If you can get a MC trans, installing it with a better clutch(why not... it's already apart) is usually only a couple of hundred dollars.  Most shops actually like it if you get all of the parts that you can with older vehicles, because much of it is hard to find or takes days to get from a supplier.  But, yeah - they quote high and charge a fortune as they have a captive audience with automatics(usually towed there and unable to move)

My MC trans is darn near bulletproof.  Really noisy, but bulletproof.  When they say that the HD versions are noisier - heh - they're not kidding.  Sounds like a teeny tiny turbine winding down while in gear.