Personally, I opted out of having a local rebuilder do it. I'm in nyc so most shops only really know autos. Then the good shops that do quality work arn't too cool with me just handing them a pulled tranny. They want the whole job. Prob with that is Ive read here of incidents where the tranny got so damaged beyond rebuilding and didnt want to risk being stuck in a shop paying storage fees while we search out a good used core.

I tried to find a used one, but all were also fairly bad, $400, or my favorite...both.

Kormex of california sent me one cross country. And even with core charges it was still less than having a rebuilder do it... aka 750ish. Paired with a phoenix friction cluch stage 2, tuff pan, and a quality synthetic gl4 only fluid.... very happy. And a few others on here have used their trannys.

88 Montero, StarQuest turbo, Kormex 5speed +tuff-pan w/phoenix f. stage2 clutch, 4in lift+33' tires, 4.875 lsd, short-throw shifter, Aisin hubs, SR big brakes, gen2 uca's, elantra alt, and so much more... 16g turbo w/hardpipes + 4.90 locking disk-brake axle soon (maybe lsd or aussie front??)