Don's Repair Shop

Having worked for over forty years in the skilled trades as an assembler, electrician, equipment mechanic, machinist, maintenance welder, millwright, and generally considered a jack-of-all-trades, I am now retired and enjoying the luxury of not having to be in any particular place at any particular time... at least most of the time. I am also one of those people who basically has to be doing something. That being said, Don's Repair Shop came into existence in April 2000, just a year before retiring in April 2001. I saw no reason why I shouldn't put my industrial skills and years of experience to good use by offering my services to the general public for a fair and reasonable fee. Thus far, that logic has worked out very well as I have, for the most part, managed to stay just about as busy as I care to be at any given time. Also, it has supplemented my retirement income while still allowing my wife and I the freedom to come and go pretty much as we please. Regarding my welding experience, some further explanation is required. During my working career, I have had the privilege of working among some of best professional welders in the country. That said, I will humbly respect them by not claiming their title. However, by comparison, I do consider myself to be a pretty fair backyard welder. My equipment capabilities are limited to steel and most ferrous metals. I am not currently equipped to weld aluminum. I have two welding machines, a Lincoln AC "BuzzBox" (stick-welder), and a Millermatic 175 (wire-feed) MIG welder, and I am reasonably proficient with both. I also have TIG experience, but I no longer have TIG equipment. My small machine shop consists of a 13" x 40" gap-bed engine lathe, and a bench-type milling machine. The milling machine has an 8" x 29" table with a spindle-to-table clearance of 18". I also have a drillpress, metal-cutting bandsaw, 30-ton hydraulic press, grinders, and a wide assortment of hand and power tools.

My small machine shop and assembly area (click your mouse on a picture for a larger view)

Over the past several years, I have been quite successful at rebuilding selected manual transmissions, transfer cases, and doing various types of custom driveline work, including ring & pinion setup and some offroad driveshaft work. In the future, it is my intention to continue doing some of this type work with the following limitations. The large New Process 203 transfer cases, and axles larger than three-quarter ton will not be accepted as they're simply too heavy for me to handle. Also, be advised that I do not work on automatic transmissions at all. All components must be removed from the vehicle and delivered to me completely drained of all oil and other fluids. If the components are extremely dirty (covered with mud, grease, etc.) they will be taken to a local engine shop for vat-cleaning and there will be extra charges for that cleaning, plus transportation to and from the shop. I have limited my Jeep transmission rebuilding to only certain types due to availability of parts and reliability of the gearboxes. I will accept most Jeep T-14, T-15, T-18, T-150, T-176, and AX-15 transmissions. These are basically good units with good reputations. Be advised that some pieces of the T-15 are getting hard to find, and the T-176 can be quite expensive to rebuild, especially if the tower and shift forks are badly worn, which unfortunately is normal. The AX-5, BA10/5, SR-4, and T-4/T-5 transmissions are all light-duty models which, in my opinion, should never have been put in a Jeep in the first place. All of them are expensive to rebuild, easy to break, and I can not afford to warranty them. For those reasons, it is not feasible for me to attempt any repair or rebuilding of these units. The heavy-duty 4-speed trannys such as the T-18 (Borg-Warner), NP435 (New Process), SM420 & SM465 (both Muncies) are my favorite projects. Those babies are tough and durable! This is a fact that anyone who has had one in an offroad vehicle will testify to. I have rebuilt a good number of these, and adapted a variety of transfer cases behind them. In the area of manual transmissions, there is no better upgrade for a Jeep vehicle than installing one of these rock-crusher boxes. For quality and reliability, I use adapters and related parts by Novak Conversions whenever possible. Transfer case rebuilds are normally a bit less complicated. I can readily accept most Jeep models thru the present. Basically, I can rebuild most of the transfer case models manufactured by Dana/Spicer or New Process. I tend to avoid the corporate models due to cost, and the availability of parts and documentation and/or specifications.

To all my customers, past, present, and future, THANK YOU!

This page was last updated on: March 8, 2009