It sounds like for the most part you're recommending against giving it a go on my own. My experience has been that "machines" don't simply work by "FM" and I'm usually inclined to tear into them with the "worst that will happen is that I'll have to bring it somewhere anyway" attitude. A long while back I tore two Saginaw steering boxes apart in hopes of matching the input shaft I needed to the case/output I had. Went fine and is still in service. On the OTHER hand; Last month doing a Velvet V-drive (Borg Warner boat transmission) re-assembly, another guy showed me how I had a case plug (with a kind of crush sleeve that preloads an idler shaft) too loose. He corrected it by feel and told me that the drive would have killed itself within a few months the way I had it. That's the scary part for me. If I attempted a job like this and it just didn't work, then that's one thing. You can either go back in or cart it to someone else. However if your hard work appears fine but eats itself alive in 5000 miles because (say) a clutch servo piston wasn't applying properly... Well, the kit here is nearly $1000. A shop rebuild is $1300. Know what I mean?
