[Licensed to kill]

A few updates. The backfiring seems to have been just running a bit lean. Run with the GAV out more and the backfiring goes away. The problem with the steering sitting off the lights seems to be that someone packed the light rod with heavy grease. I pulled the rod and cleaned put all the grease, put a very light coating of oil on the rod and reinstalled and it seems to be good now. Haven't taken it for a drive but with the front wheels off the ground ran the steering back and forth many time and the light switch did not drag of try to turn off so I think that was the problem. There was a brass sleeve under the switch. I'm still baffled about the oil consumption. I'm going to try to devise something to catch any leaks while I am driving so I can determine exactly how much is leaking. I did snug up the pan bolts and the two bolts for the drain back tube as they where all loose a bit and did show signs of some seepage but I'm not convinced that the problem lies there. We will see.