help save the trannies

i have a tranny that was ran with low or no fluid the previous owner said the tranny quit working but i do not know any detailswhen i got the car the drive shaft was out and the shifting linkage disconnected and the exhaust disconnected is it is it posibble the tranny could be o.k. i'm thinking i should drain any fluid in the tranny and replace thefilter and run some tranny repair fluid and fill the fluid and try iti'd like to rebuild it or upgrade it but money is an issue . any thought are apreciated

OOooo not good if you don't find fluid. Nothing on the dip stick? Smell the stick, does it smell burned? Also, I just had an AOD rebuilt, and my tech said if the TV cable is misadjusted, it can burn one up in 4 miles. It takes about 12 qts to change the fluid, some will stay in the converter, so if you don't get much out, it may be toast. Rebuild kits are about 100 or so and about 700 more to put them in. Good luck.