Dam*n thing is still leaking around the flapper. I've NEVER had
something like this that was so difficult to solve. It's been going on
now for months despite everything I've tried and the suggestions here.

The latest change, as you'll recall, was using fishing line to connect
to the handle rod. Worked ok, but I could hear it occasionally running
earlier today. Now it seems like the flapper doesn't reseat the same
way each time. It will go for a day, or several days, and then it
starts leaking because when it closes it's not reseating the same way.
I know this because when I moved it slightly today, the trickle leaks
stopped.

Problem is that this is the brass flush valve and I had to get a flapper
with a rubber ring that slid down around the overflow tube as opposed to
hooking it like the plastic ones. I don't know if having totally soft
rubber around this area is the cause of the latest woes... but I'll bet
it is. So..... is there a replacement flapper that is either solid in
the attachment area or is there one that has a metal or hard plastic
ring that would slide down the overflow tube?

I'm at my wits end with this thing, never had a problem this difficult
to solve.

BTW, this is an older 5 gallon toilet..