I made my 3,500 mile drive without incident. However, I brought a good luck piece with me: a used transmission with a good pedigree which I had serviced. I should have brought the torque converter too as they are hard to clean after a failure. I cleaned the used tranny, put plywood plates on the ends with handles and chained it where the little back seat would go. My relatives were impressed at what a Boy Scout I remained at my advanced age.