Rebuilding a transaxle more than a engine?
 

I'm in the process of rebuilding my 82sc transaxle and talk about sticker shock man it's expensive and prices are way out of whack. Syncros,syncro hubs,sliders,bearings
no gears repair spun bearing misc brake bands ect... $3,000 without labor. Paying these abouts for mass produced bearings is crazy. Little bands of hardened steel (syncro ring)$90.00 ???? Well, got no choice I'm all in.

Been there and feel your pain, especially the bearings - OUCH!

Mine was about 3k and I sent the trans UPS to Mayo. 1k for labor and shipping not counting the two weekends pulling and re-installing. None of that couple of hours stuff for this oldster. I am slow. It is really expensive.

My top end rebuild in '97 with Raceware, heads redone (all new valves - more money than sense back then :-) ) was cheaper.

It is the coolest sensation to be able to slide the shifter into first while moving after not even knowing it was possible for over a decade of owning the car. I have done this about twice as I know what the outcome is if I continue downshifting to first. Brake pads are way cheaper.

Mayo says double clutch on every shift for long term life......... Sometimes yes, most times no for me.

Sorry for the ramble, yes, trans parts are brutal.

Thanks for your sharing of the pain Bob.

Man, I would love to have a 911 engine rebuild that only cost me $3k in parts...

I keep hoping that someone (Matt Monson ;))will manufacture a retrofit kit for modern internals from a Mustang or something that is relatively cheap. Just a dream I guess there is just not enough of them.

I have a temporary tranny in mine, the original is shelved for now waiting a rebuild.

What is so special about the bearings? Can't these be purchased at a bearing supplier. I use Kamen Bearings an industrial supply company owned by Bell Helicopters. Most of my experience is for Harley Davidsons but also any other bearing replacement projects I have had. I've had HD bearings that listed for 75.00 and bought at Kamen for around 25.00. Mostly I purchase Timken brand. All bearings regardless of brand seem to have a 4 digit number for their spec. Is it possible to that these tranny bearings could be purchase over the counter as well?

Terry

I should've made the point top end rebuild! Not total I guess.

I'm not complaining about PP price I know what drives the market and I purchase lot's of parts from them but I do plan a visit to Kamen in Albany next week.

Ouch - I looked up a full Raceware stud kit from PP. It's almost twice what I paid in 97. Pushing a long one.

Still, transmissions are very expensive given a robust rebuild like kodioneill's.

Add a few gear sets to equalize. A genuine Porsche gear set for 1st gear (two gears - one big one little) for an SC 915 is $936.

In my experience people frequently overlook the cost of machinery, tooling and engineering when they look at that little "expensive" ring of steel.

Case in point. For years we used Porsche/Getrag dog teeth on all of our G50 gears. My cost on those teeth was around $95 plus shipping and duties out of Germany. I think PP retailed them for around $150.

Now that Porsche and Getrag have gotten "divorced" I have to make my own. Just the new tooling cost $20k. My per unit cost is now over $150 each and it will be more than 1000 units before I fully amortize the tooling cost. Given that I only cut about 200 G50 gears a year it will be 5 years before I break even and make a cent of profit on those teeth.

And let's not overlook the value of quality. Recently the market has been flooded with gearbox parts from a company with the initials of R&S. They are Asian made. Their tolerances are all over the place. Their materials aren't of the sane standard as OEM German parts. They save the buyer 10-20% off of Genuine. But I hear of a lot of shifting issues from people who just rebuilt their gearboxes. Quality costs money and you frequently get what you pay for.

I used to rebuild these boxes in the 70's-80's that syncro was $5 or $10. I'm thinking to far back guess.

Volkswagon, Porsche, Audi used to have a warehouse 10 miles away. When they closed it down everthing, complete engines, cases of spare parts, tranny's, etc. were crushed. My neighbor was working there and watched it all. Wheres the time machine.

Now THERE, dear friends, is pure wisdom and the honest (blunt) truth.

I could not agree more.

1 1970 dollar would be 6$ today. So assuming no change in the cost of steel or other materials or the fuel/freight to deliver it, that $10 part should cost $60 today. That's just inflation and none of the other variables that come into play.