Trans rebuild

$900 is rediculous by anyone's measure but seems to be the prevailing range in Calif.

First thing that comes to mind, does it really need rebuilding. Most times, a good flush and reseal is all that's needed.

A couple of facts... Less than eight hours to rebuild and the hard parts are less than $150 and commonly available.

JT

Pat Drnec wrote:

I have no idea of the condition of the trans - it's in the Wagonaire I just bought, was lunched when I got it. Did absolutely nothing when I put it in gear.

If I have to pay $900, I'll put a 700R4 in it.

Grumpy au C> $900 is rediculous by anyone's measure but seems to be the prevailing > range in Calif.

Pat,

Depends on where you are, I guess. The only reason I can think of that would run the cost up that much would be if a hard part other then bands, bushings, bearings, O-rings and seals had to be replaced. I just did one for a fella in South Texas that ran a little over $1,200.00. But, it required replacing the front servo housing, piston and pin, planetary gears and drum, sun gear and drum and the output gear and shaft. He really likes the 1st gear take off in his Golden Hawk, but forgets to check things like fluid levels?

Normally, I can do a rebuilt on one for about $550.00. I don't think the shipping would cost to much, as I just shipped a rebuilt T85/89 truck OD about 150lbs worth to Washington state for about $150.00 which included crating. As I told the last fella, my only concern would be the warranty aspect. It's kinda hard to do cross country.

Bo

Maybe this is too obvious but does it have any fluid in it???

Pat Drnec wrote:

JT,

Your estimate of 8 hours could be an issue. Some times, it takes longer, especially where one is gunked up real good and the crud is hard. Tanking, soaking and hands on cleaning becomes a protracted task at this point.

It does take up a certain amount of time looking up tolerance and wear specifications, checking each component for excessive wear, checking for spring tension requirements, and checking for lose of tension .

Nothing like putting one back together only to have it whine because the pressure regulator valve is worn and sticks, or won't shift properly because the first and second shift valve spring isn't strong enough to correctly control the movement of the valve.

These are all things that must be considered when rebuilding any transmission, especially one where the history isn't known. No rebuilder worth his salt is going to gloss over these kinds of things, especially one that intends to honor any kind of warranty. It would be fool hardly to ignore this, or the additional time necessary to cover all the bases.

I'd like to know who your parts source for a complete builders kit is? I deal with American Transmission Rebuilders and my jobber cost for a complete kit is $150.00, retail is $209.00 and I usually charge around $179.00 which includes the cost of shipping. Let me know who can supply the complete kit for less then $150.00, as I'd like to do business with them, provided the kit isn't some made up Chinese Communist concoction. Cut my costs and I can pass the savings on to the customer.

Bo

Pat, Call Bud, he knows somebody in the So. Bay area

Jim Turner

When we had the Ultramatic rebuilt, which I fully understand has a reputation and is a different breed of cat, it cost us $2350. The Ultramatic repair facilities on the internet state that it will cost between $1750 and $2200, plus shipping if desired.

The price or estimate of $900 to rebuild a "generic" transmission does not seem out of line, at least to me.

I know that a lot of you fellows can do this job in your sleep, and have a stash of partsto do so, but to many mechanics out there these transmissions are a mystery, and unless they have electronics coming out of every nook and cranny they are stumped or think its gonna take longer than it will.

How many jobs do we undertake thinking its going to be 20 min, and it winds up taaking two days. To me there is nothing more intimidating than an automatic transmission. I just feel its a small price to pay for the security to know it was done right. On the other hand, substituting an off brand transmission with a known track record and one that most any mechanic can fix blindfolded is not such a bad idea, however i am always dubious when you need to add adaapters to anything to make them work in anything but their specified use.

Bill

I'm Bo Markham and I live in Central Texas.

Thats about what it would run for a Chevy TH-350 and it is about the cheapest rate going so sounds fairly reasonable.

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

The rate down this way for a standard rebuild on a Chevrolet Th-350 is $350.00 to $375.00, provided no additional hard parts have to be replaced.

Bo