alright so i was draining my turbo 350 today, fluid was bright red. i noticed that there is what seems to me like excessive endplay and side to side play in the output shaft. how much play is normal if any?

The shaft itself or the yoke ?

nope i mean the input shaft with the driveshaft removed. if you grab the input splines and move the shaft it moves in and out and to the sides

You mean output shaft. It will have a little up & down play with no yoke in the rear of the transmission. It all depends on how much wear is in the internals of the transmission as far as bushings go. With normal wear, you may be able to wiggle the output shaft as much as 1/8", more then that is a little excessive. You should have very little in and out movement, maybe .020-.030 with normal wear.

yeap, output shaft, sorry. yea id say 1/8" to the side is about what it moves. in and out is probably close to 1/8 as well though.

That 1/8" side to side is a bit much.
Might get the bushing and yoke checked for excessive wear.
The in/out is necessary for clearance when the rear moves up & down but if you can move it that much when the driveshaft's connected to the rear and the vehicle is on the ground ,then you have too much play somewhere.

havent tried to move it while the driveshaft was in, i have the trans on an engine stand right now. trying to decide whether i should dive in and try to rebuild it myself or pay 600 to get it done