Pete, it's really good to hear that your 'new' gearbox is running well! That's very good news indeed. About the noise in idle, I think we all know it. The Murena is a noisy car with its stiff chassis and rather stiff engine mounts (at least compared to modern equivalents). My car has new main bearings in the gearbox, and I can still hear them when the engine is idling - and my engine is quite noisy.
I think we all know the feeling about wanting to gain confidence in the car before giving it a long trip!
- Anders