LOL...You mean the $1000 he'll have tied up in bushing drivers, spring compressors, lip seal tools...and then, god forbid it need any of the solid teflon rings replaced, and he has to buy a $200 ring installer/sizer.

Frank

 

And that doesn't even cover the basic tools needed/prefered that most guy on a budget don't have. Such as air compressor/air source for checking apply, good calipers to measure everything for clearance issues, a parts cleaner basin, bench vice, picks (look like dentist tools), snap ring pliers, and what ever misc sockets and extentions that you might not have.

So say another $300 - $600 depending on what might be needed there..

Oh did we get to consumables yet? How about at least $50 in parts cleaner alone, more if you don't have a basin with a filter/pump to recycle it. You will use about 20-30 cans of CRC Brakleen @ $3+ a can without a cleaning basin, trust me I ran 3 different pep-boys out of the stuff!!!

Anything else I forgot?

 

damn...It looks like we're spending $1500 to try to save $1000 that it would cost to have it built by a professional????...LOL

Frank

 

I believe you have the correct view of the situation!

Oh, don't forget....When paying to have it done by a pro, you are paying for knowledge as well. It's very hard to put a price on knowledge and experience!

 

Being in the biz,....i see **** like this everyday. People for some reason just think tranny guys should give their knowledge away for free and just charge them for a few hours of labor and exactly what the parts cost us. Tranmissions are the most complicated part of the vehicle and even pros fu<k up sometimes. Its just not as simple as changing a bunch of seals. These things dont go together easily even with the tools meant for the job. And when you get to the valve body, lets just say, good luck. If you had any metal contamination, you're so screwed. Take every valve and spring out of the valve body (without losing anything), clean it all, and get it back together PROPERLY.There are multiple valves in one bore and its possible to turn them around, springs go flying, check *****, etc. Hardparts are slightly different year to year as well as valve bodies. Not to mention proper clearancing of clutch stacks and how to adjust them for performance oriented shifts. I would actually be shocked if you got it back together, without fu<kin something up and when you're all done, and put it back in the car, what do you do when it doesnt shift right and you've sunk all that time and $$ into it and are still in the same boat? Now, dont forget about the electronics of the unit. That stuff aint cheap either. You plan on changing it all, or guessing if its bad or not? They dont always require new electronics, but sometimes thats ALL they need. What if you have an electrical issue which lead to the tranny burning up? Got your multimeter ready to do some probing. Know what/where to look? Dont mean to be a dick to ya man, we all try to save $$ where we can, but theres a reason there are transmission shops that specialize in this and you dont just take your tranny to the local Goodyear, because ya know what they do? They sub the job out to us after you leave it there for them. Thats right, like every other business, they get wholesale pricing then make a few hundred for referring the job. Good transmission guys are hard to come by, and getting that knowledge is like pulling teeth. Knowing what to look for and where, and its oh so easy to miss something like groves in the stator where the sealing rings ride thinking thats normal. I worked under guys that didnt even want to teach me for fear I would take thier job, which I dont blame them I been in this business for 8 years and I just started to rebuild on a regular basis within the last year. Ive built a few here and there along the way, but its not something you just jump into and do. **** just the other day I did a unit Im not all that familar with yet, and I lost my mental picture and couldnt figure out where a bearing went for like 30 minutes (lol). I like it because its challenging (very), but when u get one that does weird **** and you have to go back through it 3x to find a hairline fracture in a piston/drum, man does that get old quick. Everyone thinks they're a mechanic, and its easy to play it off and even get some major jobs accomplished in the engine bay, but it takes a real man to build a tranny! (just kidding, kinda, haha) I cant help but chuckle when people pull thier tranny apart (or half apart) and realize they havent a clue what they're doing and bring it to us in a box half disassembled. If you want to save $$, buy yourself a performance unit and do the swap yourself. Or pull the unit and take it to a shop as a "bench job". Good luck to ya and DO keep us posted/take pics!

 

look,I'm not saying that this is easy or that pros are over rated,I'm in a trade too,experience counts for alot,it's just that paying another $1000+ on a trans rebuild or a new one worries me.I'm on transmission #4 going in my car.I'm tired of the thing blowing.with all the money I've already spent on my trans I shoulda,woulda,coulda had a bulletproof trans with money left over for a 12 bolt and then some.So what do I do?I just do not want to worry about it any more.do I go with a stick like I should have from the begining or do I do another rebuild?And where should I go for the rebuild.where do i get a conversion kit?

 

Boy oh Boy these trans guys are real touchy aren't they. Think theve been sniffing too much burnt trans fluid. Trans mechanics and welders have about the same attitude. Can't live with em and cant live without em.

I rebuilt mine myself just so I wouldn't have to

You can do it, it won't be easy or pretty but after paying for four trans jobs
no one can blame the guy for trying it himself.

There are ways around popping for all those fancy high priced tools. If your a mechanic and have a garage set up pretty good it'll be ok.

If you get into it and need help just post the question. I'm sure the Trans Gods would offer advice. That's what the boards are for right?

If you have the money and could find a shop you could trust then it is easier to have them do it for you.

But to be gun shy at popping for another trans is understandable.

 

Wow, some guys do get defensive don't they???

But I was just letting you know what to expect, it's not easy! I am not a mechanic (officially) nor a trans specialist.. I however am the son of a professional mechanic and we have been tinkering with cars all my life (about 30 years now). I have mechanic friends and also friends that don't know **** about cars who come to me for second oppinion on what their mechanic told them, guess how many times its bad or wrong info???

Point being, I have tried to do almost everything once and learned a lot doing it, and talked to many more experianced guys about it while getting it done. This is one of the reasons I like dealing with Frank at CPT. Frank was way cool when I had mine rebuilt, I drove the tranny to his shop, sat and talked to him when he did it and he spent time explaining how everything worked and how to build it the right way. Since then, I have played around and messed with a few other trannies and things for friends and family to help diagnose it, pull it apart to see whats going on, and most of the time sent them to Frank to fix it because I know how hard it would be and that I don't have everything needed to do the job right. It is just cheeper to go to a pro instead of buying specialty tools that you would only use once or twice?

lefty - Just a thought, so don't get mad at me, but if you payed someone who "knows how to build it" to get it done 3 other times and it didn't last, how do you expect to build it better?
A few questions for you though, what type of shop rebuilt it? Did you shop by price or rep?

When I first had to replace my tranny I called every tranny shop in the area even some known to do good performance trannies. Most local shops (chain shops) quoted me 1200+ for a stock equivelent rebuild and said if I raced the car or if there was any sign of abuse the waranty would be voided, Frank actually encourages racing it, it gets him better known for building a tranny that can hold up. I found out about Frank through another message board that he is a vender on, and had many guys recommend him. I called him and with that one phone call knew he was the builder I was looking for, he was very helpful and told me everything I needed/wanted to know. He is very confident in his work and it shows when you talk to him. To top it off I had a few little issues that I thought were tranny related and Frank was on top of it and had me come back to the shop for him to look at it. Come to find they were not tranny issues, but he even helped me fix them anyway. One was actually something pretty scary, I lost a bolt from my rear seal housing, while driving it got caught between the weight on the flywheel and the starter and bent the weight out and the weight was then slapping the starter every rotation of the flywheel. It sounded terible and Frank was a great help in resolving this for me.

Holy **** I just looked up and realized I wrote a book, sorry...

 

the first time was my mistake,I went to aamco.1050 miles and done.the next 2 I went to "performance" rebuilders.both about 1000 miles and done.was told I abused the trans and voided warranty.love the car hate the transmission.

 

I'm not trying to be hard on you lefty or snakethis69, and I'm am confident my fellow shop owners who have responded share my view of apprehension as to your chances of success the first time out. I have been building transmissions for many years and since my experience was with non electronic transmissions (Turbo's 350 and 400, Powerglide, C-4, C-6, Torquflite, etc.), I was hesitant to rebuild my own 4L60E. I read manuals and talked to many experienced rebuilders before I even removed the trans. From what I have read and experienced from my 7 years behind a GM dealers parts counter, I knew they could be a PIA. With the help of a friend from the dealership who had a low 11 sec. A-4 Camaro, I rebuilt my trans. I now feel I can competently rebuild this trans. That being said, I still wouldn't want to do it everyday. I'll stick to the older techology. Give me a Turbo 400 any day!

 

Eh...I kinda like building 700/4L60E's everyday

Frank

 

More power to ya Frank. I'll stick to the engines. You can have the trannys.

 

Even the TH400's had problems, very few builders could do it right. The same today, very few know how to build 700R4/4L60E's, to hold up to the HP & torque being thrown at them, on a daily basis.

 

Agreed, like anything else, once you do a bunch and learn the weak points and how to avoid repeated failure of the same parts, it actually becomes "easy" and I do enjoy building them. When I say _easy_, i mean for someone that does this type of thing on a regular basis. I am my own worst critic and I actually beat on my transmission excessively to see what it takes to break them, and what actually fails. Then figure out why it happened, and how I can prevent it from happening again. Im far from knowing everything, but im actively learning this stuff everyday, end I enjoy it, so its not like a normal "job". I learn it becuase I want to, not because I have to, so it makes it much easier for me. Took engineering in college but decided it wasnt for me,.....building trannys is a science, and experience is key when looking for the clues as to where the failure began and where it ended. I think of it like the show CSI, but for transmissions (lol). Abuse of a transmission is evident when we tear them down, and the plain old lack of common sense to stop driving a vehicle when it starts having problems(which I also consider abuse), is also very evident by the extent of the damage.
Like I said, if you want to save some cash, take it out yourself and take it to a GOOD builder as a benchjob. You need to find other f-body guys that go to the track in your area and ask them where they got thier done, how long its lasted, have they had any issues and did the guy stand behind his work, and most importantly, how much did they pay. I think you'll find the guys that run thier cars HARD and havent had any problems didnt get it done cheaply, but if you had done your homework to begin with you would have a bulletproof trans. Not insulting you,.....but merely stating the facts. We all make mistakes man, were human, and thats how stubborn people, such as myself, tend to learn things sometimes. I thoguht about going to a stick also, but I wouldnt give up on the auto yet unless you really want to have a stick, there are downfalls there too. My main reason for wanting a stick was for the fuel mileage you can get in 6th gear on roadtrips and still run a 4:10 gear. Roughly consistent with an A4 and only 3.42. But you will then shift your transmission issues to rear end issues if you are indeed beating your car hard.