I recently shipped a 4 speed trans from Virginia to California, not a big problem. I found a cardboard box a bit larger than the trans, then built a 2 x 3 wooden frame to fit in the bottom of the box. I then strapped the trans to the wooden frame. I shipped it UPS, and ups.com showed a shipping charge of $75.00. Where I screwed up was taking it to a Parcels Plus, where they tacked on nearly $50.00 for passing it on to UPS-next time I'll go directly to a UPS location.   Jeff