And now im using the truck daily again, so have a few maintenance items to catch up on.

Had been getting a little drip from the radiator cap, so got a new one of those.
And then i noticed a bad leak has started from the upper radiator hose where the hose clip has rubbed through the end that attaches to the thermostat housing. The hose looks kinda bulged out there so it may be stuffed. Its not a mitsi hose or a VP commodore hose, it kinda looks like a VS commodore bottom hose so that may be the winner. Will try get one tomorrow, otherwise i think i can get away with cutting it a little short as a short term fix.

Next on the list is the trans fluid and filter. This is the last fluid i have to change, i had been waiting as i wanted to add a drain bung to the pan, and possibly get a corvette servo in the box and maybe a shift kit - and relocate the trans cooler to infront of the radiator. But none of that got organised, so its been bumped way down the list. The fluid was needing changing soon.

Pan came off ok, and i didnt spill fluid everywhere which is an achievement
It was however a very tight fit to get off. The problem came when trying to get it back on, it wasnt going to work.


you can see the exhaust crossover pipe is about as close as it can be - and the pan has some prongs on the front which make it difficult to get past it, and the trans crossmember is clearly of a well refined design with hours of planning put into aesthetics and practicality.....

its basically a slab of 10mm steel roughly cut to shape, with the trans mount and handbrake piviot blind welded to it - but hey it passed certification i guess. You can also see that the cut out is smaller than the transmission pan, so the corners foul on it. I tried every angle but couldnt get it to go back on, so i wonder if the fluid had ever been changed? it would have required dropping either the exhaust or the crossmember.

Anyway, a improved that with the angle grinder, and my best attempts at avoiding filling the trans with grinding dust


Now it is a perfect fit, and the pan slips right on.