What do people here generally do when its time to replace their trans or differential? Are people rebuilding them themselves, having the work done, buying used ones, or buying a rebuilt? If buying a rebuilt, where is a good source? Thanks.
Rebuilding/Replacing Transmission and Differential
King_Tut
#2
Most guys buy the rebuild sets for the differential and rebuild it themselves unless you are DeVinney, then you pay OPM to do it. Most guys also go to drive-gear.com for a quality rebuilt transmission as the flashing banner ad on the page currently says.
swooper
#3
I’ve seen the ads for drive gear. Have people been happy with their work? Regarding the diff, I have a 4.10 and would like to switch to a 3.73. Any place to buy a rebuilt one or should I buy one and do it myself…never done something like this before, but may be able to get some help. Thanks.
jlevie
#4
Replacing the clutches in a differential can be a DIY, beyond that it is time for a pro. As to a transmission, leave that for a pro.
King_Tut
#5
Andrew says the following:
Currently in use in over 25 Spec E30 cars across the country. We have more than 6 wins this year in cars running our transmissions.
I know when my transmission bites the bullet that is where I am going to get a rebuilt one. If I was you I would put the 4.10 up for sale on e30tech.com and r3vlimited.com and then purchase a 3.73 LSD. Put it in the car and test it per the SpecE30 rules. If you want more lockup, then you can attempt the DIY rebuild of the clutches.
PDS
#6
Andrew at Drivegear is a straight up guy. My buddie rents a car from him and says the tranny is fantastic. I’ve also seen them loose in the trailer and visually they are things of beauty.
Fortunately, my tranny is in great shape - but if it goes my first call will be to Drivegear.
Steve_D
#8
[quote=“King Tut” post=58844]…unless you are DeVinney, then you pay OPM to do it. Most guys also go to drive-gear.com for a quality rebuilt transmission as the flashing banner ad on the page currently says.[/quote]I have a rule. You have to meet me once before giving me heaps of $hit on the forums.
Like me, OPM knows what they are good at and what they aren’t. They didn’t do my diff. I have a Brendino Digel-icious diff in my car. He’s an Atlanta guy. I also have a DriveGear rebuilt box in my car. Andrew does fabulous work. The box you get back will be clean enough to display in your living room. You will almost feel guilty putting it in the car. But when you do, you will be happy.
andrew240z
#11
Hi Guys, thanks for the testimonials. We offer a top quality rebuild for a fair price, I realize it is a lot of money but IMO its worth it. You can certainly get lucky with a junkyard trans but remember most of these cars have well over 200k on them before they get junked. We are finding it harder and harder to get trannys that dont have issues since the mileages’ are getting so high. Our whole philosophy with our cars is to replace everything you can with new parts and try to avoid problems at the race track. We spend a lot of money on getting to the track and on entry fees and the last thing we want to do is break down at the track. While we are very prepared for most problems we dont like having to fix cars at the race track 
Andrew Z
Drive-gear.com
swooper
#12
What are the signs of a bad tranny? Mine rattles a lot in neutral with the clutch out?
Andrew. Saw that you guys do diffs as well. Will you take a 4.10 as a core for a rebuilt 3.73? Do you guys ever do installation of your trannys? Thanks.
andrew240z
#13
[quote=“swooper” post=58980]What are the signs of a bad tranny? Mine rattles a lot in neutral with the clutch out?
Andrew. Saw that you guys do diffs as well. Will you take a 4.10 as a core for a rebuilt 3.73? Do you guys ever do installation of your trannys? Thanks.[/quote]
Generally if you are not having problems shifting the trans I wouldnt worry about the rattle. Once you have problems getting into gears or having it pop out of gear thats the time to get me.
Sorry I cant take a 4.10 in exchange. I have been sitting on one now for over a year that I cant get rid of.
We dont do installations outside of an emergency trackside situation
Andrew Z
Drive-gear.com
swooper
#14
[quote=“andrew240z” post=58983][quote=“swooper” post=58980]What are the signs of a bad tranny? Mine rattles a lot in neutral with the clutch out?
Andrew. Saw that you guys do diffs as well. Will you take a 4.10 as a core for a rebuilt 3.73? Do you guys ever do installation of your trannys? Thanks.[/quote]
Generally if you are not having problems shifting the trans I wouldnt worry about the rattle. Once you have problems getting into gears or having it pop out of gear thats the time to get me.
Sorry I cant take a 4.10 in exchange. I have been sitting on one now for over a year that I cant get rid of.
We dont do installations outside of an emergency trackside situation
Andrew Z
Drive-gear.com[/quote]
Thanks Andrew. I just read an old back issue of Grassroots Motorsports about your rentals and saw that you do trackside repairs, so was hopeful that you do full installs as well. Think I’ll hold off on the trans for now. It rattles a little and was leaking oil the last time at the track, but I think that might just be from the breather. I’ll have to find a 3.73 lsd to swap out though.
swooper
#16
Andrew, any chance that you’ll have a diff for sale at Summit? What’s the core charge? Thanks.
King_Tut
#17
Not much DIY really needed. Get a hose and a hose clamp and pull off the plastic vent cap and put the hose on with a clamp then run it up to the engine bay to your 20 oz plastic bottle of choice. I actually modified my power steering fluid reservoir for my catch can.
swooper
#18
I’m still runnning my power steering and drive to and from the track, so I don’t want to use the washer resevoir either. Should I just install a container in the engine bay? Also, do I need to drop the trans to do this? Thanks.
King_Tut
#19
It will be rather difficult to get a hose clamp on it without dropping the transmission as it is on the top of the tranny in the tunnel area. Removing the rear transmission mount brace might drop it enough to get in there. I would install a container in the engine bay.
swooper
#20
Arghhh. Wish I had known about this before. I just dropped the trans recently. Probably wont do this until I rebuild the trans.