rket56

I took the new springs out and matched them to the old ones, they were identical and they were installed correctly. The off set on the locater pin on the spring is so much that rear housing would have hit the gas tank and nothing else would line up. I confirmed the front motor mount was symmetrical and installed properly; it had to be the drive shaft but what? When I looked inside the splined end I could see what appeared to be a pin. Could this be a stop pin? Could it have moved or come out causing interference? . I saw the “stop pin” and I tapped it lightly with a rod and hammer and found it was loose, and bent easily. I made an assumption that since it looked like it went inside the transmission shaft, after it was bent there would be no way to straighten it and decided to take it out. Later I determined that it was actually part of a vent system, a hollow tube with the head sandwiched between two round inserts pressed into the yoke of the universal. I used a cold chisel to bend and cut it after the outer insert came out, releasing it to move. The yoke would not allow it to come straight out without taking the pressed bearings out of the yoke. I left the inner insert in place to keep the dirt out. I put the shaft back in but nothing had changed. I took the shaft out and used emery cloth to remove all of the rust on the outside of the sliding member, cleaned it and applied some A/T fluid for lubrication. I tried sliding the shaft in but kept hitting something that was not solid. I began to use more force and suddenly it went in and I installed the rear bearings with no problem. I believe the new seal was so much better/and fit tighter that it dropped into the slight groove the old seal had worn. The shaft came out easily over the rust when I took it out, in 2000 because the seal was worn and 50+ years old. Bet you didn't know about the vent, the sliding of the spline must act like the piston in a tire pump. Anyhow, on to the next situation. Chuck