[wmjinman]

The universe finally lined up, the weather was nice, I had some time, so I finally jacked up the ol' "Gnat" and drained the oil from the trans. It seemed awfully thick, so I expect my mechanic fell for the old mistake of using the incorrect weight oil called for in the shop/owner's manual when he "serviced" everything during the head rebuild/engine swap fiasco.

I became so obsessed about getting all that old gunk out of there, I did an impulsive move I hope wasn't a mistake; while jacked up, I put about a half gallon of gasoline in it, started the engine, and then ran it through all the gears with the wheels elevated. It made quite a bit of noise in 5th. So I drained it again & left the fill & drain plugs out for awhile, hoping most of the gas would drain and/or evaporate.

I would have left it open longer, but ran out of time, so put the drain plug back in & filled it with the Redline thin synthetic synchromesh MTL I'd bought awhile ago. While driving it, I thought it seemed to "roll easier", shift easier, and run quieter. Of course, there's the distinct possibility it's just "wishful thinking" - HAH!!

I also made patterns of the rear fender openings while waiting for it to drain, then cut out a couple pieces of coroplast for fender skirts. Maybe I'll be able to do some A-B-A testing of fender skirts tomorrow. Will it be able to do 60 mpg at 50 mph? I hope!!