dc_sniper9130

I just pulled a near-freshly-rebuilt TH400 out of an '85 Caprice. I'm not sure if it's short or long shaft yet, I didn't get a chance to look at it and it's not readily accessable. I'm looking to sell it. What's it worth?

Thanks for any help,

-DC

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Since the 400 didn't come in any 85 caprice, it's impossible to guess.

Last 400 core I needed, I traded for a rebuild kit for one of my other 400s. So I'd say it cost me about $125. So, probably $200 or so, now..... IF it's a 400. Which there is just about ZERO chance of, since that kind of car came with either a 700 or some one of the 200 variants.

Go here for transmission identification.

dc_sniper9130

It's a 3-speed, and it was professionally rebuilt. Cost the guy who had it done about $1000 or so he tells me. He also insists the guy at the transmission place told him it was a TH400. Maybe it wasn't stock?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Check the link. Compare to the reality of what you've got. Don't guess. Everything except REALITY is nothing but monkey-spank.

dc_sniper9130

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I saw that. Sorry, doesn't matter, won't change the identity of the transmission from whatever it most likely actually is, to something you wish it was. Don't buy it or sell it until it is and you do. I'd almost bet money it's not a 400. You'll likely irritate somebody highly if you take 400 money from them and give them a 200C or something weenie like that. "Professional rebuild" won't change the model of a transmission.

dc_sniper9130

I got the whole car for free, so its not like I'm at a loss either way. I'm swapping my 2.8 out for a 5.0 and want a 700-R4 to bolt up with it because I do a lot of highway driving and could use the overdrive gear. I wasn't planning to sell it before I knew what it was... I've been screwed myself enough times by other people doing it to me that I wasn't planning to forward that bad karma to anyone else. Plus, I wouldn't want to sell my stuff to anyone who was stupid enough to trust the seller to the point of paying in advance for something they didn't personally inspect. I also just figured that if a transmission was 'professionally rebuilt' as opposed to Uncle Gomer rootin' 'round in there with a wrench it would be less likely to explode as soon as you put it in gear, which would be a selling point. Plus I *think* it has less than 2,000 miles on the rebuild, can't remember what the guy said exactly, but yeah it's not been worn on much. Theres also the possibility that this tranny is not the stock one out of the car. For the sake of sanity, what are both tranny models worth (with a recent professional rebuild)?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...in-parts-sale/

As far as all of that about "professional rebuild", that's totally between you and your buyer. Personally I wouldn't pay you a dime for it unless I knew and specifically approved of whatever "professional" it was, which is to say, it has ZERO value, to me. Without that, it's just a core, to me. But that's just me. I'm kind of an idiot that way; I like my money too much to give it away on the basis of pretty words like that, that have no particular meaning and can't be proven in some conclusive way. Others may view such things differently. Especially after just recently getting through having to replace a bunch of hard parts (drums, pistons) in the transmission in the car I'm driving right now because it turned out after it failed that it was "professionally rebuilt" before I bought it, and they put it together wrong.

Do I sound a little bit.... hard-bitten, perhaps, by bad experiences with used car parts that came with nice-sounding stories from people who have no personal direct knowledge of what's behind the story? Well there's a reason (or 2 or 3).