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Another suggestion....fill it through the drain hole.
I have a 400k mile '87 245 with the original M47. The fill bolt on it was completely rounded off when I got it 150k miles ago. When I first went to change the tranny fluid, I pulled the drain plug out, took it to Home Depot, got a length of plastic tubing that had an OD that matched that of the bolt (maybe 1/2"?), and gravity fed tranny fluid in through the drain hole.
I use a helper standing next to the driver door. They pour fluid into the tube, while holding it above the level of the fill bolt. I lay under the car, tubing stuck into the drain bolt hole, the bolt in hand ready to be put back in as quickly as possible once my helper has got ~3 quarts into the tranny/tubing. When the bolt goes back in, I raise my end of the tube and have my helper lower her end of the tube. I've been changing the tranny fluid every 50k that way, and it works great. It'll leak a little bit, but just wrap the tubing in some paper towels where you've got it shoved into the diff. That'll keep the fluid off of your arm (and out of your armpit--learned that one the hard way!). Since there's more room around the rear diff than the tranny, you might be able to do this without a helper. I'm not sure as my diff plugs are OK.
It's really not all that messy, and the tubing won't set you back more than a few bucks. Easier than changing out the cover, in my (lazy) book at least.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Afton
'68 122, '87 & '92 240s -- All stick shift station wagons
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