If you are pulling your motor/trans all together,,either drain the trans before you pull the dipstick,,or,, make sure the drain pan is not hung up on one of the headers when you do pull the dipstick. FYI I know better, just another day in paradise of working on these things!! I knew my old trans drain pan was getting old. It had cracked beyond using. So, last week, I tried to buy another. NO one had one in stock. 24 hours and $30.00 later, I had one from NAPA. I guess it's just my getting old and not likeing to actually WORK on the race car. I would rather just go to the track and play!! BUT,,stuff happens occacionally.
P.S. The kitty litter at Dollar Store works pretty good. Also, how could there be 5 gallons of fluid in the trans..??..I know I only put about 7-8 quarts in it,,and after all it leaked after 'whatever' happened to it,,where did it all come from??