-out bearing was the wrong ID. The trans input shaft was out of spec, too, which caused the TO bearing to seize on the shaft after 3 miles! Ugh!! Nice tow bill home that was! The tech people were very helpful and sent me all new input shaft and TO bearing express mail. That fixed it, and I've been very happy with the whole kit so far. Cruising at 2200 rpm at 70mph all day long sure is nice!

HI, Has anyone had any experience fitting a Keisler 5 speed to a Challenger? I have an opportunity to swap my 18spline Hemi box and bellhousing /shifter etc for one. its supposed to suit Ebody. Its Model number TR-3550 - Part Number TECT4615.. .

I have just bought a manual console for E body after years of searching, so i don't wanna go cutting that up to fit a non standard shifter, although in the picture it looks normal

Any comments or feedback on this would be appreciated
Thanks

SORRY- i thought Tremec and Keisler were different boxes! Just reread all the posts on the Keisler- ignore my post! However i'd be interested if anyone can say i can still use this manual console without cutting into it. Thanks