[VeryTangled]

Hi Everyone, seeking opinions on two upcoming repairs.

Before that. I purchased Auburn Radials, 600R16's. Blackwalls. Mounted and balanced them, finished last Friday. I'll let you know how happy I am when I know more. But it feels great to get the 33 year old tires off the car!

Now for my questions. What’s your best way to get the gear shift knob unscrewed without buggering it up? From what I've seen from some of the places of this car, it may have been on there since the assembly line. I’ve got a shift tower boot to install and the knob will not budge after the first couple of tries twisting by hand. I'm gonna start some penetrating lube, but then what do you think?

And what’s your best way to get old gasket material off the cowl vent? And then I want advice for cleaning, refurbishing, and replacing the gasket in this area with one coming from C&G (likely a Carpenter piece).

There’s water coming from under the dash if it rains hard enough, and I assume the gasket and or drain is the issue. It vent leaks just enough to piss me off and if I don’t do something it will cause me rotted floors! The vent otherwise works like it should so I’d like to avoid a lot of disassembly.

It wouldn’t surprise me that the gasket is compromised by gasoline fumes, there had been a carb leak for what looks like decades and the car would stink pretty high. In some places the gasket looks like it has been replaced within the last ten years (when the car was painted 12 years ago by PO?), but then in other places it's turned to goo/tar.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

P.S. I'd like to have a little 'talk' with the person who got hold of that blue paint that's all over the interior!