When i bought my car used it came with a shift kit already on it. And dam is it hard, i can chirp 2nd almost to easily, and even if i take it easy its still lurches pretty good. What would be the easiest/cheapest way to fix it? can tuning help fix that safely? also should i be worried about a shift kit that strong damaging my transmission?

 

Well depending on the shift kit probably the best way to soften the shift would be to return the 1-2 accum to stock layout and the easiest . I would not try to overide a shift kit with tuning

 

I'm sorry but you'll have to dumb that down for me, whats a "accum" ?

 

Its the accumulator Its just inside the pan and held on with three 10 mm bolts. Its function is to regulate the apply of the band. Many shift kits restrict and some even eliminate its function. Returning it to stock form should soften the 1-2 shift to a more tolerable level .

 

like frank said, the accumulator is probably being restricted with shims. Its a really simple fix for you, just drop the pan, unbolt the accumulator and remove the shims, i would keep one shim in there. There are usually 3 shims in a shift kit and well the guy you bought the car from probably installed all 3 for neck snapping shifts.
Was the converter chaged at all.

 

Here is a picture of where it is located.

This would be the factory setup.