I busted my Manual Muncie Transmission up in my 1990 Cavalier 3.1 The transfer case is okay but the syncros was going out in it so I would rather find a transmission that is more reliable than just swapping the case on mine for another known good Case. My quistion is.....

What are my swap options as far as makes of trannies and model cars I could grab one out of.....

well, we dont have all wheel drive cars so we dont have transfer cases. if its grinding when you shift, the syncros are likley toast, and the most reliable option would be to take it to a reputable shop and have them rebuild it.

if you are wanting to find a used transmission, you need it from a 90-91 3.1l cavalier/sunbird or a beretta. as for swapping in a better transmission, that is the best one gm makes for a v6 fwd, they are known to hold 350+hp

I ment diff. but thats funny your say thats a good tranny cause it sure as hell wasnt for me.... I've done everything I possible could to make that thing shift smoother beside rebuild it.... Anyhow I will try to find one but who knows where I could find one? This will be a long search I can tell

if it isnt shifting smooth, its likley the syncros are just worn out. they are a strong tranny, but they do wear out just like any other transmission. my tranny, now after about 10k km on a rebuild, i can shift the thing with my pinky, and thats with a custom built short throw shifter.

while you have the tranny out, make sure you check the master and slave cyl, aswell as have a good inspection of the clutch. most of the standars i see at work with hard/rough shifting problems (btw im a transmission tech) is a clutch related issue, either the clutch itself or master/slave. also, check out your shifter cables, if they are tight, try to free them up or change them. its a good idea to spray some white lithium grease into the end of the cable and work it back and forth to keep them operating freely. also check out your shifter, after 16 years, they wear out and can bind up a bit.

if you want a nice smooth shifting tranny, id go get a used one and have it rebuilt. when nothing is worn out in them, they are a great working tranny, many people will agree with me. they also hold some pretty good power if you know how to drive.

So I called junk yards today and found only two trannies.... The junk yard stated that I could use a 91-94 tranny but I have to swap over my speed sensor and some other sensor from my tranny to it.... Is this so? If this is the case I could find a tranny for either a 89-94.... other wise the best transmission I found had 160,000 miles and they wanted 275$..... what you think?

91+ transmissions use whats called a hall effect speed sensor pickup. this is the same as an abs sensor, were you have a trigger ring (a round peice with knotches in it) and a speed sensor. these 2 things dont touch in any way. a 90 and prior tranny uses a gear driven speedo, were there is a gear on the differential and another on the speedo. the only way to make a 91+ tranny work for you is to take it apart and change the reluctor wheel on the diff over to a gear driven style drive gear. and no, just pluging the wire into the speed sensor on the 91+ tranny wont work, the gear driven style speedo reads at 2400 ppm and the hall effect is 4800ppm.

also, a 92+ uses a concentric slave (internal, does not use a release bearing fork) so you would have to change the master cyl and line over for that to work.

as i already said, you need an 87-90 transmission

Sharkey I found a Tranny for my car. They are asking $250 for it with 190,000 miles. You think thats worth it? Thats the only other one I have yet to find.....

that is a fair bit of miles, see if you can talk em down a bit on the price. if you can swing it, id take it right to a tranny shop and have them put a bearing and syncro kit into it, then it should last a long time.

yeah I probably will put a syncro pack in it myself and I will see if they will take 200 bucks... I planed on putting a syncros in it and i already have a new clutch for it so I would be set.....

putting syncros in these transmissions are not easy. you do need some special sockets to undo the shafts from the rear bearings, you need snap ring pliers, and most importantly, you need a press to press the gears off the shafts. if you are going to do syncros, you have to do bearings aswell because you destroy a couple of the bearings when you take them off the shafts.

yeah I have a press at work and as far as special sockets go I have some friends in the shop who have thousands of dollars in tools so one of them has what I need...