93 4L60E NON-PWM
Got a local builder offering $1100 to bench rebuild this trans. It's going in a 93 K1500 5.7. Not needing a Hipo setup but certainly something very reliable.

Can this be done PROPERLY for $1100? What's a rough dollar amount of hard and soft parts?

And rooouuughly what percentage of hard parts is typically replaced?

I realize there's a lot of info I've left out but I'm not needing detailed specifics just general info.
Thanks
​​​​​​

​

 

For a Stock build with a proper list of upgrades and a reman torque converter
There's no way I see that happening for $1100

The fact that you're on a forum asking...implies you already know that to be the case

You'll likely get back a unit with the bare minimum replaced. Often just 3/4 clutches slapped in it and everything else reused without even checking clearances

You won't be getting even the bare minimum upgrades such as sunshell and input sprag

Good luck asking him about vacuum testing valve body or pump...good luck having him install any decent parts to get the VB and pump back to as good or better than new

You'll be getting reused electronics and harness

etc etc

 

Great response. Thank you

Between pump, converter, rec hard parts, vb upgrades and all soft parts I thought the same. But I'm not a builder so that's why I'm asking those that are. From memory without checking all my bookmarks and researching I would think theres 1000+ in parts alone? Even for a basic build.

 

As MaroonMonster mentioned, the valve body likely will need extensive work to stop leaks around critical valves. Likely $100+ in parts and 3-4 hours work to do it correctly. Depending upon mileage of the trans, it may require a new reverse drum. A new sunshell should be a MUST because the old ones are weak. You might consider buying a rebuild kit that includes the reverse drum, sun shell, forward sprag, pump rebuild parts and the typical rebuild parts. I see some on ebay for $550 not including the reverse drum. Avoid the "Z-Pack". A kit with 7 GPZ or Raybestos (Pro?) clutches would be a good choice. Of course still need the pump parts, converter and rebuilding the VB.

 

IIRC, didn't the 700R4s/early 4L60Es use little plastic ***** to seal the worm/valve body ports? Then....maybe wooden *****? I do know there's a newer upgraded material for them available. I agree with the other guys that $1,100 in 2025 isn't going to get the OP a quality, HD rebuild. If it's going in a truck, you can pay less now, but you'll surely pay more later. For labor and parts, I'd guess $3,500 minimum. If doing the labor yourself, I'd guess $1,500-$2,000 minimum for parts. Unless the guy that's doing the rebuild is a good friend, and knows what he's talking about, I'd never trust it. You don't want a guy that does it for $1,100 and a couple of cases of beer. Hope this helps, and good luck.....

 

I would have to agree. Not happening. To many things to be done and addressed in these. It's not as simple as throwing a cheap kit in and going, While who knows you might get away with it. You Likey will not . For a good solid stock rebuild with leaks addressed , I would expect to pay a min of about 1700 to 1800 as a bench build and if it is a full shop with expenses I would question that as I'm saying that is the least I would do it for and as a one man show . with no shop overhead like rent and such that is about as low as I would consider. Like has been said it's not even parts that are the issue, It's all the time consuming little fixes
Short run down
Tear down
Clean up inspect
93 MUST - rev drum- probably a pump or pump machined and reworked , sun shell, solenoids, wiring harness, (I would also upgrade to molded pistons) , fix vb leaks , Probably address servo pin bore leaks. of course frictions, steels, 3-4 apply and backing plates machined or replaced. new release spring in 3-4
Some pluses I do like with those older units as long as the had lube hard parts are usually nice since those years had nothing resembling power. So great source for hard parts .

Converter regulator valve in those years generally no issues except the end cap is usually eroded bady and should be replaced and or oringed. same with the 4-3 valve end cap.

Ok rambled enough

 

Do any of the transmission rebuild shops have a way of testing the tranny they just rebuilt or is that done when the owner has it installed back in his car?
How do you guys here on this forum do it?

 

We have a transmission Dyno at our shop
Typically not used for stock rebuild stuff unless it's being shipped a ways out or had some funky prior issue
Stock stuff is all air checked and frankly we have so much experience that our failure rate is low enough to not justify the time/expense to run it on the dyno. If customer wanted us to we sure could for a fee
We mainly use it for all of our performance builds. It's a great tool to adjust pressures and get everything dialed in

 

Hey thanks gentlemen. Sometimes we need a little hand holding. I was never confident in the situation quite honestly hence the post. I did want to get you all's take on it though. I'm more so trying to convince a coworker it's a buy twice cry twice situation as I am trying to talk myself out of it. Again thanks and certainly some good info to keep and pass down.

 

You can add your city and state to your profile, we might be able to point you to a reliable trans builder in your area. Or you can always ship it to Frank above.

 

Several ways to air check while on the bench or stand. The low/reverse piston can be checked through the case. The 3/4, forward, and overrun pistons can be checked through the input shaft while on the bench. 2-4 servos can be checked through the case. Reverse piston can be checked when you marry the pump, reverse drum, and input drum together on the bench. Can also check the 3/4 and forward pistons this way too which is done through the pump. Last, once the case is assembled and 2-4 servo installed there is a plate available you can bolt to the case and has several circuits you can pressurize and check also. This typically isnt needed if all checks out with the above methods but available if it makes one feel better

 

Getting back to the OG question, I just torn down a core Saturday that had been recently "built". You can tell it was one of those $1,000 and ship it out the door type builds.

 

The best are the junkyard "paint the case and ship as rebuilt" type of builds where it's just a fresh coat of paint and nothing else.
And that's after the guy who built it before it even went to the junkyard sanded down the hotspots on the steels.

 

I fix those all the time. Either its someone who can't wait on me, who can't afford me, or was enticed by $1000 bench job. One of them was my son's friend, he was in too much of a hurry and his dad knew someone that could do it cheaper. It failed 3 times in 6 months time. He could not figure it out, he kept slapping new 3-4's in it. I knew what it was before he even brought it to me. input shaft leaked so bad, I could pull the shaft out by hand. No wonder it kept burning up. Bad thing is he had to pay me to rebuild it after he already paid that guy. I've got several more horror stories, but I won't bore you guys.

 

Bet they got some practice on R & R ing lol

 

Funny you mention this, Way back when I first started doing 700R4 in the early 80s. Almost nothing information wise was availabe and we were trying to build HP versions I mean serioulsy auto 4 speed in the 80s was AWSOME so alot was flow the channel, Figure out what did what or at least what we thought did. We had a Camaro with a 700r4 and a GN with a 2004r .
I seriously can say by the time we got them doing exactly as we wanted we were EXPERTS ON REMOVE INSTALL on both cars, The two of us could and I say this literally JACK UP EITHER CAR (NO LIFT) and remove / install 10 mnutes each way time we were done. We would both get under there and had it down to a science. Each having exact task we took on lol . In the end we actually made a decent little bussiness out of doing just those ONLY 18 TO 20 years old and every trans shop in two was literally Horrified of the things. On a sad note My best friend and partner in it went off to the air force and we planned to resume when he got out . But right when he got out he passed away with a heart attack at 29 suddenly. But we did have alot of fun figuring them out.
I still remember when we were installed the transgo kits in the C4 unit were were doing , it was our first TG kit and we laughed and joked about the "ITS NOT FUSSY" over and over in the instructions.
We also literally MADE a superior style 2nd servo for the 700R4 2nd gear as they did not yet exist on his dads lathe only to learn quickly with the bands of the era after just a few shifts the band lug would rip right through the EYE but we fixed that too using a bent washer just the right size to press over the EYE. FUN TIMES !

 

I have also been into a number of 1000 dollar rebuilds of the 60e here and well I can say YES IT COULD BE DONE PRETTY RIGHT if you had 0 labor charge and 0 overhead and basically did it for free maybe a little less than free and the unit was not to badly damaged and you were doing a solid stock build addressing required leak and issues and were not supplying a converter and could do things like machining your own pumps etc . But typically I do a bone stock build for locals for 1950 With converter and typically end up with about 1000 in parts and with a proper clean up and bear in mind i can make lots of things like oringed endcaps and bore plugs and more on my lathe from ORIGINAL Stuff and while im getting old and bit slow with arthitis about 2 days labor and make a minimal profit but enough (keep in mind my shops at my home and I have no employees and little overhead.) If I had normal shop overhead no way I could even come close to doing that.
Old but true saying , If it sounds to good to be true ? Its probably NOT TRUE.
Also bear in mind if running a legit bussiness which i have to, Out of the profits comes at the very least TAXES and LLC dues and such.
So when I say 1000 in parts do not then assume 950 profit thats great. No when they get done with me and I figure in power and heat wintertime and such its considerably less.
I see these people on youtube. tiktok and reels showing themselves building and make it look like OH THIS IS SO EASY PEOPLE CHARGING YOU SO MUCH ARE RIPPING YOU OFF, But notice they are eitehr not showing or not doing half the job.

 

I know this thread is going long after the OP signed-off, but a good topic for new people finding this thread from e.g. a Google search.
I have personally read dozens (!!) of posts here with wording like "I just had my 4L60E rebuilt and its already slipping in 3rd" or "The 4L60E is crap - I just had it rebuilt professionally and it won't hold any power".
When you think that the factory 4L60E would typically last 100,000+ miles and then people complain that the "professional" rebuild only lasted <5000 miles, the only logical conclusion is that the rebuild was not even to factory specs.
I know that Franks and many of the (non-sponsor) pros here can rebuild a 4L60E to handle much more than stock power and will likely last as long as you own the car. You just have to understand it will cost over $2000 today.

 

I have one on the fixture now that you can easily tell it was just "rebuilt" and....3/4 is smoked.

Bushings are trash, reaction gear is almost stripped, but after doing some investigative work the PR valve bore in the pump is hot dog through a hallway. I can barely even get 11" of vacuum. Then, moving onto the valve body AFL is barely 12" and thats probably being generous. After checking several other spots, I determined the entire valve body is junk. This along with the heavily worn PR bore is why this unit failed again and it didnt wear out from the time it was "rebuilt" to now. I havnt checked the press fit on the input shaft yet but im going to press it out and back in anyway.

These builders offering rebuilds for pricing like this arent finding the cause of the failure. Rather, just stacking new clutches, doing a half *** cleaning, spray bombing it with paint, and calling it "rebuilt"

 

I scuff up the shaft and inside the drum with 400 grit and then use shaft retainer to hold it in.


I had one come to me, the guy told me it was fixed several times in less than a year and 3-4 kept burning. The “builder” had added every shift kit and valve and “fix” to it to make it have more pressure and shift harder in an effort to fix the 3-4 from burning. Cause? Leaking input shaft. I checked it, leaked badly. It’s been doing fine for quite some time now.