I found one on craigs list and picked it up today. The guy said it came out of a 93 astro van w/4.3L. Looked at # on case and it is 1MJM296C. Looks like it is a 1991 from the numbers. The bone yard wanted between $250 to $350 and I got this one for $150. He said it worked fine when he pulled it from the wrecked van a year ago but I plan on rebuilding it anyway. Better to do it now. He also said he knew the first owner of the van and thought it was the origional trans. I am going to think of it like it came from a pile at the bone yard since the case # did not check out to be a '93. I thought it was still a good deal having the factory updates over my old '84. Any thoughts on this?? Looks like it has 27 splines on the outer input shaft and like 30 on the inner input shaft. Good/ Bad?? I'm only planning on hp/trq to be in the 400's. Daily driver w/drag race a couple of times a year for fun. I think I want to do a 2100 to 2500 stall w/ lock up. Should I upgrade some parts during the rebuild?? I know I will need to use my old tale housing for the cable driven speedo. Anything else I need to know or should do??

A few more pics. I think I need to pressure wash the outside of it before I start digging into this one. Lots of sand and dust from sitting in the weather.

$150 for a core isn't bad, yes the number traces to be a '91, but could easily have been the stocker from a '93 astro. The "outer input" is the stator support, and does not turn. They are the same in all 700's. The "inner input" is the input shaft, and 30 spline is the later version. Being a 91 it should be have tha aux valvebody and the 10-vane pump, thus it should be a great care to build for what you want.

I saw you were in Mike's thread, there's some good info in that thread. - Check transmissioncenter's (PATC/Raptor 700R4) website. They have a great page about the failure prone parts and misc problems with factory 700's, as well as the solutions/fixes. Dana from ProBuilt posts on hear, as well as lsome one from performabuilt. Dana is very knowledgable and is known to go above and beyond helping out, even when it's not his customer. The guy from performabuilt seems to be building a good reputation as well. - As of yet I have bought all the parts for the trans's that I have built from PATC, but may soon venture out a bit if the pricing is good.

THX shagwell. I have been to patc and probuilt's web sites. Lots of good info for the DIY ers. I ordered the manuals and dvd from probuilt a couple of weeks ago. I did some surfing on a few different forums and Dana had a pretty good rep. Performabuilt has been very helpful to others on this forum as I have seen. You have also given a lot of good input to people too.

We have a lot of GREAT folks here on TGO. All of you deserve a BIG pat on the back. Thanks Guys!!!!

I love to surf through the different sections of this forum to see what people are doing. I think this is one of the better sites IMO.

I thought I read somewhere that the newer v6's still had the older 27 spline shaft so I was unsure. Glad I got a good one to start with. I need to give that credit to probuilt for resopnding to an e-mail that I sent him asking if the trans would be a good one to rebuild. Thanks Probuilt!

I might get to go back home tomarrow night but unsure yet. Depends on how things go here in Marblehead MA. I was in Fargo ND last week. That would give me an extra day to catch up around the house. I have to leave out again on sunday for IN then to IL.

Well going to dinner, back on later.