hey, i was thinking of having someone rebuild my transmission now im thinking of doing it myself. i am a little afraid of transmissions to tell you the truth. we messed around with them in autotech in high school but im skeptical if i could rebuild it and put it in my car and it actually work. what do you guys/girls think that have done this before. is it really all that hard and should i just have someone else do it or what. its already out of the car just laying in the garage. also is their any manuals or books i should pick to help me out if i decide to do it myslef. thanx

 

Buy the atsg manual. Read it completely and make your decision. Some people on the forum will tell you it is a piece of cake, nothing to it. Others will say not possible. With the correct tools and enough time, you can do it. It is not easy, but doable.

 

You didnt mention if its a T5 or 700R4. T5's are much easier, but both require special tools and parts. I'm one of the others who will tell you its not easy for an amatuer to rebuild a transmission.

 

its a 7oor4 and what kind of special tools do yall mean

 

You will need a seal installer/resizer (input drum bushings), spring compressor (specifically for transmissions), pump alignment band, several snap ring pliers, and a whole lot of patience.

The actual rebuilding process is very straight forward, as long as you keep the parts in the same order you took them out. You can get rebuilding books and dvd's all over the place. I would definately read up on it and then decide. The only specific tool that is required is the seal installer/resizer. This is for installing the teflon seals on the input drum and resizing them to the shaft. The spring compressor could be made out of stock steel and some threaded rod if you were ambitious enough. The pump alignment band can be made with two LARGE hose clamps (worm gear style) and the snap ring pliers can be had at any auto parts store or Sears.

 

Although not required, a couple of seal protectors are handy to have. They are specific to the 700r4 and run about $30 each.
I have about $1,000 invested in my 700r4 tools, including universal spring compressors. Some can be bought quite cheap. Others can be rented from a mail order company in Wisconsin.

 

Also having some large strips of thin plastic (plastic coated paper plates also worked) to wrap around the outer lip seals to install them is handy. That way you dont have to mess around with the lip seal installer tool (damn near inpossible with new seals for a newbie IMO).

 

Depends on how mechanically inclined you are, experience, and you need lots of patience. If you do, keep it very organized and clean, don't skip any steps, and make sure you pressure check the seals.

I did the TH-350 in my mud truck and it was very straightfoward once you get the tools and figure how everything goes together right. the 700 R is more complicated but its do-able.

Only problem is I shattered the bellhousing and case now...lol, took pretty much everything out.. damn...

 

Mis-alignment killed mine. Well, it still worked, but it made alot of noise and there was a heap of metal in the pan. The TC and front pump are toast and there is a deep groove in the crank from where the TC pilot was wearing against it. Needless to say Im not using an auto this time around. Swapping in a TKO, but in hindsight, pulling the motor, replacing the crank, fixing the trans, and throwing in some offset dowel pins wouldve been ALOT easier and cheaper.