Help with Transmission Rebuild

[wimploki]

I've recently acquired a used transmission that's in need of a rebuild. I thought of doing it myself to save money and learn something new. The problem is I have never done this before and worried about the whole process.

If your willing to give a helping hand and located near downtown LA, please chime in.

Thanks

 

[pboglio]

Buy a gear splitter set, grinder for sharpening the gear splitter knives, harbor freight hydraulic press, gear puller, seal puller, drift punch set, deadblow hammer, etc. etc. You'll also need if I recall a good set of external snap ring pliers. Long sockets helped to press bearings back onto the gear stack.

Also you'll want a big un-cluttered table to lay everything out. I bought (2) folding tables from Pepboys, covered them in clean cardboard for this purpose and duct taped that to the table. If I recall correctly the taper bearing on the input shaft refused to come off, cutting the cage apart "very" carefully with a dremel is the easiest solution, everything else comes off with some effort.

You most definitely want a copy of the service manual for setting gear stack bearing preload. You'll likely spend as much as a rebuild done by a professional and the novelty wears off real fast. If you need to cobble a transmission together it might be worth it, otherwise its really not.

 

[twicks69]

I agree with the post above. If you don't have the specialized tools, it makes it a bear. As well, it will take you longer to do than a professional, especially if you haven't thoroughly read up on the transmission rebuild process. It isn't for amateurs if you want it done right the first time. Expect to have at least 8 hours (at a minimum) to do a fast rebuild, and many more if you want it done perfectly.

I do this as a side job for people around my area, and I have invested alot of money in transmission rebuild specific tools -- if you are only going to do it once, do it by a professional. I usually have anywhere from 8 hours for a quick and dirty refresh. I have more than 16-20 hours into a race transmission with the time in disassembly and parts ordering, degreasing of the transmission case and washing, disassembly of the gear clusters and inspection, gear detailing, bead blasting and rewashing of the transmission case, reassembly and test fitting, the shimming process, and then final assembly and final inspection. With all this time invested, I only see around $400 for labor, and I charge the actual cost of the parts installed (with my discount prices). Heck, I usually work at $50/hour for doing any type of shop work, so at this price, $400 is insanely fair for labor prices to build a quality race transmission.

Shep, TRE and Jacks are all excellent transmission rebuilders and are worth their prices as they are extremely fair.