This group and my wonderful mentor on things vanagon are right.
I have bleed the cylinder and hey! things work pretty nice again.
I can also say that brake fluid is just about the worst tasting thing
that I have ever had in my mouth.  Completely by accident (don't
try it!).  The transmission still pops out of 1st ... I'll just have
to be careful with first gear till I can afford transmission work.

Group, you are all wonderful for your help!  Thanks!
Stuart Hutton