Well, I was under the old '57 last night changing the swing axle 
boots that attach to the transmission.

What a bitty to do!  It took about three hours to get them switched.  
Whoever put the last ones on must have done it while the transmission 
was out, because the screws to the clamps were in the most IMPOSSIBLE 
places to reach.  It took about 20 minutes to get one of the them 
off.  Then we can talk about putting the big clamps back on with 
about zero daylight left.  It was not pretty.

The reason I changed them was because the left side was leaking quite 
a bit of oil after a good drive.  

Questions:

* Should the boots have any oil in them at all?  

* Are there gaskets inside the transmission which are supposed to stop 
  the oil from leaking into the boots, or are the boots intended to 
  stop most/all the oil from leaking?

* How many quarts of oil are in the tranny?  (1.5?)

The reason I ask, is that when I did the boots on the '67 a month or 
so ago (much easier job!) almost no oil leaked from the boots.
Last night each boot leaked about 1/2 cup of oil (into my hair at 
that...) when I cut them apart.

Thanks in advance!

- Mike White 

[Mail: mike.white@law.utah.edu   -   mwhite@eng.utah.edu]
[http://www.cc.utah.edu/~mw1759/index.html]