<SNIP>
  BTW, there is a fluid filter in the auto tranny- goes right on the bottom of
the valve body, you can't miss it.

THAT is a strainer, not a filter. It follows the same conceptual path as the oil "filter" in Type I Beetle engines. A filter would be something with an element that can remove things smaller than grains of sand. And that lousy copper / brass screen, while useful against rocks and twigs, isn't a suitable filter for the requirements of an automatic transmission. IMHO, YMMV, YGWYPF.