I am picking up a looser converter for my 93. I have SLP shorties with the matching Y-pipe. How much of a job is this to do? I swapped the 700R4 in my work van in a couple hours by myself in the driveway, but all the bolts were very easy to get to.
Also, what do you guys think a typical shop might charge to swap it for me? A day off work might cost me more than a shop might charge, and a lot less headaches.

 

It will take at least most of a day, if not a little more. It really isn't all that hard as I R&R'd the tranny a couple of times. I use 2 ramps for the front and 2 jack stands at the rear. I also have some 4" x 16" wood blocks that I will use if I have to get the tranny out from under the car.
The biggest pain about the job is the one trans to engine to engine bolt that can only be removed with a wrench. An impact gun will help with the torque arm bolts (18mm socket required). Lots of extensions are required to reach the trans to engine bolts.
Just be ready for the big pool of tranny fluid you are going to see (3-25# buckets of kitty litter later I still have a huge stain on the garage floor).
One final thing make sure to put about a quart or so of fluid in the converter before you insatll it AND install a new input shaft seal so you don't have to do it again in a little while because of the red stain on the driveway...

 

You can drain the fluid first. That will stop alot of it.

 

I did and still had an imatation of the Exon Valdez....

Nothing like laying in a lake of tranny fluid, on your back, and can't even move to keep it off of you.

 

If I can get it done at a shop for $200 or so, I am all over it. I work a ton of hours and like to relax on my off time. I don't need a repeat of my header install.

 

Just had a qoute of $250 for a converter swap from a speed shop. It's not woth the hassle to me to try and do it myself, when I don't have the time and or the right tools.

 

I just swapped in a Vig 3200 converter this weekend and it went fairly smoothly. I drained the fluid first which kept the spill pretty small. The 6 bell housing bolts aren't that bad with a 2 foot extension, although like someone else mentioned, the middle driver side bolt requires a regular wrench since there isn't enough clearance to the tunnel to get a socket on it. With everything including changing the filter, tail shaft seal, and installing a tranny cooler, it all took about a solid day (spread out over 3 days). I wanted to do it myself just to learn the process. Next time I will be able to do it much faster. Here's a pretty good write up on the process. www.zmydust.com/converter.html