The factory manual says 5 quarts drain with 2 left in the converter. Does this sound right?

yep, sounds good to me!

Thanks for the info. I see you rebuilt a trans posted in the above sticky - cool. What fluid are you running? Nissan used to recommend Dexron, then Dexron IIE - Mercon, now the latest TSB from 1998 says Nissan Matic D ATF only because it must be an ashless fluid.