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!!!