This is mostly for general interest, but I recently got my '86 Westy back
from my mechanic. It's a long story; he was supposed to undercoat it, but he
got carried away, stole my 4 speed transmission and replaced it with a 3
speed auto :) The swap was kind of free-to-me, but I did spring for a few
additional goodies. My point? After driving the standard and fearing those
groggy automatics for the last 9 years of Westy ownership, I'm so so so so
pleased. Perhaps I'm getting old, but for city driving, it's so smooth and
sublime :) Reading about the potential problems with the stock tranny
cooler, we opted for one of those
Go-Westy<http://gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=4481&category_id=&category_parent_id=>aftermarket
coolers. He also rebuilt the axles and installed a gas tank
sealing kit/hoses etc. New front shocks, and a new Rad from BusDepot rounded
out the job...Just in time for spring...

Tom
http://www.tomrowsell.com/2011/03/switching-to-glide.html