Trans rebuild and woes

[NSperduto]

Anyone ever rebuild their own transmission?
So on my truck I dropped the pan and found broken snap ring. Assumed it was the snap ring in the overdrive unit. I was going to change the snap ring myself. I pulled the transfer case and od unit together because I couldn't separate them in the truck. I also found 4 of the 6 bolt holes on the od unit were broken. So I know the od unit housing is no good. Nothing I could do would separate the od from the transfer case. I wound up cutting off a bunch of the od unit before I could get it to separate. When I finally got it off. I found the retainer of the transfer case that centers the case in the od housing had diesntegrated and part of it cracked and falling apart and the disentegrated part was laying in the bottom of the area between the transfer case and the od unit. I started chipping the crap out off the transfer case and the screwdriver went right through the transfer case and all the fluid poured out so now I need either a transfer case or replace the front cover.
So while I'm contemplating this and reading stuff and watching videos. I was thinking of buying a reman od unit from cascade and now I'm wondering if I just pull the rest of the trans out and try and rebuild it myself. It was working ok before this but has 183,000 miles on it. Rebuilding doesn't look that difficult. Granted I've never done one before, I've only ever worked with motorcycle clutches and transmissions.

So anyone ever tackle a trans rebuild themselves?

 

[SRay]

I tried taking one apart for the first time.

I had a manual to read from but I only made it about 1/3 of the way through then started getting nervous. (It was my friend's 1998 trans, he wanted me to try if I can)

We decided to just send the trans away for a look over to determine why it failed.

I was so glad I didn't work on it.

That transmission was a nightmare for the trans shop. 2 full rebuilds, 3 torque converters, 4 valve bodies. None fixed the problem.

All of his test equipment says the transmission is working as per specs but doesn't work in the truck.

My buddy ended up having to have the whole transmission replaced costing $7,000 cnd.

I know some guys that tried the first time and succeeded.

 

[cerberusiam]

The OD unit is the hard part, and clearancing it correctly. The rest of the trans is relatively simple if you study the manuals and videos available.

 

[sag2]

The rebuild on a RE is not that difficult as long as the failure was diagnosed before taking it apart. Most problems are the result of not correctly diagnosing and assuming you will find the failure after tearing it apart. What you find most of the time when they have problems is you repaired the result of the fault, but not the cause. It's easy to see a set of clutches burned up, harder for the untrained eye to find the cause. It usually isn't the fault of the clutch material. Could be as easy as a check ball but if you don't know what to look for it is easily missed.
The rest is pretty basic, measure end play before tearing down, lay everything out in the order it was removed, pay careful attention to thrust washer placement. For a novice it can be done by paying attention to the details and following a good manual. Sometimes the aftermarket service info is easier to follow. There are a few tricks that help with seal install and clutch assembly like using rubber bands and the freezer to hold the lip seals back so you don't cut them going together. I would guess Youtube might have some good stuff as long as you don't just look at the first one and assume it's correct.