Gradee, I sure do hope things get better for you and that the next 3 speed works out flawlessly. One thing that did come to mind, one that I am experimenting with to solve the exploding gear problem (and one that seems to be working so far) is shimming the final drive gear. The final drive gear is an awkward looking gear, the gear is offset to the left of its central rotating axis (does that make sense?), and so when a certain amount of torque and speed are applied, naturally, the gear wants to tilt from its axis, which in turn creates friction in the mesh with the idler gear below it, and you then have stripped gears. Ive put in a 6mm shim (0.2 wide) between the drive gear and the "c" clip that holds it, and this has removed a significant amount of play, reducing slop and gear destroying play. ive also shimmed the rest of the tranny so all the gears alight properly and to remove play. my truck is running and shifting flawlessly though the gears, and that is something else considering the fact that i am running big heavy tires (masher 40s) with a picco .28 on stock 17/47 gearing.
I'll be sure to let you know of anything i find re: new/ better solutions gradee. Dont give up!
memorykarpos