I'll admit i may be a little behind the times as far as trans costs. I did take into account your combo and that's what led to my response. I was thinking more along the lines of a good reputable local shop rebuild with a few HD parts would suffice. That's the reason i thought the 2k figure was obtainable. Guess i should't be surprised, but when i searched around some of the prices of the well known shops for the 2004R really shocked me.
What kind of prices are we talking about? I remember when the rebuild on the OD on my Lincoln cost me about $1500.00 bucks from a solid shop here in my town.