Valve cover leaks and a plug out of the rear end was missing, which I replaced. I drained the 10W-40 break-in oil (11 passes + startup) and replaced it with Lucus Synthetic 10W-30. A sample was sent to a lab for analysis. Everything seems to be burning just fine. The end of the plugs and the outlet of the headers are about the same, light brown, color.
Coan says the stall should be approximately 56-5700 rpm. The converter ships Tuesday of this coming week.
I removed the old converter late this evening, having to cut all my neat tie-wraps and undo my good looking runs of wires and hoses under the hood and car.