I just picked up my new 1984 the other day and am very happy.

My first question:
On the trip home I noticed that the oil level guage was on the orange at the bottom. My mechanic had already warned me about that so I immediately stopped to get some oil. When I checked the dipstick, it showed ok but by mechanic also told me that the guage would me more accurate when hot. So I put 3 quarts in. That was a mistake. I should have checked the guage after the first quart. When I started up, the guage showed overfull... at the top... so apparantly the guage just wasn't working when it showed empty but then worked again when I started up again. So, the question is should I drain the excess oil? How do I do that?

 

Yup. Drain it down. Pull the plug, let some out, replace the plug. You'll get dirty but you have to lower the level.