I mentioned in the post above that my new VX is slipping in reverse, and that I priced rebuilding vs. replacing the transmission before buying it. At about the same time Buffy PM'd me and said he was interested in buying my old VX for a certain project he was considering. During that discussion I mentioned I would probably need my old transmission for the new VX, and he suggested that for somewhere between what it would cost to deinstall/reinstall my old tranny (which had 73K miles) or rebuild/replace the existing transmission ($2200-$3100) I could probably do a 5-speed swap. The AR-5 manual from the Trooper is a more stout transmission than the 430LE auto that's in our VX's and has much longer service intervals and overall life, so to me it sounded like a better investment. I asked Greg (Buffy) if he would be interested in doing the swap for me, and he said he would but that it could take some time to find an AR-5 transmission in good shape. But as luck would have it, while we were talking I was clicking through SearchTempest and came across a '99 Trooper with 93K and manual transmission for $800!
Its engine had seized back in 2004 and the current owner bought it with the intention of rebuilding / replacing it, but then ran into financial problems and never got around to it. So there it sat in his yard for 7 years until I drove up (about 4 hours from my house but I did it on the way to a job so no cost) to see it last month. It was missing the engine but everything else was there, and there was no rust to be found anywhere underneath. The swap requires a bunch of parts besides just the transmission, so I went ahead and bought the whole vehicle so Greg could harvest anything and everything worthwhile, as well as study how the AR-5 transmission was wired up in a stock Trooper. I paid to have it towed halfway to Greg's house, and he brought it back to his place from there. (Greg feel free to take and post a pic of the Trooper if you want.)
So that's it - Buffy (Greg) is doing a 5-speed swap for me. If you've read his de-rusting thread you know he's more than happy to take and post tons of pics along the way, so I figure he won't make a liar out of me (Tom).
Can't wait to get her back!!!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by VX KAT
YAH!!! Great to hear! 
...I didn't even know about the tranny issues or the swap when I wrote that. Wonder if I should play the lottery 
....
.....I see, it's all coming together now in a great way! 
