How difficult is it to replace a front differential in an automatic?

[the_mork]

I've done some searching but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I had some troubles coming home from the track two weeks ago and at this point I've gotten the transmission down and taken it to a transmission shop. They have informed me that I threw a secondary gear from my differential which caused a crack in my transmission case. They want $550 to replace the diff and weld the case.

My question is how hard is it to replace a front differential in a transmission that is already out of the car? What is the best way to find an inexpensive differential? I don't have the money to move to a LSD unfortunately but I imagine I'll start scouring the local boards for a diff and potentially a complete transmission. Also what diffs can go into a 97fwd turbo car?

 

[knochgoon24]

I'll probably get flamed for this but...

I bought some tires off a local guy who used to be really into DSMs. He's since gotten out of the game, but we started talking about what he races now... a VW.

He bought an OBX LSD for it and took it to a metalurgist to compare against a Kaaz. Metal-wise, they said it's the same quality metal that the Kaaz was made out of.

He didn't mention anything about tolerances, but he ended up running it and loves it.

Just food for thought.