Tranny Rebuild
Took her into to Tranco. I was a little dubious – I had heard good things and bad things. I talked to the guy there about my issue, and after some discussion it looks like the best option is a rebuild. I’d have to do that eventually anyway. I had done some price checking on the web and rebuilds on a TH350 look to cost anywhere from $250 to $2500. That huge difference mainly centers around the “I know a guy” factor vs. reputable shop, and how much they have to actually do. I could get a new (reman anyway) TH350 for around $1400, but then I’d have to pay shipping and installation.
But after getting it to the shop (it tried to die most of the way) and talking to them, I felt like I had made about the safest decision I could have. The guy I talked to is a Chevy guy – used to do late 60’s early 70’s hotrods and whatnot, which makes me feel a little safer. I also talked to him about shift kits, and he offered to do the modifications as part of the rebuild at little cost, so that’s fantastic. I’m going to get the whole reman, with shift kit, for under a grand. That’s good for the budget. Other good news: the Chevy guy is the mechanic too (not specifically a tranny guy), so I’m looking to have them do the tuneup as well. I feel pretty good so far because he gave me that first quote with the caveat of “if all the hardparts are ok”. So I half expected to get the “we have to replace all your hardparts” call, because I know a lot of places pull that crap. But when we talked he said that it was ok except for the pump (which I expected) and a bushing. Well, I’d call that pretty lucky! So I get the feeling that they are being straight with me. I’m think part of that might be that they know that I’m doing a resto – and if they don’t screw me over, they will probably get a good bit of business out of me.
I really hope these guys turn out to be good – they are less than 2 miles from the house and that would make my life a lot easier. Plus they like American cars – I really like SHA, but I know they focus on imports. They came out and said there would be some stuff they couldn’t do for me. Plus they are waaaaaaay far from the house.
Hopefully I’ll have a well running truck by Monday! One can always hope.
EDIT 2014 Update:
Yeah, don’t go to Tranco. It leaked since the day I got it back until I got rid of the thing. It also filled the pan up with a nice layer of brass dust, though admittedly it could have been that they never cleaned the old pan out. Either way, crappy job.