Hello I'm a long time lurker coming out from the shadows....

I recently purchased an 84 242 (not much to look at for now but the price was right)

Everything appears to be working on this car and after replacing exauhst it sounds great for a 20 year old car. I have a few question that I was able to answer in archives or figure out for myself. These seem like they should be simple but I'm having no luck.

The overdrive connector in the shift knob (manual) became disconnected. I reconnected it and now the OD works fine. However I was not able to get the wires back through the shift knob to the top. They seem too short. Now I am driving around with the OD switch hanging out of the side. I think I could do it if I could get the little reverse boot off but I can't seem to do it for fear of breaking it. Any ideas?

How do I get the radio out? I'm planning on keeping the old analog thing for now I just want to add a set of speakers in the back. I took off the screws to sort of lift the molding out from around the radio but the radio trim prevents it from coming out. I have a radio thats mounted nearly on the floor. (Eventually I am going to build a full PC into the dash.... it started one day when I found an 8 inch crt monitor at the flea market and it's gone downhill from there. It was almost finished in my 740 before it went kaput)

Rust removal.... not major just in the rockers and somewhat bad on the drivers side hinges. Not even sure where to start just figured I could start up a conversation in general. Eventually I would like to paint it. Possibly myself if thats a plausible thing to do.

Transmission. I just learned how to drive a stick. I was not very good in the beginning. A couple of times I could smell slight burning from under the hood when I got home. Is that the clutch "burning" I know very little about how that works and what damage I've probably already done. (starting on hill in second gear for example--- lots of stalling and what looked like smoke before I realized I should be in first)

Old 740 91 255K
Should I bother trying to sell it? I know it needs a head gasket which I've already sort of started. It has no heat or Air and the dash/radio area was gutted for the computer. I'm thinking it might be worth more in parts.

Thanks in advance for any help. I miss the abilty to look on the 700/900 FAQ everytime I have a problem.

-- Jerry