How much did you spend on you tranny rebuild? Options?

[projekt1]

Looking for some help, sorry for all the questions in advance..
I'm having a very hard time trying to convince myself to cough up $2k+ on a tranny and t-case rebuild!! I've been keeping in touch with one of the Four (Jacks, TRE, Shep and TMZ) tranny rebuild shops that we all know but just need some input from those that have gotten their tranny's rebuilt.

I don't plan on going over 450hp any time soon. It is my daily driver and it will only see the track and strip maybe 2-3 times a year so I think stage 2 will be good enoughfor my needs. As you can see from my signature (major mods) it would be wise to go for at least a stage 2 rebuild, correct?

As you could imagine, I have been doing a lot of reading up on each shops services, options and tech articles but its all hard to decide what options, services and parts to get. I noticed that TRE and TMZ both offer Shot-Peening, Deburring, REM ISF and/or Cryo-Tratments but Shep and Jack do not offer these services. Based on my needs, would I really benefit from any of these? How many of you have gotten these services done?

How much did you guys spend on your rebuild? *What stage do most of you have? Did you rebuild the t-case as well? How many of you have opted for the evo III taller first or fifth and other gearsets and was it worth it? What about double synchros etc.?

I just want to see whether or not I should spend that much or a rebuild (tranny and t-case). Any advice/recommendations would be appreciated.

(PM me your rebuild/options/services that you paid to assist me in decision making)

Thanks guys.

 

[pboglio]

I've used TRE. I spent about $1450 on a rebuild which reused a low mileage intermediate shaft, all split aluminum cases, differentials, and shift forks, maybe 5th gear assembly, revers gear assembly. Everything else got tossed and replaced and upgraded to 3rd and 4th shorter EVO gears. Also included was shot peening of EVERYTHING inside the transmission. Stock spider gears were reused.

Since I don't launch, I had my tranny built for my needs. I left out alot of stuff that guys need for drag racing when they drop their clutches at 6000 rpms. That saves quite a bit of money.

I've gone thru multiple transmissions, so its not worth spending huge money on any particular one. Save that money and roll it back into the next build.

You want the shot peening, trust me on that one. The EVO gears come stock with that process already, so do the Subaru STi gearsets.

 

[jeff24680]

Here is a link to my tranny build:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/349161-new-tranny-jacks.html

I am extremely satisfied with my transmission and the service I received, I feel like for what I got I got at a good price. My build was around 2000.

 

[projekt1]

Thanks guys but that just makes it that much harder to decide between the two

pboglio- why have you gone through multiple tranny's, they were bad, the rebuild was bad or over abuse?

jeff24680- sounds like you got the 2.1 from Jack which is exactly what I'm looking at but without the evo stuff.

 

[pboglio]

Rebuilds were all fine. One was a built tranny that was factory new and then torn down and upgraded. The second was that tranny rebuilt due to an input shaft failure. The 3rd built tranny happened when the 2nd rebuilt tossed a 3rd gear during a 3rd gear WOT pull. I'm on that 3rd tranny now with the entirely new gear stack and shotpeening.

Nothing wrong with the shop that built it. My car just puts out too much torque, I busted all my tranny's from a roll while in gear. I average about 10,000 street miles per tranny. There are alot of WOT pulls in those 10,000 miles, I get my use out of the car otherwise what's the point of driving it.

What I tell everyone is, spend the money shotpeening all the internal parts that require it. Maybe do the spider gear upgrade if your launching, skip it if your not. Watch your pennies cause EVERY part in the tranny has a limited number of launches, or WOT pulls. Thats why I say economize where you can, then put that money in a pot for the next rebuild. Thinking you'll overbuild the tranny to last forever is an illusion.

 

[donniekak]

Thinking you'll overbuild the tranny to last forever is an illusion.

If you make 400+ awtq its only a matter of time, no matter what you do.

 

[projekt1]

Well I think I will go with Jack's 2.1 for the 4-spider upgrade and double 1st and 2nd synchro's. I will also be sending them my t-case so I can do the 22 to 23 spline swap. Should I look into the evo III upgrades? Maybe just the taller 1st or 5th?

Thanks for all the input fellas!!

 

[crazyquik22023]

If i were u i would just get it done right the first time.. about 2 years ago i didn't want to go all out and i paid some local shop $900 to rebuild my tranny. took it to the track once about 10 days after getting it back and it got ####ed!! shop said it wasn't under warrany b/c of "reckless driving" but anyway then i went the right way and took it to Shep and got a new OEM tranny and had him do the Stage 2 FWD rebuild. Cost me about $4100 w/ new tranny, rebuild, ACT2600, & ACT flywheel. But the Shep tranny is amazing i couldnt be happier with it

 

[Detail]

Issue:
Broke my stock at 140k.

Solution:
Sent to Shep. Would have been 1800 to make it driveable. Decided to save and buy a new one. He gave me a break on a new tranny, then stripped it down, and rebuilt to stage 3 with 4 spider diff.

Installed it, did the proper break in and ran the fluid he instructed. Change the fluid every 5k just as he told me to do ever since.

Impression:
At first it shifted uber stiff. I didn't like it. 100 miles later I was the happiest dsm'r on the planet. The car literally sucks the gear into place. IE, if I semi miss a shift I've literally had the stick come out of my hand and drop into the gear I was trying to get. It shifts smooth as silk.

Cost:
Well, its expensive. I won't put out numbers as thats not good business to do. Shep took care of me and worked with me the whole way. His customer service was outstanding, even when we had 45 minute mid day conversations on a few occasions. I borrowed, stole, bummed a ride for 4 months to afford the tranny. 100k miles later, I'm still glad I did.