I'm doing my first rebuild on a c4 transmission I've gutted it in the case looks a little rough in areas almost like the mold in the factory was bad I don't believe it's new because I haven't found much metal pieces in the trany itself any thoughts I've never seen the inside of a transmission before so I have nothing to compare to

 

If you are doing like a lot of us have done ,get an old trans from a salvage yard clean up the outside as much as possible, then set up a clean work place or long work bench so you can lay out the parts you remove so you can clean , inspect and decide what you want to replace if you are planning to install it sometime up the road.

Suggest you invest in a good manual, in this case an old Ford shop manual that has a section for rebuilding a C4 and the rest is just fun. You should have a means to wash parts . Once you see they are not as complicated as feared,your confidence will grow as will your appetite for more learning. What helps if you ask yourself what does this part do will help tremendously with your understanding. I hope the fire gets lit in your appetite for learning as did mine. I was fortunate to attend many factory trans classes and that opens a lot of doors. Can we ask why did you choose to do this?
There are some special tools that will help you do a professional job, consider them.

 

Thanks for the advice it's actually the trany that's been in the truck my son blew it up and I wanted to fix the truck but what people charged to rebuild them is ridiculous so I did some checking and found out the c4 isn't too hard so I bought a manual and I'm getting at it I've got a long bench I'm cleaning everything good and I am having to stop a lot and figure out what things do and what they're supposed to look like it's slow going but I think I'll be all right

 

I have a question for anyone who's done many transmission rebuilds everywhere I read about it says to not go cheap on parts but I don't know what that means exactly any advice on what brand to use because the price difference is all over the place thanks in advance

 

A lot depends on what you see, what you read, and how much you can handle.
The more involved you get the more you will need special tools.
For example: you will need a clutch spring compressor to open up , clean , inspect and install new seals. If you don't do that, all the work you did is just about worthless.
It could require you to replace different bushings which don't come with seal and friction discs.
Some Ford clutches require special clutch piston installation tools without which you can destroy the sealing ring if you don't use the tool.
Some of the aftermarket suppliers of auto trans parts/kits are , Sonnax, Transgo, and of course the dealership.
What a lot of folks forget or just ignore is the fluid cooling part. An example is of you purchase a reman trans and don't flush the trans cooler , you void any warranty.
So , you might consider either doing it yourself or having it done someplace.When a trans blows up and circulates a lot of garbage through the system, that all has to be cleaned out or repeat failure is up the road.

 

My transmission case says e2tp but the tag on my servo says e1tp which one do I get parts for or are they the same parts I'm confused the truck is a 81 any help would be appreciated

 

Some parts are the same for different model trans. Your best bet is to provide the model info to wherever you are getting the parts. They would have the info to determine if there is more than one type used in the trans.

 

Is the groove on the outside of this clutch drum make it unusable I know some areas matter and some don't and I don't want to change a part for no reason any advice