Just for reference..

I paid roughly $800 (including shipping and currency conversion) to have my Oregon Performance Transmission parts shipped to me up in Canada (Regina, Saskatchewan).

Bought a clutch spring compressor tool for $20, 6L of Mercon V for $80, Ken Collins' Bad Shoe Productions Video for $50 (included a 9" rear end rebuild vid), a bunch of degreaser for $10, and coffee filters for $5 (coffee filters are the best/cheapest lint-free cloth that money can buy).

All said and done, I would estimate $1000 + the experience of rebuilding my own transmission. Was VERY rewarding, and took about 3 days total - including getting it out of the truck, cleaning everything, watching Ken's video 3x, and reassembling (first transmission build EVER).

I would recommend rebuilding your own if you have 3 days of time and some patience. It's worth it to see how the transmission works and makes it easier to service/inspect next time you do some tuning/oil-changing.

 

If you are going to be into older vehicles, rebuilding your own transmissions, carburetors, distributors, etc is so valuable.
Everyone where I live thinks I'm some sorta genius or something, but to be totally honest, these things are are VERY simple pieces of machinery. The true genius is within the men who built/designed these things to do EVERYTHING you'd want them to do with just some hydraulic pressure and a vacuum signal.
The best part, is when your transmission is doing something weird, you understand what might actually be the problem.
2-3 flare? no problem, just adjust the band a lil, etc.

If you are really concerned because it is a daily driver, no big deal there..... find a core transmission and rebuild it. Worst case scenario, you mess up and still have your original to put back in while you figure out what you did wrong.

Forums like this, there are plenty of people that have done this stuff many many times and will be happy to walk you through the project if you get stumped.

good luck
Drew