With the body off to the body shop and the engine at the builder I decided to tackle the transmission overhaul. The transmission was the correct VIN stamped transmission and still retained the cast iron tail shaft housing.
Upon removing the transmission pan everything looked bright and clean inside as if it had recently been gone through. The factory service manual does a great job of laying out the step by step disassembly. Digging deeper into the transmission it was evident that it had been recently rebuilt as evidenced by the assembly lube and appeared to be good condition other that a missing reaction plate snap ring on the Reverse/ High clutch. The first run through the gears and it would have come completely apart going into Drive.
The clutch packs were of an unknown manufacturer so I decided to order a complete overhaul kit with seals and clutches. One note, the “R” code transmissions use a unique “R” kickdown band servo, the seals for this servo are not included with the overhaul kit so you will have to source those separately.
If you choose to tackle the transmission yourself again, the service manual lays it all out really well. Some special tools that you will need though will be a transmission spring compressor, dental picks, feeler gauges, transmission assembly lube, a big clean work bench and lots of patience. Two assembly notes that the service manual didn’t mention the rear one-way roller clutch is indexed with an oiling hole, be sure to index it on reinstallation, and do not tap on the governor tubes with a hammer (like the previous builder did) as it crushes the tubes.
