Transmission and Transfer case rebuild time

[dhendriksen]

I’m looking for some guidance. I’m mechanically inclined, having built a couple of motors, replaced a few clutches, done lots of brake jobs, etc… but not a professional mechanic.

My buddy owns a car dealership and has offered to let me use his facility to do some work on the Bronco. If I bought the rebuild kit for the transmission and transfer case, had a lift and all the right tools, how long do you think it would take a first timer to do this? I want to not only pull them out, but clean the housing thoroughly and get a coat of engine paint laid down on them. Also get some undercoating on the cross member.

If someone could give me some swags on how many hours of work this is, it would be really helpful on me laying out a plan with him.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jdgephar]

Depends...on mine, I have to disconnect the dual exhaust, floor shifter, and transfer case shifter. Then the driveshafts. Then I take out the crossmember and 4 bolts on my manual transmission.

Is your setup a manual or automatic?

I was able to rebuild my 3 speed toploader without any special tools (except some good snap ring pliers for the parts on the main shaft). I was surprised at how hard those snap ring pliers were to find. Next time, I might just cut some slots in a pair of pliers. Both times I've rebuilt one, the counter shaft assembly was fine, so I didn't take it out. Couple bearings, synchros, and seals were all I really needed in both cases.

For me, and I've done it a couple times now, it's around 2-3 hours to get everything out. I probably had another 2-3 hours with the 1/2 rebuild of the trans.

You want to do paint, and transfer case work. I would plan on it being in the shop a minimum of two days, probably 3.

Make sure the rebuild kits really have all of the parts you need. I found that not all of the rebuild kits come with the little shift keys or whatever that push the 2-3 synchros that usually get bent up bad.

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[Broncobowsher]

All it takes is one bad bolt and that one bolt alone can turn into half a day.
How much is wrong once you open them up?
I give myself a full day just to do a clutch replacment. That is just getting the transmission in and out.