A number of months ago I posted about the feasibility of rebuilding my own transmission on the '87 Monty. Since then the whining in all but 4th gear has gotten MUCH worse, and it's definitely time to do something about it.

I don't have the time this spring to tackle the rebuild myself, so I'm forced to buy a rebuilt tranny (or have someone rebuild this one; I need to have the vehicle back on the road as soon as possible, so I may opt to buy one already rebuilt.)

So, I have some questions:

1) Anyone have a reputable and reliable online source for rebuilt Monty transmissions?

2) Barring that, how do I find such a transmission shop? (I live in Oregon, specifically in the mid-Valley area.)

I'd get a pick and pull transmission, and install it... Run that until you can get to rebuilding yours.

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.

When I test drove my Raider (maybe 15 years ago) I noticed the familiar bad second gear synchro. I paid extra $$ to have a guarantee and took it immediately to PDX Auto in Portland. It's been good ever since. They are not cheap, but they do the job correctly.

I've been kicking around the idea of using an 88 starion trans with some sort of divorced transfercase in the future, as they 88 trans was quite strong compared to the km145 in the tero. I just dont know what transfercase i would use.

According to reports, the trannies are largely the same. First and second are lower for the truck. And the truck tail housing / output shaft is short in order to mate up the t-case.

Some have used the later SQ parts to beef up the Montero tranny. Not sure what parts those are exactly. My tranny is low miles since a rebuild, so I figured I had time to sort out the upgrades.

I used tail shaft parts from an SQ tranny I had when my Tero threw the big nut on the shaft, along with the rest of the parts it holds on. (So much for whoever rebuilt it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />)

I've read nothing but bad about Kormex; I'm very leery. Anyone else want to vouch for them?

I have a Kormex in my '88

On the thread I started about rebuilding mine, do I remember you saying that they messed up the reverse switch and that your lights were on all the time? Did they resolve that to your satisfaction?

Not trying to make it sound like I love kormex and work for them... but here goes.

Regarding reverse. That switch is on either the torque tube thingy or transfer case. The shifter on the km145 goes through the transfer case. The switch actually has nothing to do with the transmission at all. So basicly, me, myself, and I broke it. Well, lost the pieces and will try to find replacements at a u pull tomorow.

Also, I too saw all the bad reviews. Most are for getrags from mitsu 300gts or whatever. That tranny aparently is near imposible to build, and I read that not even Jacks Transmissions or whoever always gets it right, and thats their specialty?

I saw about 5 or so people on here that have bought their km145's. Yet no follow ups. So all is well? I guess that a tranny is like light bulbs, we dont think about them till they break? On starquest club there is a rule that you should follow up your posts with solutions and all, but of all the buyers I'm the only one keeping up with it.

I guess I just ignored the reviews since,for example, a great restaurant by my house has mostly crappy reviews yet is pretty good. Its not amazing enough to tell everyone, but if you have a bad expirience you get vengeful and tske it to yelp.

And... well that's bought it because I had no choice in the end really. They may actually suck for all I know lolz.