manual trans question(s) -

[jocko]

good evening fellow truckers,
I'm looking into buying a new Keisler 5-speed - their new RS400 or RS500. Appears to be a pretty nice trans, many upgrades, smaller case than a TKO (actually, just a smaller tail case for now, smaller main case coming soon....) Would prefer the 500 torque capacity box, but I realistically won't need it for my lil 283! Price diff is approx $300 between the two and the kits they offer are about $300 less than Hurst Driveline and some other vendors. Anyhoo - any comments very welcome. Here's a link to the trans for ref: http://keislerauto.com/recent-news/k...ssic-cars.html and one more for the kit: http://www.keislerauto.com/vmchk/gm/...page_tabs.html

I've hemmed and hawed for months over whether to do a WC T5 or a Tremec TKO 500. While I know a T5 would work and probably cost a good bit less, I'm leaning toward this middle of the road solution (TKO 500/600 "kits" get a little pricey... This one isn't cheap, but it's less than the old TKO kits and appears to be a nicer transmission to boot - Yes, I'm spending the $$ I saved by not going to power disk brakes and just planning to upgrade with power/dual MC drum/drum - Thanks CAPTAIN!) Call this "re-investing my savings", so to speak...

General questions:
1. Anyone dealt with these guys? Reputation? Wish they were located in CA!
2. From the factory - was the floor shift ONLY installed on a high-hump tunnel? (I think so, but not sure - I've currently got a 3-on-the-tree and low hump).
3. Anyone got a rough measurement (from some interior anchor point) to the center of the hole for the FACTORY shifter coming thru the floor? (if you HAPPEN to know the exact dimension of the hole location from the back of the bell hsg/trans mounting face, God bless you!)
4. Does the factory floor shifter come thru the floor in the center of the tunnel (i.e. in line with the trans centerline) or offset to the driver side? (I assume it's offset) If offset to driver side, approx how much off center is it?

I really appreciate the help guys. Keisler offers a pretty slick stick relocation set-up and I am hoping to make the 5-speed shifter come thru the floor in the same spot as the factory floor-shifted 4-speed. I have a low hump and will probably keep it - the new Keisler case should fit - but the measurements in the X and Y should be about the same regardless of which hump I use. The BIG measurements are: how far aft of the bell/trans mounting face and how far off centerline of the truck.

Any help much appreciated. Thanks again.
Jocko