| Just want to post my recent experience with my hobby car. For a long time, after engaging 1st and rolling to a stop sign w/o shifting and selecting neutral (to avoid having to keep the clutch depressed); getting my transmission to accept 1st again was IMPOSSIBLE. Many times I had to shift into 2nd to get going again. I figured the synchonizer indexing tab was peened, allowing the point-to-point encounter of the synchro and slider teeth. I had noticed a bit of dried oil coming out the weep hole in the bell housing; so I figured perhaps it was time for a rear seal. The car has 55,000 miles and several wet spots, (PS, ex cam cover left, oil tree and trans weep hole) none which dripped to the floor. The bright idea came to me to get a '98 trans to keep the car mobile while I opened up the old trans and fix it. I removed the old trans and very carefully cleaned, glued and replaced the carrier gasket, crank seal and pan rubber. Up went the new trans and a CF DS had purchased the year before but never installed. The new trans is not smooth. It is notchy and getting it to 1st can only be done at a max speed of 5 mph. Reports abound regarding noise in the input bearing and "soft" 5th and reverse. Not sure what those are all about, as I have yet to experience those malfunctions. I failed miserably at the rear main job. I now have a profuse leak that will soon trash the clutch. The unpleasant driveline slop has been reduced with the plastic, light weight DS. Slow driving in 1st w/o using the clutch, does not result anymore in a back and forth dance between the throttle and forward motion. Acceleration is marginally more robust but I did get the FW resurfaced and being that is the 3rd time, I bet it has lost a couple of lbs. I have since learned that removing and resealing the oil pan requires removing the engine. When this has to happen, I will install the new harness, correct all leaks, replace the dreaded left turbo cooling hoses and remove the evaporator to clean the lint off of it so air can flow through it and actually cool the cabin. The warm season is here. The time I usually reduce use of the car because it has poor a/c. Sometimes I think this hobby is an exercise in S & M.
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