AW70 died in my '93, now the car is sitting at the shop awaiting Monday morning. When I get the car back, I want the transmission to give me no trouble ever again. What is my best chance: Rebuild or replace?

A generous T'Bricker nearby has offered me an AW71 for free that has something like 230k miles on it, I believe. I could get back on the road in a day and pay only a few hours labor, likely.

However, as I love this car and don't intend to get rid of it for many years, I want the best. The car is sitting in front of the shop of one of the better transmission guys in the area. I'm sure he can rebuild it, and I assume he'll guarantee his work. But it comes with a price.

A LOT of RWD guys say, "Don't waste your money on a rebuild, just swap it." But...anything I find is going to have served at least half of it's useful life already, and I intend to keep this car until...well, until it's beyond help and I send it to the great boneyard in the sky. Surely a good rebuild would last longer?

There is another possibility: Given the symtoms of my tranny's death, it may have been just the pump that died. Until the day of it's demise, I still had a pretty strong pull when the gear actually engaged, indicating that the clutches may be fine (I've never seen a lot of fibers in the fluid either). If the pump is the only problem, can that be replaced alone, thus saving money on the rebuild?

Thanks guys,
Sean