V-drive gear box & transmission fluid

Hello, I'm new to boating and I have a 73 Tollycraft 34 with two Chrysler 318 Gas engines. They are Vdrive and have Paragon gears transmissions. I was told by the previous owner they were velvet drive and I'm not sure if these are the same. (still learning the terminology) I'm trying to find out how much fluid to put in the Transmission and in the Vdrive. The attached photos show the two dipsticks with the flat part of the stick only about 1" long with a line at about 1/2". Not sure if this is the full line or what. And where the fluid should be on the stick right after shutting the engine off. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Danob

 

Hi, those are not Velvet Drives. They are Paragon V Drives. Velvet Drive is a line of marine gears produced by Borg Warner. Your Paragon was produced by Twin Disk. I have a velvet V drive in my 72 Luhrs. As far as the fluid level, I recommend that you find the proper manual for the transmissions to be sure. However the lini is likely the full mark after shut down Here is a link with some additional information regarding the various Paragon transmissions: http://www.marinegears.com/catalog/cat-idx-pp.html

The proper procedure for checking the fluid level on the velvet drives is to warm it up to normal operating temp, and pull the dipstick as close to after the engine is shut down. This is to allow the volume in the sump to be at it's minimal as the cooling circuit will remain full. After shut down, the fluid drains back into the sump of the V Drive as the pump is no longer spinning. Over filling is a problem, you want to get it right.

I can't quite make out the numbers on the ID plaque. 6A-7800 is all I can make out.

 

Thanks so much for the information! I'm still trying to locate the owners manuals for this transmission. And yes I can't quite read the numbers either and the Plaque on the other engine is gone. I've since cleaned them up a bit and painted. Thanks again!

Dan