Thread: Thinking of Rebuilding my own transmission. Turbo Car

Hey guys,

Kind of seeking a learning challenge, and saving some $. Looking at rebuilding my trans myself, lost 3rd and 4th, fluid was super black, metallic in fluid, Blah blah blah.

Was just built around 3k ago, already toasted. Havent been driving like an idiot either , its my dd.

Anyways, already have the 300m, 3.29 7/8 chain in the trans and im assuming they are both good. Havent torn into it yet.

Would be my first time rebuilding a trans by myself. Things i should know? Too hard? Are buying the tools not worth it? Thanks

The manual is a good start. If you look in ebay you'll also find a video that I found to be very informative and a great visual aid the first time I rebuilt a transmission. A few thing that you should know going into it is that there are a few specialty tools that are required during the rebuild or if you don't have them have to come up with solutions on your own. Also there is a good write-up on "bonneville pro"

Metalic flakes in the pan are going to be an area of concern, and typically a sign on a bushing or bearing failure. So you're not really going to know the extent of the damage until you have fulling torn it down and done your thorough inspection. Sounds like a pretty decent failure with burnt clutches and metalic flakes in the pan. Your 300m and 7/8" should be fine.

Yea its going to andrew again lol. unless someone can talk me into doing it lol. I really want to have it done and ready to drive by may 11th. Thats the Michigan W body meet

Besides basic tools the only one i needed to buy was the clutch spring compressor tool.

And its not too bad, just read over the manual, take your time, and triple check everything. AND DON'T SKIP OUT ON REPLACING WORN PARTS

pretty straight forward, Just take your time have enough space on a table or two to lay out your parts and mark your bolts,valves, ect and put them in a muffin dish or something. Take pictures while pulling apart just incase. There arnt really any measurements to take. and be carefull pulling apart the valve body there are little balls in there you dont want to lost or mix up where they go.

I'm in the process of doing mine. You don't have to take apart the VB if you don't want to. Compressing the springs aren't too tricky. The second gear clutch spring like the bend unless it is fully supported against the tool. I bent mine but a new one is only $15 on rock auto.
It helps to have an engine stand with the bracket. You can get a stand for <$50. Just need someone to fab a bracket (it's just two pieces of angle iron welded in a L with a gusset.) A full thorough rebuild will cost between $500 and $700.

My rebuild was $400 including fluids, but I think I lucked out. Just needed a master kit, thrust washers, and bands.

As far as specialty tools, get the spring compressor, and a T30 Torx head socket.. A flathead screwdriver works for pulling out the snap rings.. I got by without the spring compressor, but there were a few times I wish I had one. and for the input drum and input / 3rd ratcheting sprag, either get the holding tool, or some fishing line to hold it together while you blindly line it up. And dont forget the torque wrench.

Before I rebuilt my tranny, the most intensive job I did on the car was probably a radiator and strut replacements on a cavalier. I enjoyed the process. Most of the job is remembering where each little part goes on reassembly. I actually had to pull mine apart a second time because I forgot the bearing between the planetaries.

The video greg mentioned is what I used during my rebuild. Search for the ebay user F-bodies inc.

Good luck on your project!

When rebuilding mine, I used the bonnevillepro info by AGrazela, and bought a couple of tools. First up is the teflon ring resizer for the input/3rd clutch housing. It's a simple sleeve that is sold for about $40

Picked up a clutch compressor, then went to tractor supply and got this extended nut/stud for the end of it. Because 3rd/input drum is damn long




Holder, made my own. It's pretty straight forward if you take the engine stand piece and bolt it to the back stud of the trans case where GM would.


Then a couple pieces of stock like Justin said.






To protect seals as I slid them on, I used ziploc freezer bags over the sharp edges etc and lubed them with trans fluid. This allowed the seals to slide over without being hurt.