The Beauty of a Home Rebuild

[Glacier991]

I guess you know I rebuild transmissions in my garage here at home. For each it is a personal process. It comes to me dirty, greasy and ugly. It may have internal damage. I disassemble, bathe it, sandblast and clean it and gently reassemble it...paint it....add new parts... by the time I am though it is like a child reared.

This one is one I am especially proud of.... I will post more pics... mainly as a roadmap of where the case "bric a brac" goes... but wanted to post a couple of pics of this pretty thing at this stage...

It is a 94, and so has all the bells and whistles. I added a 7 friction reverse/main clutch... 6 friction forward and 3 friction spiral cut OD.... plus new welded front OD planetary, 6 pinion rear planetary and new sprags througout, and a new rear race and thrust washer and new rear drum end caps (thank you sonnax). The pump is brand new. The Valve body has everything currently available as upgrades and the servos have been upgraded as well... Low/reverse servo went from O rings to D rings and the OD servo is a BIG 5R55 "ZC" and the intermediate is now a big "AB". The bellhousing has a new turned in place bushing. There are other little things in this baby, but is it as good as a stock A4LD can get! Next step? Frankentranny! I have 2 in the works.

Just had to show it off...

I'll be sad to see it go.

 

[section525]

She is a beauty!

 

[Glacier991]

Nice to see this form of beauty appreciated!

Next up.... 4405.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

very nice looking Chris. What type of paint is that? Any special stuff? Can't wait to see the Borg

-Drew

 

[Glacier991]

The paint I get at the transmission shop.. it is called "Alumiblast".... when I spray it there are speckles of metallic aluminum in the air.... it makes sandblasted prepped aluminum cases look nice...

 

[thewishkah]

That looks really good, hey next time mine goes want to rebuild it? lol

 

[94_explorer]

I'm impressed. I'd like to see the inside too! Man, I wish I could do that to my MD05!
Very nice work. Someone will be very lucky to get that puppy.

 

[Bigg_billy]

Lawn Ornament

Put a glass ball on top of it and you'll have something............

 

[Glacier991]

Billy... when I read your post I honestly laughed out loud!

This one is headed to SF.

 

[Bigg_billy]

Jack

All work and and no play..........you gotta have some fun with these things somehow...........

 

[Rick]

Dang that thing looks nice. Time for someone to install a plexiglass transmission tunnel to show it off

 

[Glacier991]

Ok more pics.... I have one little piece I need to add (will post the pic later) and a bolt is missing on one standoff... but these pics might be helpful...

First a couple of the band adjustment/shifter shaft/cable side of the transmission

A clearer view of the vent tube arrangement.... taken from a higher vantage point...

Note the little slits to prevent reverse siphioning.... also a place water can get in in deep water crossings. For this doing that... eliminate this and run a tube up into the engine compartment (See the Diary)... closeup of the slits referred to

Closeup of the front attachment of the cable retention bracket (missing a bolt still, it also holds the vent tube (also a good shot of the band adjusting bolts)

Rearward there is another bracket, and one is still missing, will add it later when I have dry paint to attach without messing up my hands any more....(this one attaches with the extension housing)

On the other side we have the heat shield. I like to add the this aluminum heat shield they use to wrap headers to add protection and "refurbish" old heat shields....You can kinda see that in this pic. Also notice the unique shape of the "ZC" OD servo cover peeking out... (also a good shot of how the heat shield attached to the bolt holding the modulator in place - hard to see from UNDER the Explorer)

I'll add to this.

 

[BrooklynBay]

If that paint does have aluminum inside of it, wouldn't it be able to withstand high temperatures without deteriorating, or peeling? Could you show a picture of the spray can with the label? I have seen a lot of transmissions with junk paint that started to peel after a short time after they were rebuilt. This paint looks like it is a natural color, just like the aluminum when it is new.

 

[Glacier991]

Good point, I'll capture a picture and post it here. Excellent suggestion, thanks.