S13/S14 KA tranny - what to look for at junkyard? Magic tricks?

[turbogrill]

Hi,

I am looking for a KA tranny to put into my 280ZX. There are a few craigslist and junkyard options close in my area.

Is there any way I can see if the trannies are good/bad without installing them?

With Z trannies I usually bring a shifter and try the gears and rotate the shafts a little. Is there any magic tricks for the 71C trannys?

From what I tell these transmissions are of decent quality and a junkyard find might be OK?

Many thanks.

I live in Austin,TX.

[tb13]

Take it apart and look at the guts, other than that its a crap shoot. Obviously if you can't find all 5 gears or the input shaft has a ton of play its probably no good, but there is nothing that you can easily look at to tell it its "good"

Taking someones word on a used transmission is never a good idea, best bet on finding a solid trans would be finding a trust worthy shop selling one or pull one from a junkyard car.