Got rooked on a 4EAT rebuild

[ShiuludeSVX]

It's a bit of a long post, but a history needs to be told.
Who can you trust.

I let a local mechanic talk me into a transmission rebuild a year ago and all seemed ok.
One day a click began, and I took it to him to look into the sound coming from the front of the transmission. He tried to tell me it was my lifters, and he could do a full race engine rebuild for $3500. I opted out, and a few days later the sound turned to a clack. Went to take it back for warranty work, and the guy had skipped town.
I met the owner of the building shortly after, and was told the the mechanic had run out with 3 Motorcycles and 2 cars, besides the 8 months of rent that he owed.
So, I looked further into my problem. Found that when my "rebuild" was done {still trying to confirm that} and the guy replaced my rear main seal, he had broken off a bolt on the flex plate, and left the shaft in, or had left the bolt loose. Over time, I have been trying to figure out what to do, and how to finance it AGAIN.

This week....
Took the car to another local who is said to have a very good reputation, and whom I feel I can trust. He is willing to show me everything he is doing, and I am being patient.
Attached are my first pictures from yesterday.
The diagnosis is that the first guy was Mr. PotatoeHead, and didn't know ****.
The front shaft sleeve was glued into place.
The transmission seemed mounted true, but with bolts from someones car, that were only minorly tight.
The Pinion shaft had detonated and ground away at least 2 "roller bearings", and the retainer is flattened on the top left quadrant of the circle. The Pinion is seized. The Ring gear is slightly damaged, but must be replaced as a set with the Pinion.
I did not even have the front end pulling the car. I only had the use of the rear wheels, as the function from front to back on the main shaft is intact.

I don't want this vehicle to be a statistic. I want to keep the car in service and keep the miles as close to 300,000 as it already is.

It will stay here, but I need some help. If anyone has a known good transmission that they are willing to donate, then shipping is not a problem. I've seen a number of manual conversions on here, and figure there might be a donor laying out somewhere. My new guy will run through anything I can get, and reproduce either mine, or the donor box to keep the car on the road. It's still gonna cost me to do this, which is why I'm looking for a little help.

The first rebuild was put back in the car with no fluid in the front diff.

I may consider selling the car, but would rather not.
I've had it for 11 years now.

[Sean486]

I hope you can find one, that sucks that the person you trusted with your baby turned out to be not only incompetent but a crook.