Toast transmission, what to do now?

[Saber63]

so got a '04 zx3 with 70K miles. Had been making a bit o noise, thought it might be the brakes, wheel bearing, etc... turns out, metal in the transmission = toast.
The car is also pretty rough around the edges for interior/exterior... car is worth less then $4K. It is not the daily driver, but the snow/dirt/play car


So what to do? Ive got a few options off the top of my head.

1.)Sell/scrap it. Get rid of it some how, part it out, sell it outright and honestly, or get ~$500 in scrap for it....

2.)Find a new tranny, a rebuilt with warranty is like $2500 o.O or a used one for alot less, but not %100 known life...

3.)Track/Project Car. Drain the fluids, prep it for storage, and in 2-5 years come back and strip it down, and turn it to a track car, with possible motor&trans swap. well a Trans at the least. if in 5 years nothing has happend, see idea one.

Also to note, I now live 10miles from a proper race track (full road course, 1/4mile, and a mini road course) but am tightish on moneys cause of a house, etc...


Thoughts, Ideas, Concerns would all be great to hear! Thanks!

-Levi

[Sponsor]

[rics94svtbird]

2500 for a tranny i dont know i got my tbird tranny rebuilt 2 time by same mechanic and it cost me 2,600 keep in mind that it is rwd and first time i had way too much fun with it bang tranny broke housing retuned and warranty for 1year ooo and its auto so im guessing that it will be a lot cheaper and better than getting a used one. y? you can build it how u want it and to handle the abuse you throw at it because for 70k sumting miles on it to bust any tranny you must be riding that tranny hard
and to track it you need $$$$$ and by the looks right now thats seems to be a little problem 4 you to track a car you need to lay down the $$$$$ like for- track rental, tires, brakes, fluids, tune ups, parts and labor, that right there could ask for 900+ per week. just rebuild the tranny cause it seems that you dont really want to pour your money in that less than $4k worth whip not being mean or trying to be its just that a roof over your head i think is more important and $900+ thats a house payment right there just save a little money on the side have like a piggy bank going when you have change just throw it in and wala before you know when you need (not want) a major repair you have a little something on the side this will help trust me i know im doing it right now for the Thunderwolf project/Daily Driver and if i need a repair just take it from the project or ask some one from this site to help you out(like parts from autozone brakes, clutch, ect. you know parts that have lifetime warranty i took my brakes and exchanged them with the duramax gold c that someone let me borrow i went to an autozone firstime they said those were not there brakes second time i came home with a big grin on my face and o and some duralast brake pads lol i now have a sticking caliper and well im getting some hawk pads and stop tech rotors i geuss i jumped the gun so im thinking on getting performance brake system in the near future)but those are my thoughts diffrent people diffrent thoughts lol

[defiantcustompaint]

I know this won't sound like a good option, but you can always rebuild it yourself. I have a decent amount of experience in all areas of car building , but was always afraid to go inside a trans. My girlfriends 2000 finally took a dump, and I decided to go for it. I got an ATSG manual, and ordered a rebuild kit. I followed the book to a T, and it ended up not being that bad. I had no specialty tools except for a band select gauge, that I ordered for the rebuild. It took maybe 7 hours once I had all the parts I needed to order, and cleaning everything well. She has put around 30K on it since the rebuild, and it like new again. I spent $600 for everything, including replacing the torque convertor. If you have the time, and space, go for it. I learned a lot, and have done two other automatics since then.

[Saber63]

Yea, the Trans had a rough life. 2 people learned to drive stick with it. It was the car that got taken skiing, (it was known as the SnoCus) got stuck a few times, was a snow plow. Wide open red line gear changes where not uncommon... you get the idea.

I wont be doing any work on it for a while. More so if it costs $$$. But need to make the call on keeping it. or getting rid of it. And if i'm going to track it, i can strip out some of the interior before storage etc...

The Idea of doing a tranny rebuild does sound fun. I'm assuming rebuilding a MTX is going to be same ball park for cost and time as a ATX?

Thanks for the input so far guys! Hearing it come from other people makes me feel less crazy about wanting to keep it ^.^

-Levi

[zetecDon]

Is it just the clutch that is worn or do you mean the whole clutch is destroyed internally? I have had clutches wear out long before the transmission did. I just had the clutch replaced and it was good as new.

[Saber63]

I Mean that the transmission oil is full of metal, needing a pretty major rebuild or replace, but i have not gotten it cracked open to double check where the metal is from... This was found because the clutch had begun to slip a little

-Levi

[dmac03]

I'm in the same boat. My trans is sounding funny after i replaced the pass side axle.
Is making a grind i had replaced all 3 mounts. Then the axle. Idk but the sound seems like it coming from the trans. One guy told me it my be my clutch. My throw out bearing might be busted. Seems true becuz i do need a new clutch. But when i did my oil change today. I had the car up. Put it in 2nd to hear the noise. Can't really tell where the noise is coming from. So i stop the wheel from spinning on the driver side. I can still hear the grinding. So i then stop the wheel on pass side and the noise stopped. I don't know much bout cars tho. But would that still be my throw out bearing?. Or is it somethin on the inside of the trans where the pass side axle go in.. Can any one let me know or ask wat that might be.. U can pm me for my number to call to get a better understanding of wat i'm talkin bout if u think u may know wat it is.thanks.

[zetecDon]

Yeah, if you are having metal in the transmission fluid that means something is grinding in there. It all depends on what type of budget you are on but you can always look around on Craigslist to find a decent used transmission for about $300 usually. But as you said, you aren't 100% sure about it's life. I don't remember transmission rebuilds costing that much to be honest. If I were you I would call around to different places to see what they will charge for a rebuild. Just remind them that it is a manual transmission, it might be a different price range.