1st long trip / lots 'o problems

[Brad Baker <bbaker@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

After driving my 68 Westy around town for a month
or so and having no real serious probs, I decided
to head out on a longer (5 hour each way) trip.
Well, I ran into all sorts of probs.  The two big
problems: engine and tranny.  Yeehaa.  I'm not
sure what to do...

Engine (1500).  The engine had been running fine.  
Recently it started to lose oil after driving.  After 
about 2 hours of driving, I stopped at a rest area.  
When I got back out to the bus, there was a large (6") 
puddle of oil under the bus.  I topped up the oil and
continued driving.  At various points I checked the
oil and it seemed fine.  Overnight I lost a very
small amount of oil (what I would consider normal).
The next morning, I had a heck of a time starting
the bus.  Turned over fine, but it was like the
engine didn't want to stay running.  Very slow,
extremely rough idle.  Once the bus warmed up, it
ran fine.  It would restart fine when warm.  
Same deal with cold start probs next morning, but 
even worse.   Bap, bap, bap, bap.  The bus just didn't 
want to keep going.  I had to floor the gas pedal just
to keep it barely running.  Eventually (~ 5 minutes)
the idle picks up and the engine starts running fairly
normal.  Almost seems like it is not getting fuel (?).  
This morning.  Nothing.  No way is it going to start.  
Turns over fine.  

What should I check?  I'm a newbie 
to this stuff, so basic suggestions would be appreciated.
I took the plugs out and 3 of 4 were very black.  I
could scrape the black layer off with my finger (almost
seems like hardened soot).  Also, I found a stud
looking bolt laying in the engine compartment (threaded
on both ends).  Any ideas what that might be for?

Tranny.  Halfway through my trip (at our destination
of Taos) the bus started having major probs shifting.
Seems like the clutch isn't really disengaging the
gears (probably babble, but that's what it seems 
like to me).  Sometimes the bus shifts fine, other
times it is very hard to get in or out of gear.  It has
always been hard to "find" the gears on this bus, but
now it is almost impossible to get the bus into gear
at times.  Any suggestions?

I also ran into other problems, but I can figure those 
out (wiring probs in the dash, etc).

Thanks for any help,
Brad Baker