Man, sounds like you had a day like mine usually are in the RC department. LOL
Anyhow, screw the plugs I couldnt get them in either so I found 2 SHORT screws that were alot bigger than the 2 top holes and screwed them in and then used a small amount of clear silicone to seal it up. I would do this while the tranny was open and the gears were in place to make sure the proper clearance is there. When you reasemmble this thing you want to get some good grease and slap it in there all over everything, the more the merrier, any automotive grease is good. Make sure you get some on the ring gears going to the outdrives of the tranny. And also make sure to use the shims on all the bearings, I know the worthless instructions dont tell you that, and I do agree they are worthless.
On a sidenote, if you would like to get some more top speed out of your Fwd only kit and dont mind doing a little dremeling to the tranny case, swap the 2 gears leaving the Ti-Ni gear on the topshaft and the black one on the bottom. This gives you a lot more topend.
Heres a pic of the screws that I used in my tranny not that it really helps but you get the idea.
This is the grease I use in my diffs and tranny, you can get it at a motorcycle dealer
