Story thread

[hotrodpc]

i saw one on ebay used for something like 12,000 and if i was to go into offical business, like renting a sapce, i would probably have bought it.

first tranny i built, i didnt check anything, i just put it together, luckily it went together perfect and lasted me 50,000 miles, until i put a 2200 stall converter in it and shattered the sunshell lol

Must have been a 700r4 or 4L60-E. Knowing the common failures in each model of transmission is also important so you know how to deal with that and make each one better, like using the Beast or Smart Shell in the 700r4's and 4L60-Es. It adds to your build cost, but if you're going to warranty the thing you better do it. Knowing the failure, how to correct it, and the ability to explain to a customer in basic English so they understand what they're paying for and why is important or you'll never sell one because there is always some asshat that doesn't give a rats ass about quality, or deceptive advertising that will beat you. I see guys advertising 700r4 rebuilds for $650 around here. That's going to be a basic rebuild and you have the same problems. Once the guy gets you on the phone though and then explains all the upgrades you might want, now the price is $1200. Late 700r4/Early 4L60-E's are the most expensive to build due to all the upgrades you'd want to put in it in aftermarket correction parts if you want to be able to stand behind a good warranty. Early 700r4's I try to not even deal with. Then you have to worry about the guy who charges $1200 and SAYS he's doing all these updates and he doesn't do jack. It's real easy to get taken on a trans build. This is why reputation is everything in that biz.

Knowing what changes were made year after year in 700r4's is also very important since some hard parts are not interchangeable based on the correction or update GM put in them. Something as simple as drum having a tiny round hole, vs one with a tiny square hole won't work with this drum piston because of X or X. So if you find a bad part, don't think you can just pull off your shelf of spare or donor hard parts. You better know what's compatible with what. Also good to know, what retrofits and year model changes are backwards compatible to improve the earlier models. Even some 4L60-E parts are backwards compatible to 700r4's. Like 5 pinion planets from a 4L65-E are backwards compatible all the way back to 82. A guy can make a good supplemental income doing nothing but 700r4's and becoming very fluent in them and stocking cores and hard parts. But if you don't know what's compatible with what, you're doomed and failure is guarenteed.

 

[silverado13]

yup, it was infact a 4l60e, i can get basic rebuild kits in town for $120 but id like to use something more then a basic kit, ive bought things like a converter from monster transmission but their rebuild kits are $500-$800, where do you get your parts from, and do you think that the 98-05 4l60es is a better market to target?

 

[bigcountry78]

Jeez hotrod, based on your last post, will you fix my 4l60-e when it dies? I think your my new trans guy lol. And I got $36 because the trans was bolted to a transfer case and a cross member, weighed in the neighborhood of 380 pounds.

 

[hotrodpc]

If you're looking for spare income, just target RWD trucks and you'd have enough spare work to keep you busy in your garage. 98-05 only would be good too, then you can always branch backwards or forward. I do try to avoid the E transmissions just because I don't have the test equipment to test solenoids or run a scan on a transmission. Many times an E trans can be failing and it's nothing more than a wire broke somewhere or a bad solenoid. It's pretty shitty to charge a guy for a whole trans build when all he might have needed was a $60 - $80 solenoid. Someday, I might be able to acquire the tools needed for 4L60-E's but I don't feel comfy with it right now without being able to test.

How will it be if you charge a guy $800-$1200 for a trans rebuild, he installs it and had the exact same problem. Takes it to a shop and finds that one of his wires to the trans was burnt on an exhaust pipe?

Last time I bought a 700r4 K case core and an NP208 transfer case, I paid $100 for it. Sold the Tcase for $100 and had the 89 700r4 K case for FREE. In 700r4 cores, collect all the 88-93 cores you can if you want to build OD transmissions. 87's aren't bad either, but avoid the 82-86 cores. Those are the ones notorious for problems and had very few updates and smaller less splined shafts in them.

 

[silverado13]

my goal is to build them, get spare income and invest all of it back into building transmissions until i can make something more out of it, how come you dont just replace all the solenoinds during the rebuild

 

[hotrodpc]

That's not a bad idea either. Just replace everything. The wiring harness, the solenoids, the plug, the whole 9 yards. It can be done but then you're price point is going to be higher. Some guys don't even dick with going over the valve bodies. They just buy a new one. You can do that too but it brings the price up too. There are some valve bores that do wear and they need to be reamed, cleaned and bushed, or oversize valve used. That's one of those valves you may as well just plan on doing on every build if you're going to do all solenoid replacement. If you're going to be that thorough, then be that thorough but most people aren't willing to put that kind of a build with that price point into an old truck.

 

[silverado13]

That's not a bad idea either. Just replace everything. The wiring harness, the solenoids, the plug, the whole 9 yards. It can be done but then you're price point is going to be higher. Some guys don't even dick with going over the valve bodies. They just buy a new one. You can do that too but it brings the price up too. There are some valve bores that do wear and they need to be reamed, cleaned and bushed, or oversize valve used. That's one of those valves you may as well just plan on doing on every build if you're going to do all solenoid replacement. If you're going to be that thorough, then be that thorough but most people aren't willing to put that kind of a build with that price point into an old truck.

ive been known to leave the valve body on if i find out what the problem was, like obviously worn out clutches