Brian, appreciate the input. Opinions on the w56 seem split, I wouldn't be beating on it but would be towing an 18' boat on a regular basis. I'm not a big fan of autos and I've seen w series trans hold up to 300ft-lbs but I don't know how long they lasted so that's probably something else to look into. I shopped around a little and cost-wise it works out to be about the same aside from buying the auto trans when you compare adapters and clutch components vs. all the stuff needed for an auto (shifter, cooler/lines, TV cable etc.). Guess the good thing about not having time to do any of the work for a few months is I can carefully consider my options

Think I'll go ahead and pick up the $60 700r4 I found, gotta be worth that at least as a core...