Which built trans to choose??

[Boosted DSM 32]

Hii guys, my first and second gear in my 1990 gsx transmission are shot.. so i figured its a good time to go with a built transmission. Heres the deal,

I dont plan on making more than 400whp ever
I drive the car everyday, and still want it to be streetable
Im not rich so money is somewhat an issue

What are some good places that i can have my trans sent to to be built to handle my power goals with a fair price?

Ive lookin into sheptrans, and jacks transmission so far and im leaning more toward jacks as it seems that you get more for your money than shep and i like the idea of the evo III 5th gear.. my main worry is high rpm shifting into second gear! i take my car to the track and hate how hard 2nd gear is to get in with my 90 trans...

Besides jacks and shep is there any other good places i can look at? and which one is the best for my goals?

 

[WES_393]

Stage 1.2 from Jacks is a great way to go if your tight on cash but want a 400hp trans. The stage 1.2 also includes a double synchro 2nd gear so no more notchy shifting into second. I would look into getting some Diaqueen shipped back with your trans as well.

You also might want to look into some clutch maintenance/adjustment. If the clutch isn't disengaging all the way, it will burn up the synchros very quickly regardless of how tough the transmission is.

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

I was looking into that and it seems like a good deal, and you can still get the evo III 5th which would pay for its self shortly it has the welded center dif tho would that affect streetability? but for that bang for your buck it seems alot better than a shep stage 1 which is basically a stock rebuild

Bump.. anyone else have any thoughts they want to throw in so they could help me out?? Im honestly leaning towards a jacks 1.2 with the evo III 5th

 

[biglady112]

Logistically, Shep. You live 75 miles from him. You could deliver the transmission, go over what you want, and likely come out ahead by a bunch. Plus get some pointers while you are there I am sure. Or just take the darn car there and let them do it.

I am less then 75 miles from Jack, but would never take one of my own there. After having to take a few, yes a few, one three times, back to him for friends, I made it a point to learn how to rebuild them myself. Not saying he is all that terrible, but I would rather do it myself even with him being close.

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

Yes thats the good thing about shep, it wouldnt take any time at all to get it back and ready to go, it seems for the price tho you get more with a jacks, but as your saying maybe the quality isnt there

 

[WES_393]

Trust me when I say the quality IS there. The guy doesn't have a crowd of Evo's, DSM's, GVR4's, and Starquests outside the shop because they don't know what they are doing. They have built transmissions for multiple 700+ HP street driven Evo's here in the Springs and Denver. I have never personally dealt with Shep so I can't comment on their work. I do know that their stage 3 is the equivalent to Jacks stage 1.2 or 2.0, yet it's 2x the price at minimum.

As for welded center differential, you have to remember you still have the front and rear open. The welded center can cause some binding at low speed tight turns, but nothing like a welded rear. The welded rear is what hops the tires in parking lots. I think it's a small price to pay to keep the center diff from grenading in the trans.

 

[cyclonekid77]

All of the "built" trannies are basically the same. They are all built out of OEM parts (unless you get a PPG dog box from shep). They might modify things, add spider gears to the center diff, ect. but when you get down to it its all oem stuff. Pick a shop, send it to them, and tell them to fix it. They all break the same. If I was going to send a trans anywhere though, it would be TMZ performance. Tim knows his stuff, and I have seen some of his work in person. Looks like a very quality job, and he is very knowledgeable.

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

All of the "built" trannies are basically the same. They are all built out of OEM parts (unless you get a PPG dog box from shep). They might modify things, add spider gears to the center diff, ect. but when you get down to it its all oem stuff. Pick a shop, send it to them, and tell them to fix it. They all break the same. If I was going to send a trans anywhere though, it would be TMZ performance. Tim knows his stuff, and I have seen some of his work in person. Looks like a very quality job, and he is very knowledgeable.

Hows the high rpm shifting on the jacks 1.2 if you guys know? i race my car at the track every friday, and a smooth 7k shift is needed

 

[donniekak]

All of the "built" trannies are basically the same. They are all built out of OEM parts (unless you get a PPG dog box from shep). They might modify things, add spider gears to the center diff, ect. but when you get down to it its all oem stuff. Pick a shop, send it to them, and tell them to fix it. They all break the same. If I was going to send a trans anywhere though, it would be TMZ performance. Tim knows his stuff, and I have seen some of his work in person. Looks like a very quality job, and he is very knowledgeable.

What he said. This will happen to every single one of them, without launching. I usually get around 10k miles out of them before the gear teeth strip, with anything more than 450 lb/ft.

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[Boosted DSM 32]

450 lb/ft is nowhere near where ill be this year i dont plan on having more than what my 16g can max this year so im fine on that my main concern is the second gear high rpm shifting.. will i be able to throw a 7k shift in without grinding like a factory 1g trans?

 

[____Kurt____]

I just got my trans back from Shep and I must admit the customer service was awesome. I have yet to install it but I did talk to Trevor and he was very helpful in my decisions such as all EvoIII gears and getting them rem ISF over the LSD insert. Give them a call and talk to them. I haven't installed my new trans yet so I can comment on how it feels or anything yet.

 

[Tiki2777]

I dont know if you were even considering this, but TRE does really nice rebuilds, and they shot peen gears as well. Just fyi

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

I dont know if you were even considering this, but TRE does really nice rebuilds, and they shot peen gears as well. Just fyi

I was looking into them but their rebuilds are a bit too expensive for me right now, im sure there trans are great but i cant dish that kind of money out..\


And when you talked to shep did he say they could do an evo III 5th? on the site there isnt any option for it

 

[____Kurt____]

There isn't an option on the site but yes it can be done. He did mine, you just have to ask for it.

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

There isn't an option on the site but yes it can be done. He did mine, you just have to ask for it.

Ok cool im going to give them another call on monday and talk about the build, and if i can just drive the transmission up there instead of shipping it... does anyone know if jacks or shep has pre built ones that i can just buy so i dont hav to send mine in to be built? If they did that it would be so much quicker

 

[biglady112]

I 100% agree with what cyclonekid77 said. I have been saying the same thing for years. There are no "built" transmissions out there. Maybe if you get a dog engagement gear set but other wise it is all mitsubishi parts.

In my experience with any shop, everyone will have a hoard of cars outside even if they don't know what they are doing. The reason for a lot full at Jack's is, eveyone in colorado is a bunch of hacks who don't know anything and are too afraid to learn something. And believe me when I say there are not any fast cars in colorado. There is less than 10 mitsubishis who run 10 second quarter miles and probably less than 25 who have proved they can at least run 11's. And that is including me. But, we do go over 200mph consistently with our mitsubishi.

Again, logistically Shep is your best bet. TMZ would be my first choice as well.

 

[JackM]

Boosted DSM 32, yes, we have a core exchange process and can rebuild a core here and ship it to you. Just let us know what build you want and we can go from there. This way you don't have to let your car sit without a trans.

I must say that I am a bit disappointed in biglady112. Why he would say such things doesn't make sense to me as we have helped him with a lot over the years. Maybe by slandering others he feels he can make money on DSMs, not sure. All I have to say is this:

1) Look at our work compared to his. Do a search for him in DSMLINK forums if you want to see his work quality. It's very bad and I have never, until now, said a bad thing about him.
2) We have bought cars off of him that he has ruined. We restored them and gave them a second chance from the scrap yard.
3) We are successful and have an unbelievable facility due to our quality of work for a reason:

Jacks Transmissions LLC — Repair Shop

4) Pay us a visit and we would be more than happy to give you a tour. Go visit him and make the determination on who is building quality units.
5) He constantly comes to us for free info and advise.

As far as transmission rebuilding is concerned:

1) We have the longest warranty in the business 14months/unlimited miles.
2) We are a SUPPORTING VENDOR. Like these forums? It's those of us who pay that allow these forums to stick around and be such a great place. I used to post in Tuners a lot, but I just don't have the time anymore I'm sorry to say.
3) We repair units far more complex than you can ever imagine over the DSM trans. Due to this, we have much more strict standards which we have implemented to the DSM trans as well. The result is the cleanest and highest quality DSM trans rebuild on the market.
4) Our synchro blue printing is something no other shop does, period, and is standard procedure on ALL of our rebuilds. It is a very time consuming process and we do it for everyone and every build:

Jacks Transmissions LLC — Synchro Blueprinting

5) Our cleaning equipment is the best in the business. The quality of the build is highly dependent on how clean the parts are and we have some pretty amazing equipment to assure your unit is perfectly clean! Our most recent purchase was a huge sonic cleaning machine which can clean things as large as tranny cases. This amazing unit cost us $27k. Ultrasonic cleaning uses high frequency sound waves to agitate in a liquid. Cavitation bubbles induced by the agitation act on contaminants adhering to substrates like metals, plastics, glass, rubber, and ceramics. This action also penetrates blind holes, cracks, and recesses. The intention is to thoroughly remove all traces of contamination tightly adhering or embedded onto solid surfaces. IOW, your unit will be far cleaner with this process than some dude cleaning your parts in a solvent tank.
6) We have the strongest helical synchro gear set in the business. Our HD gear sets have twice the thickness over the standard HD and EVOIII gears our competitors use.
7) Along with the clean equipment, we have a very clean facility. Our work area doesn't have parts on the floor, ever, and everything is kept neat and organized. We have spent a large amount of money on nice carts and SS benches to keep your parts clean and keep the build clean.
8) Our company has no debt and we own everything here including the building. Due to our careful and logical spending, we have very little overhead which makes for substantial savings to the customer.
9) Everyone employed here loves the company and working here. Ours employees are very intelligent and talented people. We have people from electrical engineers with experience in the aviation industry, to younger people who are learning and working here while keeping a 3.95 GPA in school and graduating with honors. We are very proud of our work and the people in which we employ. I find myself very lucky, as an employer, to have been able to find these rare and talented people to work in my shop and they are worth what we pay for them.

If you have any questions at all about our rebuild process, please feel free to email me directly at anytime:

[email protected]

I would personally be more than happy to answer any and all questions you may have.

Thanks very much!!

Jack

 

[1983gsp]

Well said. I know who's building my trans.