i bought this car for 1500 towed it home got it running and found out it only goes in reverse but when put into OD or the rest of the gears manualy it tries to move forward. any ideas

Definitely your transmission. It may be your reverse reaction drum, or whatever *should* immediately touch it. I'm no expert on the subject, but I can tell you that it may need some work down there.

I hope you have enough money to drop on the tranny repair — $1500 is still somewhat of a steal, provided only the transmission needs work.

If reverse works and not forward, the problem likely lies in the forward items.

It is common enough for the forward band to snap, You can confirm this by putting the shifter into 1. By putting the selector into 1st or 2nd we engage the manual 1-2 band in addition to the forward band. If the trans tries to move the car forward with slippage in 1st, then the forward band has broken.

Unfortunately to swap that out, you are in the neighborhood of a rebuild because it'* one of the first things in the assembly process.

a buddy of mine that used to own a transmission shop said he'* rebuild it for 300 if i take it out and install it

$300 for a rebuild… I wish I had more friends like yours. If you (or another friend) are capable of removal and installation, that'* a steal.

I agree with the broken low band diagonsis.

ive never pulled a tranny out of a fwd so it will be a learning experience i have more experience with rwd fords and chevys. he said for an extra 100 in labor he would put a shift kit in it and im considering it and im also wanting to Super Charge it, i found an 2000 sc bonneville for 600 with as blown motor and no title, would it be worth just getting it for extra parts the super charger and the tranny?

Yep the forward bands are shot. I had the trans replaced in May 2009. On Jan 20th of this year, all of a sudden it started doing exactly what you described up above. Had it towed back to the shop and they had to pull the trans back out and repair it for free.