john, derek, steve, david, et al.

after i wrote that message i went to syncro.org and found tom's link for
changing the clutch...riffed through and found the drain/fill instructions,
and saw it was 17mm.

thought of the bolt idea first (much cheaper), and i think that would work.
an M10 fits fine; i bought a 30mm bolt and 3 nuts, but you want to get a
45mm or 50mm bolt with 5-6 nuts (about $2 if you already have the loctite)
to really get some clearance from the shifter assembly.  then screw them
all on and red loctite them.  i wanted it done TODAY, so i just crushed the
threads and tried it...but the lead nut simply opened the threads back up,
and i wasn't moving the fill bolt.

then i went to my local kragen and they had the tranny fill socket (3/8"
drive), so i bought that for $4.29, used it with my old rachet and a 2"
extension, and it worked fine.  got the fill bolt out and went looking for
the drain.

damn!

i have a syncro, and there's a bash plate *directly* under the drain bolt.
what's a syncro owner to do?  do i have to drop the guard rails and bash
plates so i can get at the damn bolt?  or is there some secret angle i
don't see how to manage with a 9" long 3/8" rachet handle?

anyway, i gave that up, but decided to do the front.  quite a wooly little
magnet i had there, sadly.  i fear for my ring and pinion.  it took less
than 1.5l of redline 75W90 gl5+ fluid, and that cheap pump on a plastic
gallon bottle did the trick.  i will assume that my stopping when the first
drips came out the fill hole was correct.

any suggestions on accessing the tranny drain plug (especially from syncro
owners) will be much appreciated.

cheers!

bill

'87 syncro westfalia
http://www.scruznet.com/~kasper/pics/westy