Gearbox change or rebuild?

[Red]

Jezza, even in the States we have limited options for the tranny. If you are going to keep the car, the only real option is to either rebuild your tranny (if you know it has been taken care of and is generally a good start) or to gamble on a junkyard tranny and rebuilt it, then swap it in. The parts and labor are the same for both, the only difference is that one way you have to pay the junkyard, the other way you have to pull your car off the road for a while.

Actually swapping the tranny is not a cheap job, in the US a Toyota dealer would charge almost $1200, about twelve hours of labor, just to swap them with no repairs. Independent shops still want half of that. If you have no lift to raise the car...it can be a long hard job, so it is best to think about inspecting or replacing the clutch, etc. while you are in there and it is staring at you, readily accessible. Since there is so much time invested in the swap, I would advise against simply buying a junkyward transmission, or one without a solid warranty, and having it installed.

Rebuild kits are apparently only available from Toyota. Welcome to the joys of owning a "classic" car.<G>